ABSTRACT

Two steel and two composite shear wall specimens were subjected to cyclic loads until failure. Steel shear walls specimens consisted of steel plate shear walls welded inside 2 and 3 story special moment frames. The steel shear walls were coupled using a short beam. The composite shear wall systems consisted of steel plate shear walls welded inside 3-story special steel moment frames and reinforced concrete walls bolted to the steel plate. All specimens showed highly ductile behavior and stable cyclic post-buckling performance. The steel shear wall specimens were able to tolerate 79 cycles of shear displacements before reaching an inter-story drift of more than 0.03. Composite shear wall specimens were able to tolerate 33 cycles of shear displacements before reaching an inter-story drift of about 0.05. The experimental results are summarized and their implications in seismic design are discussed