Finite Element Investigation of Stiffened Beam-Only Connected Steel Plate Shear Walls under Cyclic Loading

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This study investigates a novel type of steel plate shear wall (SPSW) system in which the infill plate is detached from the boundary columns and reinforced using side, horizontal, or cross stiffeners. Although conventional SPSW systems offer several advantages, their main drawback is the requirement for large column sections due to the significant tension field forces developed in the infill plate after buckling. According to the capacity design concept, boundary columns must resist these forces to prevent the formation of plastic hinges along the column height. In recent years, the concept of separating the steel plate from the boundary columns has been proposed to mitigate these demands. In this study, the behavior of stiffened beam-only connected steel plate shear walls (BO SPSWs) is investigated using finite element analysis. The effects of stiffener arrangement, stiffener cross section, stiffener dimensions, and web plate thickness are examined. The numerical results demonstrate stable cyclic responses with no sudden strength degradation, indicating the ductile and reliable behavior of the proposed system. For configurations with side, horizontal, and cross stiffeners, tension fields develop within the steel plate, forming between the stiffeners and boundary beams and within the resulting subpanels. Among the investigated stiffener sections, T-shaped stiffeners provide superior structural performance. Furthermore, increasing the stiffener dimensions and the web plate thickness leads to higher ultimate strength and improved energy dissipation capacity.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Civil Engineering and Applied Solutions
Volume 3, Issue 1
Issue in Progress
January 2027
Pages 131-145

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History

  • Receive Date: 07 February 2026
  • Revise Date: 29 April 2026
  • Accept Date: 06 June 2026
  • First Publish Date: 06 June 2026

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