Evaluation of composite shear wall behavior under cyclic loadings

Composite steel shear walls (CSSW) are widely used in civil projects due to its high stiffness and deformability. It can be utilized by either laying a concrete layer connected to the steel plate by shear studs or bonding a Fiber Reinforced Polymer sheet. The present experimental and numerical investigations were focused on the effects of shear studs spacing variation, middle beam rigidity and the method of beam to column connection on the CSSW behavior. Results indicate that increasing the shear studs spacing reduces the slope of load-displacement curve and improves ductility up to a specific studs’ spacing. In addition, the effects of middle beam rigidity and beam to column connections are insignificant on the composite steel shear walls behavior.