Cyclic Behavior of Traditional and Innovative Composite Shear Walls

Shear wall systems are one of the most commonly used lateral-load resisting systems in high-rise buildings. The composite shear wall system studied herein consists of a steel plate shear wall with a reinforced concrete wall attached to one side of it using bolts. In this paper, experimental studies of three-story composite shear wall specimens are presented and test results are discussed. Two half-scale specimens were tested and both showed highly ductile behavior and stable cyclic postyielding performance. The specimens were able to tolerate 33 cycles of shear displacements and reach maximum interstory drift of more than 0.05. Here the interstory drift is defined as lateral movement of the floor over the story height. The bolts connecting the reinforced concrete walls to steel plate shear walls were able to ensure the composite action by bracing the steel plate shear wall to the reinforced concrete shear wall and preventing the overall buckling of steel plates. During late cycles and after shear yielding of the steel plate, inelastic local buckling of the steel plate shear wall occurred in the areas between the bolts. The experimental results and their implication in seismic design are summarized and discussed.