Abstract

An experimental study was performed to investigate the cyclic behavior of walls that are composed of reinforced concrete boundary frames and thin steel infill plates. For this purpose, three-story steel plate infilled walls (SPIW) were tested. The parameters in this test were the reinforcement ratio of the columns and opening in the infill plates. A reinforced concrete infilled wall (RCIW) and a reinforced concrete frame (RCF) were also tested for comparison. The deformation capacity of the SPIW specimens was significantly greater than that of the RCIW specimen, though the specimens exhibited an identical load-carrying capacity. Similar to the steel plate walls with steel boundary frames, the SPIW specimens showed excellent strength, deformation capacity, and energy dissipation capacity. Furthermore, by using the steel infill plates, shear cracking and failure of the column-beam joints were prevented. By using the strip model, the strength and initial stiffness of the SPIW specimens were predicted. The prediction results were compared with the test results.