THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301

Published online 29 January 2016 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tal). DOI: 10.1002/tal.1301

Optimized design procedure for coupling panels in steel plate shear

walls

Soheil Sadeghi Eshkevari, Kiarash M. Dolatshahi and Massood Mofid*

Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran

SUMMARY
Coupling beams have had a widespread application as performance enhancing devices within concrete
structures and more recently also in steel structures. However, the conventional coupling beams are not so
efficient in coupling distant walls. In this paper, a novel form of coupling members, namely, coupling panels
is proposed and, then, the application for a nine-story building is investigated. Coupling panels are steel plates
which are exerted in the intermediate spans between adjacent shear walls and act as a mega-coupling beam.
First, a verified finite element model is constructed to demonstrate coupling panel behavior along with its global
structural mechanism. Subsequently, a nine story building is designed and retrofitted as a new and existing
building, using coupling panels. Moreover, an innovative optimization algorithm is proposed in order to
achieve the best plate configuration to improve the structural performance using Nonlinear Static Analysis,
Modal Pushover Analysis and Time History Analysis and the corresponding results are compared. In
summary, it is shown that coupling panels can considerably control structural deformation demands toward
a uniform pattern and reduce demands of main shear walls. The optimized design method also leads to a more
economical design in comparison with force-based design approaches. In addition, the proposed coupling
panels are shown to be significantly effective, regarding to energy dissipation during earthquakes, and can
enhance the structural resiliency. Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 25 December 2015; Revised 08 May 2016; Accepted 26 May 2016

KEY WORDS: steel plate shear wall; coupling panel; coupling beam; optimization; structural passive control;
nite-element method; nonlinear static analysis; modal pushover analysis; time history analysis; resiliency

1. INTRODUCTION

Steel plate shear wall (SPSW) system is a significantly popular lateral force resisting system used in
mid-to-high rise buildings and has been greatly investigated throughout the recent few decades
(Thorburn et al., 1983; Timler and Kulak, 1983; Roberts and Ghomi, 1991; Astaneh-Asl and Zhao,
2002; Kang et al., 2013). This type of lateral resisting system occupies less space and weight in
comparison with concrete alternatives. Erection and assemblage can also be simply performed which
leads to easier construction (Astaneh-Asl and Council, 2001). Additionally, higher ductility capacity
results in excellent performance under high seismic loadings. Due to the aforementioned characteris-
tics, SPSWs can be implemented in new buildings as the main lateral resisting system and may also
be implemented in existing buildings as a retrofitting device (Kang et al., 2013). However, the capacity
design method introduced in AISC 341-10 (ANSI/AISC, 2010) for SPSWs leads to heavy boundary
elements that may not be required even under the maximum considered hazard levels (Berman,
2011). Furthermore, a non-uniform rate of inter-story drift ratios was reported in mid-to-high rise
buildings that were equipped with cantilevered shear walls leading to concentrated inelastic demands
on middle-height components. Berman (2011) reported that in the tall SPSWs, a lower web plate

*Correspondence to: Massood Mod, Sharif University of Technology, Room 516, Civil Engineering Department,
Azadi Street, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: mod@sharif.edu

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2 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

