Finite Element Analysis of the Seismic Performance of Insert-Stiffened Steel Plate Shear Walls

The stiffening ribs of steel plate shear walls （SPSWs） are typically welded， which may result in the ribs bearing vertical frame loads， thereby complicating the stress distribution and affecting the seismic performance of the SPSWs. This study proposes a novel insert-stiffened steel plate shear wall that not only effectively mitigates these issues but also improves the wall's ease of assembly. Using finite element analysis via ABAQUS software， finite element models for five different types of SPSWs， including the insert-stiffened steel plate shear wall， were developed to conduct a comparative analysis of their hysteretic behaviors， bearing capacities， energy dissipation capacities， stiffnesses， and deformation characteristics. The results indicated that， compared to unstiffened steel plate shear walls， both welded-stiffener and insert-stiffened steel plate shear walls exhibited a significant increase in ultimate load， with improvements of 13.93% and 18.91%， respectively， demonstrating superior bearing capacity. Furthermore， due to the friction between contact surfaces， the insert-stiffened steel plate shear wall showed a 54.1% increase in total energy dissipation and a 23.7% improvement in its equivalent viscous damping coefficient， indicating exceptional energy dissipation and seismic performance. Although the stiffness of the insert-stiffened steel plate shear wall decreased significantly during the initial loading phase， its initial stiffness remained the highest among all models， with an 11.6% increase compared to the unstiffened steel plate shear wall. This indicated that the inserted stiffening ribs effectively restricted out-of-plane deformations of the steel plate， contributing to its superior seismic performance. As the density of the stiffening rib combination increased， the performance of the insert-stiffened steel plate shear wall was enhanced； however， when the density became excessively high， the rate of performance enhancement slowed. Thus， it is crucial to balance economic considerations and select an optimal stiffening rib combination density in the design.