Investigation of the Effect of Semi-Continuous Steel Shear Wall on the Seismic Performance of ConcreteFrames by Numerical Method

The steel shear wall is an efficient lateral load-bearing system for steel and concrete structures. These members have been gaining interest because of advantages such as high stiffness, fewer architectural limitations, light weight, and lower footprint in plan. When shear walls are used in a semi-continuous state in the structure, it is possible to consider an opening in the span without creating a hole in the shear wall. In the present study, numerical research was performed on the behavior of concrete frames containing a steel shear wall with a semi-continuous connection to the frame. First, the numerical model was validated using an experimental specimen. Then, by performing 33 nonlinear static analyses, the effect of the wall width and thickness on the seismic behavior of concrete frames was investigated. Similarly, the width of the wall was considered to vary from 10 to 110 cm in 11 cases. In addition, the shear wall thickness was examined in 3 cases of 1, 2 and 3 mm, respectively. The outputs of the frame included energy loss, lateral stiffness, strength, and ductility of the frame. To calculate the shear wall stiffness, a formula was presented using the curve fitting technique based on numerical results. By using this formula, the wall stiffness can be estimated with good accuracy using its width and thickness. After comparing the results, it was observed that when the shear wall width in the frame was selected correctly, not only the stiffness and lateral strength of the frame increased, energy loss and ductility of the frame were 2.7 and 1.7 times those of the plain frame, respectively. By considering the ratio of the shear wall width to the frame span equal to 0.38, a proper width can be obtained for the shear wall.