• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.78-91
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• 2024

Double steel plate concrete composite shear wall (SCSW) has been widely utilized in nuclear power plants and high-rise structures, and its shear connectors have a substantial impact on the seismic performance of SCSW. Therefore, in this study, the mechanical properties of SCSW with angle stiffening ribs as shear connections were parametrically examined for the reactor containment structure of nuclear power plants. The axial compression ratio of the SCSW, the spacing of the angle stiffening rib arrangement and the thickness of the angle stiffening rib steel plate were selected as the study parameters. Four finite element models were constructed by using the finite element program named ABAQUS to verify the experimental results of our team, and 13 finite element models were established to investigate the selected three parameters. Thus, the shear capacity, deformation capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of SCSW were determined. The research results show that: compared with studs, using stiffened ribs as shear connectors can significantly enhance the mechanical properties of SCSW; When the axial compression ratio is 0.3-0.4, the seismic performance of SCSW can be maximized; with the lowering of stiffener gap, the shear bearing capacity is greatly enhanced, and when the gap is lowered to a specific distance, the shear bearing capacity has no major affect; in addition, increasing the thickness of stiffeners can significantly increase the shear capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of SCSW. With the rise in the thickness of angle stiffening ribs, the improvement rate of each mechanical property index slows down. Finally, the shear bearing capacity calculation formula of SCSW with angle stiffening ribs as shear connectors is derived. The average error between the theoretical calculation formula and the finite element calculation results is 8% demonstrating that the theoretical formula is reliable. This study can provide reference for the design of SCSW.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.711-737
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• 2015

Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSWs) have been accepted widely as an effective lateral load resisting system. For seismic performance evaluation of a multi-story building with SPSWs, detailed finite element models or a strip model can be used to represent the SPSW components. However, such models often require significant effort for tall or medium height buildings. In order to simplify the analysis process, discrete elements for the framing members can be used. This paper presents development of a simplified equivalent braced model to study the behavior of the SPSWs. The proposed model is expected to facilitate a simplification to the structural modeling of large buildings with SPSWs in order to evaluate the seismic performance using regular structural analysis tools. It is observed that the proposed model can capture the global behavior of the structures quite accurately and potentially aid in the performance-based seismic design of SPSW buildings.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.87-108
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• 2010

A Steel Plate Shear Wall (SPSW) is a lateral load resisting system consisting of an infill plate located within a frame. When buckling occurs in the infill plate of a SPSW, a diagonal tension field is formed through the plate. The study of the tension field behavior regarding the distribution and orientation patterns of principal stresses can be useful, for instance to modify the basic strip model to predict the behavior of SPSW more accurately. This paper investigates the influence of torsional and out-of-plane flexural rigidities of boundary members (i.e. beams and columns) on the buckling coefficient as well as on the distribution and orientation patterns of principal stresses associated with the buckling modes. The linear buckling equations in the sense of von-Karman have been solved in conjunction with various boundary conditions, by using the Ritz method. Also, in this research the effects of symmetric and anti-symmetric buckling modes and complete anchoring of the tension field due to lacking of in-plane bending of the beams as well as the aspect ratio of plate on the behavior of tension field and buckling coefficient have been studied.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.91-98
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• 2020

Steel plate shear walls are recently used as efficient seismic lateral resisting systems. These lateral resistant structures are implemented to provide more strength, stiffness and ductility in limited space areas. In this study, the seismic behavior of the multi-story steel frames with steel plate shear walls are investigated for buildings with 4, 8, 12 and 16 stories using verified computational modeling platforms. Different number of steel moment bays with distinctive lengths are investigated to effectively determine the deflection amplification factor for low-rise and high-rise structures. Results showed that the dissipated energy in moment frames with steel plates are significantly related to the inside panel. It is shown that more than 50% of the dissipated energy under various ground motions is dissipated by the panel itself, and increasing the steel plate length leads to higher energy dissipation capability. The deflection amplification factor is studied in details for various verified parametric cases, and it is concluded that for a typical multi-story moment frame with steel plate shear walls, the amplification factor is 4.93 which is less than the recommended conservative values in the design codes. It is shown that the deflection amplification factor decreases if the height of the building increases, for which the frames with more than six stories would have less recommended deflection amplification factor. In addition, increasing the number of bays or decreasing the steel plate shear wall length leads to a reduction of the deflection amplification factor.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.109-123
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• 2021

This research endeavor intends to use the implicit finite element method to investigate the structural response of steel shear walls with partial plate-column connection. To this end, comprehensive verification studies are initially performed by comparing the numerical predictions with several reported experimental results in order to demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the implicit analysis method. Comparison is made between the hysteresis curves, failure modes, and base shear capacities predicted numerically using ABAQUS software and obtained/observed experimentally. Following the validation of the finite element analysis approach, the effects of partial plate-column connection on the strength and stiffness performances of steel shear wall systems with different web-plate slenderness and aspect ratios under monotonic loading are investigated through a parametric study. While removal of the connection between the web-plate and columns can be beneficial by decreasing the overall system demand on the vertical boundary members, based on the results and findings of this study such detachment can lower the stiffness and strength capacities of steel shear walls by about 25%, on average.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.353-365
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• 2023

