Tall building with steel plate shear walls subject to load reversal

SUMMARY This paper presents a state‐of‐the‐art review of research on thin unstiffened steel plate shear walls including recent research advances, in addition to a case study building that used them as the primary lateral‐force‐resisting system. Thin unstiffened steel plate shear walls are becoming an attractive alternative to traditional lateral‐force‐resistance systems because they exhibit desirable structural properties. A properly designed steel plate shear wall will have considerable energy dissipation capacity, ductility, initial stiffness and ultimate strength. Furthermore, the said walls are efficient in terms of cost and space due to their light weight, ease of construction and small footprint. The case study building is a 55‐story high‐rise system that took advantage of these properties. Details are presented regarding the design process and tools that were used to ensure a safe and efficient structure.