ABSTRACT
For the past few decades, interest has grown globally in the application of ductile steel plate walls (DSPW’s) for building lateral load resistance. The advantages of using DSPWs as the lateral force resisting system in buildings include stable hysteretic characteristics, high plastic energy absorption capacity, and enhanced stiffness, strength and ductility. In this paper an analytical model of the DSPW that characterizes the structural shear behavior of different plate configurations is presented and discussed. These configurations include DSPWs with thin or thick steel plates, and with or without stiffeners and openings. The proposed model provides a good understanding of how the different components of the system interact, and is able to properly represent the system’s overall hysteretic characteristics. The simplicity of the method permits it to be readily incorporated in practical nonlinear dynamic analyses of buildings with DSPWs. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by comparing its predicted response with results from experimental studies performed by different researchers.
