Experimental and numerical study on the shear lag behavior of L-shaped double-steel-plate composite shear wall

The shear lag behavior significantly affects the stress distribution of structural members, and ignorance of the shear lag behavior may cause serious engineering accidents. This work shows the shear lag behavior of two L- shaped double-steel-plate concrete composite shear wall (LDSCW) specimens (one with a wide flange and one with a narrow flange) under cyclic loading experimentally investigated. All specimens failed by the local buckling of the steel plate and concrete crushing. The LDSCW shows a good ability to dissipate energy, and the LDSCW with larger flange width exhibits better carrying capacity. The shear lag behavior is serious on the flange of the LDSCW. A finite-element (FE) model is developed to investigate the shear lag behavior of the LDSCW. It is concluded that the influences of the axial compression ratio and the height-width ratio of the flange of the LDSCW on the shear lag effect are significant. Models for predicting the effective flange width (EFW) of LDSCW in the Plastic Stage and Elastic Stage, which make good agreement with experimental results, are developed. The results of this work can provide a reference for the design of the LDSCW.