Investigation of the ability of steel plate shear walls against designed cyclic loadings: Benchmarking and parametric study

Shear wall structure is one of the options as an appropriate lateral load-bearing system for new structures or as a means of retrofitting existing buildings. There are many types of shear walls, including steel plate shear walls (SPSWs). In enhancing its function, a thin SPSW is added with a stiffener. However, steel shear walls with stiffeners increase construction costs due to the time-consuming factor and the high cost of welding thin plates. Therefore, the infill shape was modified to increase the energy dissipation capacity of the SPSW. This study conducted simulations by varying the geometry, mesh, load factor, and materials used in SPSW. The specimen was modeled and tested using the ABAQUS application's finite element analysis. The simulation was done by ignoring welded joints, fish plates, and bolts. The result that was the output of the simulation was hysteresis behavior. In addition, the contours that occurred were also observed in this study. The H1 shape had the best hysteresis force-displacement graphics among the nine other geometric shapes. Ten mesh sizes were tested, starting from 25 mm and increasing by multiples of 10 up to 115 mm. The results showed significant differences, with a 33.3% increase at the 115 mm size, which was considered irrational. The load factor represented the applied load in each substep, and a load factor of 2 means the load was doubled compared to a load factor of 1. Seven materials were tested, and high carbon steel outperformed others as it can handle loads up to 1,000 kN, demonstrating excellent energy dissipation capabilities.