Macro modeling of steel-concrete composite shear walls

Abstract To date, many researchers have developed various types of macro models to simulate the general response of conventional steel plate and reinforced concrete shear walls. Although extensive numerical and experimental studies have been conducted to assess the seismic response of steel-plate concrete composite shear walls, a robust macro-model for simulation of the cyclic response of such systems has not been developed yet. Herein, a fiber-based model is proposed to simulate the nonlinear seismic response of SC walls using PERFORM-3D program. The details of the proposed model, including material properties, element type, and boundary condition, are presented. The proposed model is validated using the available test data of seventeen SC wall specimens with and without boundary elements. Based on the analysis results, this novel approach can capture the global response of SC shear walls including initial stiffness, peak shear strength and its corresponding displacement, stiffness and strength degradation, and pinching behavior accurately. The proposed macro model for SC shear walls can be considered as a reliable tool to extend the engineering application of SC walls in the building industry.