Tests on Steel-Frame, Shear-Wall Structures

Tests of three, four-story, single-bay, coupled shear-wall, steel-frame specimens were performed as part of a general investigation of the behavior of multistory structures. Each test specimen consisted of a reinforced concrete shear wall and a steel column stack, connected at four levels by rigidly framed steel beams. The first two specimens were designed to exhibit behavior characteristic of the bottom stories of a tall structure and the third to simulate the behavior of the top stories. The experimental results are compared with the behavior predicted by a second-order elastic plastic analysis. The analysis takes into account the finite width of the shear wall and the migration of the plastic hinges in the steel members from the geometric center line of the joint. The results indicate that the load-carrying capacity of coupled shear-wall frame structures can be closely predicted by the analysis.