Application of Steel Shear Walls Toward More Resilient Structures

The steel shear walls are one of the most resilient lateral force resisting systems. In a typical steel shear wall, a steel panel is welded or bolted to columns and beams. The steel plate can be unstiffened or stiffened. The steel panel resists the bulk of the story shear force, and the entire shear wall system resists the overturning moment. In stiffened shear walls, the stiffeners are usually designed to prevent diagonal buckling of relatively thin steel plate until the plate yields in shear. In unstiffened shear walls, diagonal buckling occurs under relatively small story shear, and after buckling, the additional story shear is resisted by the diagonal tension field action in the steel panel similar to plate girders. The chapter introduces the reader to the mechanics, behavior, and design of various types and configurations of steel shear walls, and how actual steel plate shear wall buildings have performed during the earthquakes. Design considerations, modeling technics, and analytical approaches for analysis and design of steel shear walls are discussed. Two issues that somewhat reduces the cost-efficiency of the unstiffened steel shear walls are (1) the application of relatively large lateral forces to the boundary columns due to tension field action, and (2) the use of relatively expensive field welded moment connections in the boundary beams. A new steel shear wall system called High-Performance Steel Plate Shear Wall System resolves both of these issues by separating the steel plate from the column and by using an innovative gusset plate moment connection. Another innovative system resolves the problem of column subjected to large lateral loads by introducing vertical slits in the steel panel.