Experimental study on buckling-restrained steel plate shear walls

Cyclic tests of one full-scale and one reduced-scale buckling-restrained steel plate shear walls were conducted, both of which featured a vertical slits configuration. The results of the experiments were presented and compared against predictions from analytical formulas and from finite element analysis in terms of strength, initial stiffness, ductility and energy-dissipating capacity. Note that the results of the tests accord with finite element analysis quite well. The reason for the lower experimental values of stiffness is believed to be the imperfect boundary condition provided by the loading frame. The study also shows that the reinforced concrete panels on both sides of the steel plate should guarantee the out-of-plane stiffness of the wall, since it is crucial to the capacity of energy dissipating and has been validated by parametric study using ABAQUS based on reduced-scale test. Therefore, a proposed fabricating method of RC panels is introduced.