Currently, the steel plate shear wall (SPSW) is commonly used in high-rise steel buildings as a lateral load-resisting system due to its several advantages such as its lightweight and high ductility and strength. The SPSW consists of two main parts, i.e., the boundary frame and infill plate, which are connected by welding. The objective of this work is to study the effect of the infill plate weld separation on the seismic behavior of the SPSWs. A numerical method was proposed to have a comprehensive comparison of seismic behaviors of different separation characteristics. The model was validated by using previously published experimental works. Key parameters, such as load-carrying capacity, stiffness, and energy-dissipation capacity, were discussed extensively. The unstiffened SPSW (USPSW) system is more sensitive to the plate–beam separation than the plate–column one, especially the corner plate–beam separation. When plate–column welding separation occurs, the initial stiffness and the energy dissipation capacity are reduced by approximately 21% and 14%, respectively; however, the reductions are 36% and 20.5% in the case of beam welding separation.

The steel plate shear walls (SPSW) are currently being considered as a lateral load resisting system. A numerical method was proposed to have a comprehensive comparison of seismic behaviors of the plane wall (PW) and stiffened plane wall (SPW) with different stiffener characteristics, having the same weight, by using finite element modeling (FEM). The model was validated by using previously published experimental works. The material and geometric nonlinearity were taken into consideration. In this paper, the effect of using stiffeners with different cross-section shapes and directions will be studied, and key issues, such as load-carrying capacity, stiffness, and energy dissipation capacity, were discussed in depth. It was found that the proposed SPW with horizontal L, T, and U stiffeners could effectively improve load-carrying capacity by about 4, 20, and 23%, respectively. Diagonally and horizontally, SPWs with U stiffeners have higher energy-dissipation capacity than PW by about 57, 50%, respectively. This method provides a combination of high-performance stiffeners form and material for improving the seismic behavior of SPW.

Currently, the steel plate shear wall (SPSW) is commonly used in high-rise steel buildings as a lateral load resisting system. The SPSW consists of the boundary frame and infill plate. The objectives of this work are to study the effect of same weight different infill plate types, the effect of boundary frame characteristics, and the effect of infill plate weld separation on the seismic behavior of the SPSWs. A numerical method was proposed to have a comprehensive comparison of seismic behaviors of different types of SPSWs, having the same weight. The model was validated by using previously published numerical and experimental works. The study covers unstiffened (USPSW), stiffened (SSPSW), and corrugated steel plate shear wall (CSPSW). Similarly, the effect of boundary frame stiffness and welding separation characteristics between the plate and boundary frame will be studied, and key issues, such as load-carrying capacity, stiffness, and energy-dissipation capacity were discussed deeply. It was found that the SSPSW has better seismic behavior than USPSW and CSPSW. SSPSW has a higher load-carrying capacity than USPSW, and CSPSW by about 14, 24%, respectively. USPSW is more sensitive to the stiffness of the boundary frame than CSPSW. The plate welding separation has a greater impact on the initial stiffness than load-carrying capacity. When plate-column welding separation occurs, the initial stiffness, and the energy dissipation capacity reduces by about 21%, and 14%. Whereas, when the plate-beam separation occurs, the initial stiffness and energy dissipation capacity reduce by about 36%, and 20.5%.