Shaking table test of buckling-restrained steel plate shear walls

A shaking table test of a 1:3 scale semi-rigid steel frame with buckling-restrained steel plate shear wall was conducted herein to study the seismic performance of this type of structure. The model was designed as ordinary steel plate shear walls, but with buckling-restrained. Its members consisted of non-simplified sections. The descriptions of the test specimen, instruments, set-up procedures were also presented. The dynamic characteristics, acceleration, displacement, and shear force were analysed. The maximum inter-storey drift angle in elastic-plastic was 1/68. The lateral stiffness drop was only 12% when completely loaded. The test model did not collapse under rare earthquakes. The results showed that the seismic behaviour was adequate for survival in large seismic excitations, and the design methods of the members and the semi-rigid connections were reasonable.