Numerical and experimental investigation of the in-plane behavior of rectangular steel-plate composite walls

Steel-plate composite (SC) walls are composed of steel faceplates, infill concrete, shear studs bonding the faceplate to the infill, and tie rods linking the faceplates. In new build nuclear power plants, elastic response is sought of SC walls in design basis earthquake shaking and numerical and experimental studies on SC walls have focused primarily on response to design basis loadings. The inelastic response of SC walls for beyond design basis earthquake shaking has yet to be explored and characterized. The experimental and numerical response of four SC walls subjected to cyclic in-plane loading is summarized in this paper. The walls have an aspect ratio of 1.0 and are flexure-critical. A number of design parameters are investigated, including infill concrete thickness, reinforcement ratio, stud spacing, and tie bar spacing. Numerical models of these walls are constructed using the general-purpose finite element code LS-DYNA. The numerical analyses, and key experimental results are presented.