STUDY ON PERFORMANCE OF COUPLED LOW YIELD POINT STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS AFFECTED BY THE INTERACTION OF INFILL PLATES AND BOUNDARY FRAME

In order to satisfy the requirements on seismic behavior and spatial flexibility of high-rise buildings, based on the combination of high-performance materials and high-performance structures, the low yield point (LYP) steel plate shear wall structure with coupling beams was proposed. The finite element models of steel plate shear wall structures were established by ABAQUS, which were proved accurate through a comparison with the published tests. Using the verified numerical method, five coupled and uncoupled LYP steel plate shear wall structure models with different degrees of coupling were established. These models were subjected to static pushover loads and cyclic loads to compare their failure modes, lateral load carrying-capacities, hysteretic behaviors and energy dissipation performances. The influence of the interaction between infill plates and boundary frame on the mechanical properties of the structures and their members was discussed, and some suggestions were proposed for the design of coupled steel plate shear wall structures. The analysis results show that the interaction between infill plates and boundary frame can effectively improve the bearing capacity, bearing efficiency and energy dissipation capacity of the whole structure. Considering the material efficiency, bearing capacity and energy dissipation capacity, it is suggested that the coupling degree of the connecting beam should be controlled within 0.45. With the increase of coupling degree, the shear force shared by the boundary frame increases to 60%, the axial forces of the internal frame columns significantly decreases, and the rotation of coupling beams keeps decreasing. Therefore, the interaction between infill plates and boundary frame should be fully considered in the design of coupled shear wall structures, which is able to effectively reduce the design thickness of infill plates and the section size of boundary frame, and improves the material efficiency and design economy. At the same time, compared with the pure frame, the interaction between infill plates and boundary frame effectively improves the initial lateral stiffness and bearing capacity of the boundary frame.