Finite Element Analysis of Seismic Performance of Semi-Rigid Steel Frame Equipped with a New Composite Shear Wall

The steel frame-shear wall composite system has excellent lateral resistance performance in prefabricated steel structure buildings. However, the traditional steel plate concrete shear wall is prone to early buckling of the steel plate and concentrated interface damage under cyclic loading, which limits its energy dissipation capacity. This study presents a steel plate-enhanced reinforced concrete shear wall (SPRCSW) with an internal corrugated steel plate and double-layer steel mesh working together and conducts a selection study based on finite element analysis. Under the same design conditions, the peak bearing capacity in the positive and reverse directions of the SPRCSW is increased by approximately 55.4% and 46.9%, respectively, compared to the ordinary reinforced concrete shear wall, with a ductility coefficient reaching 6.08. The stiffness decline is mild, and the hysteretic curve is complete. Then, this paper forms an SR-SPRCSW composite structural system by combining the new shear wall with a steel frame using semi-rigid joints. Through the comparison of the finite element analysis and low-cycle reverse loading test results of the SR-SPRCSW structure, it is verified that the overall structural system shows good agreement in hysteretic response, skeleton curve characteristics, and failure mode under both research methods, with the peak shear bearing capacity error of less than 1% and the overall bearing capacity deviation controlled within 8%. On this basis, the key parameters of the semi-rigid joints in the SR-SPRCSW structure are analyzed. The results show that the strengthening of the “top and bottom + double web” angle steel joint can raise the peak bearing capacity of the SR-SPRCSW structure by approximately 26.1% and the yield displacement by approximately 29.5%; increasing the strength grade and diameter of high-strength bolts can heighten the initial stiffness and bearing capacity of the overall structure, but ductility slightly decreases; the thickness of the angle steel has a significant impact on the stiffness and deformation capacity of the structure, and a recommended range of values with better comprehensive performance is provided. The findings offer valuable insights for designing seismic-resistant semi-rigid steel frames with steel plate reinforced concrete shear walls and optimizing their parameters.