Numerical study on important parameters of composite steel-concrete shear walls

Abstract In recent years, steel-concrete composite shear walls have been widely used in enormous high-rise buildings. This paper demonstrates nonlinear numerical studies on composite steel-concrete shear walls affecting cyclic loading. Five types of three-dimensional finite element model is developed using ABAQUS emphasizing constitutive material modeling and element type to represent the real physical behavior of complex shear wall structures. Modeling details of structural components, contact conditions between steel and concrete, associated boundary conditions, and constitutive relationships for the cyclic loading are explained. Load versus displacement curves, peak load, and hysteretic characteristics are verified with experimental data. Present study investigates important parameters such as concrete failure, hysteresis response, out of plan displacement, frame drift, and dissipated energy. The findings revealed that steel frame with concrete, on one side of shear plate, had better dissipation energy function compared with other types. Comparing the results, it was clearly observed that the lateral stiffness of the system isn't affected by changing the distance between connectors and concrete cover thicknesses. Numerical results show that shear steel plate buckling was reduced by increasing concrete thickness, and energy dissipation increased by reducing connectors' distance.