Numerical investigation of the seismic performance of steel shear plate walls reinforced with cross-shaped and circular stiffeners

Steel plate shear walls are among the most promising lateral load-resisting systems. However, a major drawback of this system is that the thin steel plate infill is susceptible to buckling under its own weight or when exposed to seismic loads. To solve this problem, stiffeners are effectively employed. In this study, steel plate shear wall models incorporating perpendicular and horizontal cross-shaped and circular configurations were investigated. Finite element models of frame structures, comprising steel plate infill along with adjacent beams and columns, were developed in ANSYS and validated against experimental data from the scholarly literature. The numerical model demonstrated excellent agreement with published experimental results. After confirming model accuracy and material suitability, a series of 3-span, 5-story frame models, was generated to evaluate the effects of stiffener quantity (0, 2, 3, and 4) and configuration. To this end, pushover analyses were performed, and the resulting capacity curves were plotted. These curves were subsequently idealized following Federal Emergency Management Agency recommendations, and seismic parameters – including ductility factor, response modification factor, stiffness, and shear capacity – were thoroughly examined. In addition, cyclic loading analyses were performed by applying incremental displacements at the roof level, and the corresponding energy dissipation capacities were determined. The results indicate that steel plate shear walls with circular reinforcements exhibit a ductility factor of 29.41, whereas those with cross-shaped stiffeners have a ductility factor of 17.10, indicating the superior ductility performance of circular stiffeners. However, cross-shaped stiffeners outperform circular stiffeners in terms of shear capacity, reaching 5,815 kN compared to 4,020 kN. In addition, the highest stiffness value (921.5 kN/mm) was observed in the hybrid model incorporating both cross and circular stiffeners. Optimization analysis revealed that four perpendicular circular stiffeners yield the maximum energy dissipation capacity, while three circular stiffeners optimize ductility, response modification factor, and shear strength.