The composite structures using engineered cementitious composites (ECC) and steel are promising to achieve good seismic performance due to their excellent deformability and energy dissipation. This paper proposed a novel composite steel plate shear wall restrained by ECC panels. The shear wall system consists of boundary frame, steel plate and precast ECC panels. The steel plate is sandwiched between two precast ECC panels by bolts. Then, the sandwich panel is bolted to the boundary frame by angle steels. Experimental investigation was conducted on the proposed composite shear walls to evaluate their seismic performance. Five one-story one-span specimens with ECC panels considering the effects of panel-frame connection types, reinforcement ratio in ECC panels and aspect ratio were tested, as well as a control specimen with concrete panels. Test results revealed that compared with ordinary buckling-restrained steel plate shear wall, the proposed composite shear walls displayed sufficient ductility, high initial stiffness and satisfactory energy dissipated capacity. Severe cracking and spalling of concrete panels were detected, while the ECC panels still maintained integrity and had high residual strength in the later stage of loading. ECC panels made a considerable contribution to shear resistance in addition to effectively restraining the buckling of the steel plate. In comparison with the specimen using partial four-side connection, the shear capacity, initial lateral stiffness and accumulated dissipated energy of the specimen using four-side connection were notably enhanced by 103%, 22.8% and 108%, respectively. Moreover, using two-side connection weakened the shear capacity and initial lateral stiffness of the specimen by 29.4% and 29.8%, because it could not exhibit complete shear and tension field actions as the specimen using four-side connection.
