Performance of unstiffened steel plate shear walls under cyclic quasi-static loading

Several structures around the world have been designed with steel plate shear walls acting as the primary lateral load resisting system. It represents an innovative technique for providing high elastic strength, large displacement ductility capacity, and good energy dissipation properties in medium and highrise steel structures, which is of particular importance in areas of high seismic risk. An experimental testing programme was conducted at the University of British Columbia on two single and one multistorey steel plate shear wall assemblies. Each specimen consisted of a single bay, 30 % scale model of an inner residential building core with panel width to height aspect ratios of 1:1. Each specimen employed momentresisting beam column connections, and thin unstiffened infill panels with full perimeter attachment to the surrounding frame. Quasi-static cyclic testing was conducted under standard testing protocols used to determine the seismic performance of steel structures. The determination of the load deformation response properties and resulting strain distribution in various components were the primary objectives of the testing program. The three test specimens were tested to maximum displacement ductilities of 7x5^ , , 6 x 5^ , and 1.5 x 5^ respectively. The termination of each test was a result of local problems and limitations of the testing setup, and did not necessarily reflect the global