ductility demand is observed relative to that found in low-rise buildings. It is also shown that a reduc-
tion in column demands relative to those determined from the capacity design principles is indicated.
There is a vast amount of information with regards to coupled piers being used as the lateral resisting
system in concrete buildings (Subedi et al., 1999; Harries and McNeice, 2006). The main goal of
introducing coupled piers is to reduce the inelastic peak and residual deformations among building
components. Furthermore, the coupled walls can distribute the inelastic deformation, both vertically
and horizontally, between the coupling members and the wall piers (Eljadei and Harries, 2014).
They can also be useful in respect to architectural limits when mandatory passage ways or openings
need to be put into the walls (Sabelli, 2007). In the case of narrow layouts, coupled piers can be a
feasible choice in order to connect adjacent narrow piers that could not be sufficiently stiffened
individually.
With regards to steel structures, there are several references to coupled SPSWs being investigated.
Borello and Fahnestock (2012) reported a 1540% weight reduction when using a coupled equivalent
pair of planer SPSWs in comparison with uncoupled ones. The pair also expressed the best value of
Degree of Coupling (DC) at approximately 50%. Moreover, it is shown that in the coupled walls,
the coupling members endure a significant amount of deformation demand; from that perspective, they
can be considered as energy dissipating devices that can even be replaceable (Dusicka and Lewis,
2010). Hence, the global performance of a coupled structure is linked to its coupling member
deformation capacity. The inelastic deformation capacity of the coupling beams can also be enhanced
by some innovative ideas, such as corrugated web plates in order to achieve higher ductility or hybrid
buckling restrained coupling beams (Shahmohammadi et al., 2013; Li et al., 2015).
Gholizadeh and Shahrezaei (2015) introduced an algorithm to find the optimal placement of SPSWs
in a 2D frame, in order to minimize weight of a structure. In this research, the structural component
properties (plates thicknesses and boundary elements portioning) are assigned as the design
variables, and the optimization problem has been solved using a computational algorithm. However,
the suggested optimization method is practically complex and also is based on linear static analysis,
which cannot accurately estimate structural forces for irregular cases. Moreover, the authors have
assumed the same formulation for tension field angle (TFA) of intermediate panels, which as shown
in the following section, is not a precise assumption.
Furthermore, performance criteria, when it comes to Performance-Based Design approaches, is
mainly displacement based. Therefore, it can be a design goal to provide adequate stiffness merely
to ensure that the resultant displacements are within the acceptable limits, including the adequate
deformation and dissipation capacity. Thus, a ductile resilient stiff coupling member is desirable. In
general, according to ACI 318-11 (Committee, 2011), coupling beams with a span-to-depth ratio of
greater than 4 are considered as a flexural member, which has significantly less stiffness in comparison
with a shear-controlled coupling beam. As a result, coupling beams cannot be considerably effective in
long spans. Thus, a deep beam configuration that could be suitable for long spans and act as a shear
controlled member would be desirable.
Taking into account all the aforementioned weaknesses associated with SPSWs and coupled walls,
in this paper, coupling panels (CP) are introduced as innovative coupling members which can be
located into intermediate spans between adjacent piers with similar assemblage detailing as SPSWs.
The proposed coupling members have a greater capacity with respect to inelastic deformation and
stiffness compared with conventional coupling beams. Furthermore, long spans can be coupled using
CPs due to the comprehensive shear behavior of thin plates. The CPs are not required to be placed in
every story and can be located in the most effective places throughout the height of a structure.
Moreover, these devices can lead to a better inelastic deformation distribution between structural
components.
At the same time, several optimized design and retrofitting types of step by step procedures are
proposed in order to achieve an efficient performance-based structural design using CPs. In order to
study the proposed device, the research procedure is conducted as follows: First, the structural
behavior of CPs in conjunction with SPSWs is discussed and modifications are proposed with respect
to the conventional code equations. Next, a finite element (FE) modeling is employed in order to
highlight the expected features of the CPs in a nine story structure. Then, an analytical study is
conducted in order to compare different analysis methods using OpenSees (McKenna et al., 2000)

Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 3 of 22

program. Uniform inter-story drift ratio has been chosen as the main performance goal for the
assessment of the structural performance. A simple optimization algorithm, namely, the optimality
criteria (OP) pertaining to the optimization method (Haftka and Grdal, 2012) has also been
considered. Thus, in order to optimize the proposed system equipped with SPSWs, Nonlinear Static
Analysis (NSA), the Modal Pushover Analysis (MPA) and the Time History Analysis (THA) are
performed in order to achieve the best method for optimization and performance assessment. Finally,
the optimization procedure is categorized into two types: (a) new building design and (b) existing
building retrofit. For both approaches, feasible implementation concerns and architectural limitations
are considered and solutions are proposed.