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have emerged as a novel functional material that is being increasingly applied in diverse fields including medical, aeronautical and structural engineering to be used in the active, passive and semi-active structural control devices. This paper is mainly aimed at evaluating the ductility and response modification factor of the steel plate shear wall (SPSW) frames with and without the Ni-Ti shape memory alloys. To this end, different configurations were utilized, in which the walls were used in the first, third, middle, and all stories. The models were numerically analyzed using OpenSees Software. The obtained results indicate that improving the shape memory properties of alloys can greatly enhance the ductility and response modification factor. Furthermore, the model whose first and third stories are equipped with the SMA shear wall was found to be 290% more ductile, with a greater response modification factor compared to the unequipped frame.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.729-746
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• 2019

The nonlinear behavior of single- and multi-story steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) strengthened with three different patterns of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates (including single-strip, multi-strip and fully FRP-strengthened models) is studied using the finite element analysis. In the research, the effects of orientation, width, thickness and type (glass or carbon) of FRP sheets as well as the system aspect ratio and height are investigated. Results show that, despite an increase in the system strength using FRP sheets, ductility of reinforced SPSWs is decreased due to the delay in the initiation of yielding in the infill wall, while their initial stiffness does not change significantly. The content/type/reinforcement pattern of FRPs does affect the nonlinear behavior characteristics and also the mode and pattern of failure. In the case of multi-strip and fully FRP-strengthened models, the use of FPR sheets almost along the direction of the infill wall tension fields can maximize the effectiveness of reinforcement. In the case of single-strip pattern, the effectiveness of reinforcement is decreased for larger aspect ratios. Moreover, a relatively simplified and approximate theoretical procedure for estimating the strength of SPSWs reinforced with different patterns of FRP laminates is presented and compared with the analytical results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.231-242
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• 2018

As a lateral load resisting component, buckling restrained steel plate shear walls (BRW) have excellent energy dissipating capacity. Similar to thin steel plate shear walls, the mechanical behavior of BRWs depends on the boundary elements (adjacent beams and columns) which need adequate strength and stiffness to ensure the complete yielding of BRWs and the emergence of expected plastic collapse mechanism of frame. This paper presents a theoretical approach to estimate the design forces for boundary elements of beam-connected BRW (i.e., The BRW is only connected to beams at its top and bottom, without connections to columns) using a fundamental plastic collapse mechanism of frame, a force transferring model of beam-connected BRW and linear beam and column analysis. Furthermore, the design method of boundary beams and columns is presented. The proposed approach does not involve nonlinear analyses, which can be easily and efficiently used to estimate the design forces of beams and columns in a frame with BRWs. The predicted design forces of boundary elements are compared with those from nonlinear finite element analyses, and a good agreement is achieved.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.463-476
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• 2021

The concept of using Steel-concrete (SC) composite walls as retaining walls has recently been introduced by the authors and their effectiveness of resisting out-of-plane loads has also been demonstrated. In this paper, an improved analytical formulation based on partial interaction theory, which has previously been developed by the authors, is presented. The improved formulation considers a new loading condition and also accounts for cracking in concrete to simulate the real conditions. Due to a limited number of test specimens, further finite element (FE)simulations are performed in order to verify the analytical procedure in more detail. It is observed that the results from the improved analytical procedure are in excellent agreement with both experimental and numerical results. Moreover, a detailed parametric study is conducted using the developed FE model to investigate effects of different parameters, such as distance between shear connectors, shear connector length, concrete strength, steel plate thickness, concrete cover thickness, wall's width to thickness ratio, and wall's height to thickness ratio, on the behavior of SC composite walls subjected to out-of-plane loads.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2013

Steel plate concrete (SC) composite structure is now being recognized as a promising technology applicable to nuclear power plants as it is faster and suitable for modular construction. It is required to identify its dynamic characteristics prior to perform the seismic design of the SC structure. Particularly, the damping ratio of the structure is one of the critical design factors to control the dynamic response of structure. This paper compares the criteria for the damping ratios of each type of structures which are prescribed in the regulatory guide for the nuclear power plant. In order to identify the damping ratio of SC shear wall, this study made SC wall specimens and conducted experiments by cyclic lateral load tests and vibration tests with impact hammer. During the lateral loading test, SC wall specimens exhibited large ductile capacities with increasing amplitude of loading due to the confinement effects by the steel plate and the damping ratios increased until failure. The experimental results show that the damping ratios increased from about 6% to about 20% by increasing the load from the safe shutdown earthquake level to the ultimate strength level.