Seismic capacity estimation of Steel Plate Concrete (SC) shear wall specimens by nonlinear static analyses

This study focuses on the structural behavior of the Steel Plate Concrete (SC) shear wall subjected to the lateral forces. An analytical approach to model the nonlinear behavior of the SC shear wall member efficiently is introduced in this paper. The pushover test results of the SC shear wall specimens in the previous study were first reviewed. Then, through the Finite Element (FE) modeling and structural analyses, the lateral load responses of the composite wall models were predicted to compare with experimental results. More specifically, nonlinear static analyses were performed to estimate the seismic capacity of the SC shear wall. The failure modes, strength and stiffness characteristics of the composite walls were obtained from the analyses. Good concurrences in the initial stiffness and displacement outcomes of the FE model and experimental results along with similar overall behavior were observed. It was also found that the analytical results depend a lot on the interface contact (i.e., boundary conditions between concrete and studs, steel reinforcement and welded studs, respectively) while modeling the SC shear wall using FE.