2. CONCEPT OF COUPLING PANELS

CP act as a deformation regulator between adjacent piers which, otherwise, would act individually.
These panels connect piers together as a deep mega-coupling beam which is composed of two
surrounding Horizontal Boundary Elements (HBEs) and a steel infill plate. Basically, HBEs can be
considered as flanges and the steel plate acts like the web of a deep girder beam.
CPs can be located in different patterns in a structure as shown in Figure 1. The configuration of CPs
can be dictated by architectural demands or by structural engineers based on the best response
performance. CP form a multi-story moment frame which acts as a lateral resisting system in
combination with SPSWs. These panels are considered to be superior with respect to ductility and
stiffness capacity compared with other coupling members. In general, coupling beams experience
greater shear demands; they can either act like flexure-controlled beams or in the case of narrow spans,
like shear-controlled beams. In other words, the failure modes of coupling beams are the formation of
plastic hinges adjacent to their connections. However, in the case of CPs, the failure mode is assumed
to be the formation of plastic tension-field regions in the steel plate, which is more reliable than other
types of energy dissipating mechanisms and also has more deformation capacity due to the distribution
of plasticity along the diameter of the panels as opposed to the concentrated region of plastic hinges
found in coupling beams.
Moreover, when a CP is employed, local stiffness is exerted to that specific region and
consequently, differential curvature between upper and lower stories becomes minimized. As a result,
the progressive values of inter-story drift which are an intrinsic characteristic of a cantilever system
like shear walls can be controlled by the application of CPs. Additionally, CPs can be easily employed
between distant piers in which coupling beams are not a feasible choice. Furthermore, Figure 1(b), (c)
and (d) illustrate how the deformation pattern can be affected by the configuration of CPs. Ultimately it
is desirable to find an effective pattern and plate thickness such that the most uniform inter-story drift
ratio between stories can be achieved.

Figure 1. Conventional SPSW versus coupled congurations.

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4 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

2.1. Tension eld angle modication

Due to the conceptual difference between conventional SPSWs and CPs, the theory of TFA for these
panels should first be investigated. The CP experience a different deformation mechanism compared to
the conventional SPSWs. Hence, the conventional analytical assumptions cannot be extended for these
types of panels. A typical SPSW consists of horizontal and vertical boundary elements along with a
steel plate that simply buckles in shear and forms an inclined tension field that acts as a series of axial
members to resist lateral loads. AISC 341-10 uses the equation derived by Thorburn et al. (1983) for
the TFA in SPSWs. To that end, the TFA measured from the vertical axis is calculated as follows:

1 2A
tw L
tan4 h c
i (1)
h3
1 tw h Ab 360I
1
cL

where, tw is the web plate thickness, h is the distance between HBE centerlines, L is the distance
between VBE centerlines, Ab is the average cross-sectional area of the HBEs, Ac is the average cross
sectional area of the VBEs and Ic is the average moment of inertia of the VBEs.
This formulation is identical for both SPSWs surrounded by boundary elements along with fixed or
released connections (Sabelli, 2007). It is considered that for CPs, a modification should be applied
into the eq. (1). This is mainly due to the inter-span deformation mechanism which occurs in CPs
instead of the inter-story deformation mechanism found in conventional shear walls. According to
Thorburn et al. (1983), simple configuration of the wall along with a simple boundary loading would
be assumed (Figure 2(b)). Thus, the derived formulation was achieved using the least work rule and
some simplified assumptions, and the expression of elastic internal work is differentiated with respect
to and the result set equal to zero. Using this method the value of is derived. In the simple config-
uration as shown in Figure 2(b), it is assumed that a story shear force acts directly on the upper HBE.
Although, in the case of CPs, the deformed shape indicates that a different force pattern is exerted on
the panels. When two adjacent piers resist against lateral forces, the resistance mechanism resembles a
cantilevered beam. Therefore, in mid-to-high rise piers, there is a considerable vertical displacement
between the inner columns of both piers. On the other hand, when an intermediate member works
as a coupling member between the piers, it experiences a vertical shear deformation mechanism due
to its deformation compatibility role. A coupling member between two adjacent piers can also be
considered to act as a short beam of a single span moment frame with a significant vertical shear
demand imposed upon its whole length. Thus, it is a logical deduction that in the case of CPs, the
eq. (1) should be used with a modification. The deformed shape shown in Figure 2(c) indicates that
in panel B, the HBEs should be considered as the vertical pairs and vice versa. This is an essential
modification to make the aforementioned equation applicable.
It will also be shown that this deformation mechanism is essentially independent of the layout of the
CP within the elevation of the structure. However, it is obvious that when the number of CPs increases
in the middle span, the frame behavior also alters from that of a coupled frame to that of a three span
conventional SPSW. Hence, the deformation mechanism of the middle span plates inevitably tends

Figure 2. Conceptual scheme.

