Novel modelling methods for composite steel-concrete shear walls using shell element

Composite steel plate-concrete infill shear walls (SCSW) are gaining popularity as lateral load-resisting solutions in multi-storey structures due to their significant benefits over traditional reinforced concrete shear walls. This research presents an effective finite element (FE) modelling approach along with a novel material model to predict the structural response of SCSW. The novel material model was developed from a parametric study of 190 shear wall specimens with different parameters using a solid element FE model. The results from the numerical analysis along with experimental results were used to develop a constitutive material model for concrete infill and steel plates. The novel material model implicitly considered the confinement effect due to the interaction between the steel plates and concrete and the stress redistribution via lateral ties and shear studs. The modified model was able to successfully incorporate the effect of steel yielding, local buckling, active/passive confinement, composite action, concrete and steel damage and fracture. A novel FE modelling method for SCSW using single composite shell element across the cross section has been proposed which requires lower computing resources with similar precision as compared to solid elements. The modified material model was successfully implemented in the proposed shell element modelling criteria using the software package Abaqus. Good agreement between the proposed methodology and experimental results was observed for non-linear analysis subjected to monotonic and cyclic lateral loading. The proposed methodology was able to accurately predict the response of SCSW with different sections such as rectangular, C-shaped and T-shaped sections.