Sub-structural pseudo-dynamic performance of two full-scale two-story steel plate shear walls

This paper describes two eight-meter tall and four-meter wide, two-story steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) that were fabricated and tested using sub-structural pseudo-dynamic testing procedures in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE). In the Phase I tests, all wall panels were restrained using horizontal tube restrainers on both sides in order to minimize both the out-of-plane displacement and the buckling sound. In the Phase II tests, damaged steel plates were removed and replaced with new plates without restrainers. Both specimens were tested under pseudo-dynamic loads using several scaled ground accelerations. This paper presents primarily the design of the specimen, experimental results, and simplified analytical modeling techniques for Phase I specimen. Results of the Phase I tests show that (1) the SPSW specimen sustained three earthquakes without significant wall fracture or overall strength degradation, (2) the horizontal restrainers were effective in improving the serviceability of the SPSW, (3) the responses of the SPSW can be satisfactorily predicted using the strip model and the tension-only material property implemented in the PISA3D computer program, (4) the energy-dissipating capacity of the SPSW specimen was found to be substantially reduced when it was subjected to the same ground motions again, and (5) if the boundary elements are properly proportioned using the capacity design principle, the equivalent brace model is effective for the response analysis of SPSW buildings subjected to strong ground motions.