Experimental Investigation of Using Sandwich Panels as Infill Plate in a Steel Plate Shear Wall

A total of five steel frame specimens, one bare and four infilled, were designed with thin-walled steel sheets and corrugated sandwich infill panels in order to increase their load and energy dissipation capacity. For this experimental study, single-story, single-bay steel frames of nominally-pinned beam-to-column connections were prepared with a scale ratio of 1:3. A quasi-static cyclic loading pattern was applied to the control bare and infilled steel frames, and their behavior was investigated both experimentally and analytically using SAP2000 and ABAQUS finite element software. First, five identical bare steel frame specimens were prepared and one of them was tested as a control specimen, and its rigidity and cyclic behavior was determined experimentally. Then, two sandwich panel specimens were prepared by connecting sandwich panels in the second and third bare steel frames using appropriate connections. The fourth specimen had only a single steel plate infill. Finally, the fifth specimen was prepared by removing the polyurethane material from inside the sandwich panel and only steel plates were attached to both faces of the frame. This way, it was possible to compare the effect of the polyurethane material inside the sandwich panel and the corrugated steel plate on the overall system behavior. In all specimens, the infill plates were fastened to the frame connection profiles using self-drilling screws and the responses of the specimens were compared in terms of their maximum load capacity, initial stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation capacity values under cyclic loading. The experimental and analytical investigations showed that, similarly to steel plate infills, the specimens with sandwich panels also behaved in a ductile manner with relatively lower load and energy dissipation capacities. Results of the strip model and the finite element model analyses were then compared with the experimental results and they were both found to be in good agreement.