Research Needs and Future Directions for Steel Plate Shear Walls

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are one of the most economical and under-utilized lateral load resisting systems currently available to structural engineers. In comparison with traditional lateral load systems, such as steel braced frames, reinforced concrete walls and moment resisting frames, SPSWs have fewer costly detailing requirements, require less stringent construction tolerances, allow for rapid construction, and result in fewer bays of lateral load resisting framing. Past studies have also shown that SPSWs can exhibit exemplary seismic performance. Despite these advantages, SPSWs are not widely used because: i) traditional SPSW configurations result in large column dimensions and prohibit the use of narrow walls, thereby reducing the system’s economy, ii) numerical models used to analyze SPSW systems are cumbersome and overly time consuming for engineers, iii) SPSW system behavior is not well understood, leading to conservative design requirements and further reduction in economy, and iv) SPSWs have a lower flexural stiffness relative to concrete walls, making their use in taller buildings more challenging. Further, SPSW systems must be studied in the context of performance-based design as this will result in reliable and robust systems. This paper will discusses the issues above, with specific examples and propose solutions for developing the next-generation of steel plate shear walls. These solutions will allow SPSWs to be economically implemented by providing new configurations, new modeling techniques, and a more complete understanding of system behavior. Development of these solutions and performance-based criteria for their design will require a significant, coordinated research initiative. As such, research needs are identified and discussed.