Experimental and numerical study of self-center steel shear wall under cyclic loading
This article examines a self-centering semi-constrained steel shear wall (SSW) proposed as a new lateral load resisting system through an experimental testing and numerical simulation. The SSW is semi-constrained, connected to the floor beam, and supported by a self-centering steel frame. The frame includes steel beams and columns and uses post-tensioned cables to provide restoring force and help the structure return to its original position after loading. Since SSWs can dissipate energy and show good ductility, integrating the wall within a self-centering frame is intended to limit residual drift and achieve a system with very small permanent deformation. To evaluate performance, cyclic loading tests were conducted on a one-story, one-bay steel frame and on a self-centering frame incorporating a steel shear wall. Key response measures including yield and ultimate strength, residual displacement, effective stiffness, equivalent viscous damping ratio, and cumulative dissipated energy were obtained and compared with results for a comparable conventional SSW. The results show that the residual drift in the proposed system is roughly two to three times lower than that in the non self-centering shear wall system. The equivalent viscous damping ratio is approximately 0.17, and at higher loading levels it becomes close to that of the conventional wall. The numerical parametric study further indicates that increasing the shear wall plate thickness directly improves load capacity, while a very stiff end stiffener with large moment of inertia can reduce the self-centering performance.