Experimental Investigation of Light-Gauge Steel Plate Shear Walls

This paper describes the prototype design, specimen design, experimental setup, and experimental results of three light-gauge steel plate shear wall concepts. Prototype light-gauge steel plate shear walls are designed as seismic retrofits for a hospital structure in an area of high seismicity, and emphasis is placed on minimizing their impact on the existing framing. Three single-story test specimens are designed using these prototypes as a basis, two specimens with flat infill plates (thicknesses of 0.9  mm) and a third using a corrugated infill plate (thickness of 0.7  mm). Connection of the infill plates to the boundary frames is achieved through the use of bolts in combination with industrial strength epoxy or welds, allowing for mobility of the infills if desired. Testing of the systems is done under quasi-static conditions. It is shown that one of the flat infill plate specimens, as well as the specimen utilizing a corrugated infill plate, achieve significant ductility and energy dissipation while minimizing the demands placed on the surrounding framing. Experimental results are compared to monotonic pushover predictions from computer analysis using a simple model and good agreement is observed.