A glimpse on behavior of steel plate shear walls

Steel plate shear walls consist of thin steel plates, occasionally stiffened to prevent shear buckling, framed by columns and beams. The perceived advantages of steel plate shear walls are enhanced stiffness, strength, ductility, stable hysteretic characteristics and a large capacity for plastic energy absorption. The steel plate shear wall behavior is significantly affected by parameters like the thickness of infill plates, the ratio of dimensions (width/height), the rigidity of surrounding members. A review of the above parameters has been carried out in the present study. According to this investigation, Wider SPSWs behave more desirable because the tension field action will form in lower load. Elastic buckling behaviors of shear walls are very much related to the torsional rigidity of supporting elements. However, this phenomenon doesn’t include post buckling strength. Thickness increasing will increase buckling stiffness, but it doesn't have a significant effect on the ultimate strength. Thicker plates dissipate more energy because the area under the hysteretic loop will increase and the pinching effect will disappear in hysteretic diagrams.