Experimental and analytical studies of cyclic behavior of steel and composite shear wall systems

Steel and composite shear wall systems have been frequently used in recent years as the lateral load-resisting system in the design and retrofit of high-rise buildings. This dissertation concentrates on the experimental and analytical studies of one steel shear wall system and two composite shear wall systems, and presents a summary and discussion of experimental and analytical results.; Steel plate shear wall system studied herein consists of steel plate shear walls welded inside a multi-bay steel moment frame. Cyclic static tests were conducted on two 1/2 scale specimens representing this system with different span-to-height ratios. Both specimens showed highly ductile and stable inelastic behavior, with maximum inter-story drift more than 0.03. Throughout the test, the gravity load carrying members remained essentially elastic while non-gravity carrying lateral load resisting elements underwent well-distributed and desirable yielding. Both specimens failed due to fracture of the top coupling beam along the column face.; Composite shear wall system studied herein consists of a steel plate shear wall welded inside a steel boundary frame and bolted with a reinforced concrete wall on one side. Cyclic static tests were conducted on two 1/2 scale specimens representing two systems with different detail at the concrete wall edge. Both specimens showed highly ductile and stable inelastic behavior, with maximum inter-story drift more than 0.05. The reinforced concrete wall and the bolts were able to brace the steel wall and prevent its overall buckling. Throughout the test, the steel wall underwent well-distributed and desirable yielding. Both specimens failed due to fracture of the steel walls along the edges.; Finite element analyses were also conducted on the composite shear wall specimens to further understand the system behavior and quantify the system response. Analytical results were compared with experimental results to validate the finite element models, and parametric studies were conducted on the models to identify key design factors for the composite shear wall systems. The experimental and analytical results and their implication in seismic design are summarized and discussed in the dissertation.