Dual Multistory Steel Frames with Replaceable Ductile Steel Shear Panels

Steel plate shear walls (SPSW) are efficient lateral load resisting systems, with high ductility and initial stiffness properties. When coupled with moment resisting frames (MRF) in sharing the seismic induced lateral loads, they can provide more resilient systems, if the later provide the restoring forces to recenter the structure. If the damage is localized in easily replaceable panels, repairing is easier and costs less. In the paper, dual SPSW-MRF systems are investigated for evaluating their seismic performances (plastic mechanism, global ductility, residual drift, recentering). Numerical models employed nonlinear shell approach for SPSW and bar elements for MRF and were calibrated against experimental data. Several repair/replacement sequences of damaged panels were investigated. For low to moderate damages induced during a seismic event, the MRF provides the structure recentering capacity. For significant damages however, plastic deformations in MRF prevent the structure from returning to its initial positions, as it remains with residual story drifts. Such residual drifts do not, however, mean that the building will be demolished, as the structure is still reparable but probably at higher costs.