Cyclic Inelastic Behavior Of Concrete Filled Sandwich Panel Walls Subjected To In-Plane Flexure

Keywords: Cyclic testing, composite behavior, sandwich wall, seismic behavior, steel, boundary elements, flexural plastic strength, Abaqus, non-linear analysis, finite-elements, fiber analysis, tie bars design, preliminary design

Abstract: This report presents the results of an experimental and analytical study on the in-plane flexural inelastic behavior of concrete filled sandwich steel panel walls. Four large scale walls were tested under cyclic loading; the tested walls included specimens with and without boundary elements, two different spacing of the tie bars, and effectiveness of tie bar connection details. The tested walls had an aspect ratio larger than two. Ductile performance was achieved by development of the plastic moment capacity of the cross section. All tested specimens showed stable ductile performance. Finite element analysis was used to establish models simulating the behavior of the tested specimens and to conduct limited parametric studies. Based on the experimental and analytical findings, seismic design recommendations were formulated.