A numerical analysis on the behavior of steel plate shear walls with different number and thickness of transverse stiffeners

Abstract

According to recent studies, steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) have been identified as a reliable system for lateral load resistance in high seismic regions. Considering the importance of stiffeners’ geometry in SPSWs, in this study we attempted to numerically analyze the behavior of a steel frame under lateral loading equipped with a stiffened single-storey single-bay SPSW system. Three SPSW models with 1, 2 and 3 transverse stiffeners having a thickness of 10 mm, and one SPSW model with one transverse stiffener having different 5, 10, 20, and 30 mm thicknesses were designed and analyzed using eigenvalue linear buckling analysis in ABASQUS software to evaluate the effect of number and thickness factors of transverse stiffeners on the behavior of study frame. According to the results of the research, it was observed that with increasing number of transverse stiffeners, the maximum buckling capacity of the frame with SPSW increases which is technically remarkable. Also, with the increase in the number of transverse stiffeners, the contribution of each stiffener to increasing the ultimate capacity of the frame became more evident, which is economically considerable. Increasing the thickness of transverse stiffeners did not have a considerable effect on the buckling capacity of the SPSW.