Numerical study on the response of composite shear walls with steel sheets under cyclic loading

Abstract As an alternative to conventional reinforced concrete walls, composite shear walls have been studied recently due to their great advantages in terms of structural performance under seismic loading. Researchers usually use ready-made profiles for composite shear walls, but in this study L-shaped cold-formed steel sheets were selected for numerical analysis under lateral cyclic forces. A macroscale numerical model was developed using a fiber beam-column element with a shear spring model to reproduce the actual behavior of composite shear walls. In addition, the OpenSees-based model was verified against three experimentally tested composite shear walls and showed robust simulation ability. Moreover, in order to fully explain their effect on the performance of composite shear walls, the properties of L-shaped steel sheets were studied parametrically with the help of the numerical model in terms of thickness and yield strength. It was clear that increases in the sheets’ yield strength and thickness increased the lateral load-displacement capacity of the walls. It was thought that the two factors were connected in terms of their effects, and the L-shaped steel sheet arrangement in the boundary zone had essential participation in the total response of the composite shear wall under the applied loads.