Structural performance assessment of trapezoidally-corrugated and centrally-perforated steel plate shear walls

Abstract In recent years, there has been a growing interest towards the use of corrugated infill plates as an alternative to flat infill plates in steel plate shear wall (SPSW) systems. Corrugated plates offer various advantages over flat plates including higher energy dissipation capacity, ductility, out-of-plane stiffness, and improved buckling stability. On the other hand, perforation of the web-plate can allow the utility passage through SPSW and also can alleviate the problem of large panel force over-strength due to larger web-plate thickness. Considering the structural and architectural features of corrugated- and perforated-web SPSWs further research is required in order to obtain a better understanding of the structural and seismic performances of such efficient lateral force-resisting systems. On this basis, this paper investigates the cyclic behavior and energy absorption capabilities of SPSWs with trapezoidally-corrugated and centrally-perforated infill plates. To this end, numerous finite element models with various geometrical properties are developed and analyzed under cyclic loading. Results and findings of this study are indicative of effectiveness of the web-plate thickness, corrugation angle, and opening size on the hysteretic performance of corrugated- and perforated-web steel shear wall systems. Optimal and proper selection of the aforementioned geometrical parameters can result in SPSW systems with desirable structural behavior and seismic performance.