Seismic behavior of steel shear plates stiffened by wood panels

A hyteretic damper system utilizing thin steel shear plates is introduced. The thin plate is sandwiched by two panels covering the plate's entire surfaces for out-of-plane stiffening, such that large energy dissipation can be achieved. One series of cyclic horizontal loading tests were conducted on five element specimens to investigate the mechanism of the proposed stiffening method. FE model was developed to simulate the behavior of the wood and steel plates, as well as the effect of bolting, which connect the wood panels. The analyses produced hysteresis loops and deformation of the specimens with a good accuracy. The test and analytical results suggested vertical slits is effective to reduce out-of-plane deformation as deformations are caused around each slit ends, preventing deformation concentrating in the corner of steel plate. Bolting in the middle of the plate was effective to reduce out-of-plane deformation and increase the amount of energy.