A Review of Steel Plate Shear Wall Design Requirements and Research

Steel plate shear walls are rapidly becoming an appealing alternative in high seismic areas. This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art in steel plate shear wall design, including the 2005 AISC Seismic Design Requirements for Special Plate Shear Walls (SPSW). This paper also discusses some of the research in support of those design requirements. The strip model, developed by others for the representation of SPSW, is described and plastic analysis results for that model and their use in design are discussed. Finally, new directions for SPSW research (to expand the range of applicability of this structural system) are presented, including the use of light-gauge and low yield-point steels and strategic hole placement. Additionally, reduced beam sections are described in the context of some recently completed and ongoing research.