Theoretical and experimental study on composite steel–concrete shear walls with vertical steel encased profiles

The present work describes the theoretical study and the experimental tests on composite steel–concrete shear walls with steel encased profiles (CSRCW), performed at Politehnica University of Timişoara, Romania. The composite steel–concrete structural shear walls with steel encased profiles can be used as horizontal resisting systems for buildings that require considerable large horizontal load capacity. The study consists in numerical analysis and tests on 1:3 scale experimental steel–concrete composite elements. The experimental elements differ by the arrangement of the steel shapes embedded in the cross section of the wall and by the cross section type of the steel encased element. Headed steel studs are provided to ensure the connection between the steel profiles and the concrete. The aim of this study is to analyze the nonlinear behavior of elements, focused on the connection between the steel profiles and the concrete respectively, to compare the behavior of shear walls with different steel shape encased profiles with typical reinforced concrete shear walls. Using the tests performed until failure, the maximum load, the deformation capacity and the dissipated energy were evaluated.

Research highlights
► The CSRCW are recommended to be used for buildings placed in seismic areas.
► The embedded profiles in CSRCW increase the lateral stiffness of the walls.
► The CSRCW revealed higher displacement ductility, than the common RC walls.