The Steel Coupling Beam-Wall Connections Strength

In high multistory reinforced concrete buildings, coupled shear walls can provide an efficient structural system to resist horizontal force due to wind and seismic effects. Coupled shear walls are usually built over the whole height of the building and re laid out either as a series of walls coupled by beams and/or slabs or a central core structure with openings to accommodate doors, elevators walls, windows and corridors. A number of recent studies have focused on examining the seismic response of concrete, steel, and composite coupling beams. However, since no specific equations are available for computing the bearing strength of steel coupling beam-wall connections, it is necessary to develop such strength equations. There were carried out analytical and experimental studies to develop the strength equations of steel coupling beam-connections. Experiments were conducted to determine the factors influencing the bearing strength of the steel coupling beam-wall connection. The results of the proposed equations were in good agreement with both test results and other test data from the literature. Finally, this paper provides background for design guidelines that include a design model to calculate the bearing strength of steel coupling beam-wall connections.