Comparative Shear Performance of Concrete Shear Walls vs. Cross Bracing in Steel Structures
Abstract
Lateral load-resisting systems play a decisive role in the seismic behavior of steel structures. This study compares the shear performance of reinforced concrete shear walls and cross-bracing systems in steel frames. Two types of analyses were conducted: 1) micro-modeling of a single-story steel frame using Abaqus finite element software, and 2) macro-modeling of 4-, 8-, and 12-story steel buildings using Etabs Software. Nonlinear static (pushover) analysis was performed for all models. Results indicate that concrete shear walls significantly increase lateral stiffness, base shear capacity, and energy dissipation compared to cross-braced frames, albeit with slightly lower ductility. The concrete shear wall system provides a higher safety margin, especially in low- to mid-rise buildings.
Keywords:
Concrete shear wall, Steel structure, Shear performance, Cross bracing, Pushover analysis, AbaqusReferences
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