Experimental study of low-yield-point steel plate shear wall under in-plane load

This paper describes the study of the low-yield-point (LYP) steel plate shear walls under in-plane load. In the LYP steel plate shear wall system, LYP steel was selected for the steel plate wall while the boundary frame was constructed by the high strength structural steel. A series of experimental studies examined the inelastic shear buckling behavior of the LYP steel plate wall under monotonic in-plane load. The effects of width-to-thickness ratio on the shear buckling of LYP steel plates were examined. The stiffness, strength, deformation, and energy dissipation characteristics were investigated by performing cyclic loading tests on the multistorey LYP steel plate shear walls. Excellent deformation and energy dissipation capacity were obtained for all specimens tested. The LYP steel plate shear wall system is able to exceed 5% of storey drift angle under lateral force.

Research highlights
► The width-to-thickness ratio of LYP steel wall is suggested to be less than 80.
► No visible out-of-plane deformation can be found at 0.02 radian of wall drift angle.
► Steel wall with a moment frame performs better than the system with a simple frame.
► Strength and energy dissipation are 28% and 18% larger by using a moment frame.