FE and Simplified Models of Steel Plate Shear Wall

A nonlinear finite-element model for steel plate shear walls was developed and then tested using the as-built dimensions and measured material properties of a large-scale four-story test specimen. When a nonplanar initial plate geometry and measured residual stresses were included in the model, it gave an excellent prediction of the load versus deflection response. Furthermore, a good prediction of the ultimate strength of the shear wall was obtained even when the second-order effects were neglected. Another analytical method is presented that is useful for the prediction of monotonic behavior. In this relatively simple plane frame model, the infill plate is represented as a series of tension strips. The model gave a good prediction of the behavior of the four-story shear wall specimen. An associated hysteresis model also gave good predictions of observed cyclic behavior. The models account for inelastic behavior in both the infill panels and the frame members.