Experimental study on composite steel-concrete shear walls with vertical steel encased profiles

The composite steel-concrete structural shear walls with steel encased profiles can be used as horizontal resisting systems for buildings that require considerable large horizontal load capacity. The present paper describes the experimental tests on composite steel-concrete shear walls with steel encased profiles, performed at Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania. The study consists in six tests on 1: 3 scale experimental steel-concrete composite elements. The experimental elements differ by the arrangement of the steel shapes embedded in the cross section of the wall and by the cross section type of the steel encased element. Headed steel studs are provided to ensure the connection between the steel profiles and the concrete. The aim of this study is to analyze the seismic behavior of elements and to compare the failure mode of the tested elements with typical reinforced concrete shear walls. This paper presents a comparative study related to the ductility of tested elements in terms of displacement ductility and energy ductility. The failure mode is presented for each tested element.