Experimental cyclic performance of steel shear walls with single rectangular opening

This paper presents the results of evaluating the effects of the location and size of rectangular opening on the cyclic performance of steel plate shear wall (SPSW) systems through an experimental study. A total of seven 1:6 scale SPSW specimens were tested under quasi-static cyclic loads. Apart from a solid (without opening) specimen, six specimens with different opening locations and sizes were considered. The rectangular opening in the SPSW specimens with the relative opening-to-plate area of 4.00, 6.76% and 10.24% caused a reduction in maximum shear capacity by 28%, 33%, and 46% respectively. A similar trend was also noticed in the reduction of initial stiffness. The test results proved good performance of the stiffeners around the opening perimeter in preventing the zipping of the plate at these regions. However, from the drift ratio of 1.0%, the tearing of the plate began gradually and was followed by significant strength degradation. Because of the buckling and snap-back of the plate, pinching in force-displacement of all the specimens was observed. Also, a finite element simulation of all the specimens was performed, which led to acceptable results in terms of the characteristics of force-displacement response.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effects of rectangular opening location and size on the cyclic performance of steel plate shear wall systems through experiments, finding that larger opening areas resulted in reduced shear capacity and initial stiffness, but stiffeners effectively prevented zipping of the plate.