Experimental Study on the Performance of Steel and Composite Plate Shear Walls Under Cyclic Behaviour

Shear walls are mainly used as lateral load-resisting systems in tall structures or in any other case of high seismic activity. When referring to predominantly steel structures either steel plate shear wall (SPSW) or composite steel-concrete shear wall (CPSW) systems can be considered. Both utilise thin steel plates within the frame structure. In SPSW, the load is primarily transferred through tension diagonal, whereas in CPSW, where plate is stiffened with one or more reinforced concrete slabs, the load transfer also occurs through the formation of additional compression diagonals. Therefore, the infill in CPSWs exerts lower transverse forces on the boundary elements, resulting in a higher load- bearing capacity and energy dissipation ability. However, this is not recognised within the codes. Hence, experimental investigations were carried out on SPSWs and CPSWs with different column cross-sections under cyclic loading. The obtained results are analysed and presented in detail.