Shear capacity prediction of stiffened steel plate shear walls (SSPSW) with openings using response surface method

In this study, nonlinear finite element (NLFE) analysis is conducted to determine the maximum shear capacity (V-max) of stiffened steel plate shear walls (SSPSW) with rectangular openings. Results of a wide range of parametric study are presented using developed response surface method (RSM), which quantified the effect of prominent input variables on the predicted shear capacity of SSPSW. The studied parameters, which evaluated by different aspect ratios of the infill plate (L/h), are thickness of the infill plate (t), yield stress of the steel used in the infill plate (F-y), and the ratio of opening area to the total area of the infill plate (A(o)/A(p)). RSM is utilized to propose equations to predict the maximum shear capacity of SSPSW with different rectangular opening ratios, which can assist in optimum designing of SSPSW. Results show that, RSM is an accurate method to predict the shear capacity of specimens. Furthermore, by having characteristics of the specimens, the optimum size of openings and thickness of the infill plate can be calculated to achieve the target V-max. Evaluating the results also indicated that shear capacity has linear relationship with variations of the steel infill plate thickness. Besides, by increasing in the thickness and aspect ratio of the infill plate, V-max is strongly influenced by opening ratio.