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 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 5 of 22

towards a conventional inter-story mechanism. Thus, it is reasonable that the deformation mechanism
of the middle span panels has a direct relationship with the number of panels employed. Nevertheless,
when using coupled frames, the number of engaged stories is limited. Therefore, simplified method for
calculating the TFA of CP is proposed, which assumes a 90 rotation of the whole configuration that is
assumed in AISC 341-10. It should be strictly noted that when the whole assemblage is rotated 90, the
given TFA is computed with respect to the horizontal axis instead of the vertical. The predicted
deformed shape along with the TFA pertaining to the CP will be examined using a FE model in the
next section.

3. FINITE ELEMENT STUDY

In this section, a three-dimensional model of a nine story building is developed using FEM to verify
the effects of CP application on the response performance of the structure. The proposed modification
for the TFA calculation is also discussed and verified. Initially, the modeling parameters are calibrated
using the experimental results of a SPSW.

3.1. Modeling parameter calibration

In order to set modeling parameters, the results of an experiment undertaken by Vian and Bruneau
(2005) (Purba and Bruneau, 2014) are adopted. A one-half scale one story specimen, 4 m wide by
2 m high, with moment-resisting HBE to VBE connections and a Reduced Beam Section (RBS) on
the beams has been constructed. At the same time, two real hinge supports located at 0.85 m below
the intersection of the BEs have been also provided. For simplicity, the VBEs have been defined to
be elastic due to having no failures reported in them up to 2.6% of drift. The plate connection details
have been also removed in the FE model due to their negligible effect on the behavior of the whole
system. In addition, W18X65 and W18X71 were used for the HBEs and the VBEs, respectively, as
well as, a 2.6-mm-thick plate was incorporated into the frame. Boundary elements were made of
ASTM A572 Grade 50 steel and Low Yield Steel (LYS), having yield and ultimate stresses of
165 MPa and 305 MPa, respectively. The coupon test results of the materials are stated in the
aforementioned report. Cyclic loading according to the cyclic displacement history proposed by the
authors was implemented and this is also presented in the corresponding reference. As mentioned, a
2.6% drift has been assigned as the last acceptable deformation cycle, resulting in a tearing failure
at the corner of the plate.
In order to define a real hinge support in the FE model, the lower part of the VBE is defined as an
elastic part in which only the middle node of the VBE section is restrained for translational
movements. For boundary elements and the web plate, shell elements with a maximum element size
of 5 cm have been assigned and geometric nonlinearities are preserved in order to capture the buckling
of the steel plate. Moreover, isotropic strain hardening is attributed to nonlinear shell elements where
the corresponding material strain-stress parameters are allotted based on the coupon tests available in
the reference report (Vian and Bruneau, 2005). Out of plane movements are also restricted for all parts
with the exception of the steel plate. The FE model and the results from experimental hysteresis are
shown together in Figure 3. It should be noted that the hysteresis graph is only valid up to 2.6%
due to the local fractures that occurred in the steel plate. Results indicate a reasonable correlation;
therefore, it can be concluded that the modeling procedure is acceptable and the modeling assumptions
can be used for further investigation.

3.2. Finite element models of the conventional and coupled wall

In this section, the behavior of CP in a building equipped with a SPSW system is investigated through
the FE modeling. The frame selected is a nine story building utilizing SPSW as the lateral load
resisting system which is based on Design Example II: High Seismic Design of AISC Design Guide
No. 20 (Sabelli, 2007) with plan and elevation views shown in Figure 4. [More detailed information
is presented in the related reference.] Boundary elements and plate thicknesses are also given in
Table 1. The frame is designed according to AISC 360-10 (Committee, 2010) and AISC 341-10 using

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6 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

Figure 3. Hysteresis graph of experiment versus numerical results.

Figure 4. Plan and elevation of AISC design guide No. 20high seismic example.

Table 1. Boundary element sections and web plates of conventional and coupled frame.
Level Web plate VBE HBE Intermediate Coupling panel
thickness (mm) HBE thickness (mm)
Roof W30X108
Ninth oor 1.7 W14X283 W27X94 W30X116
Eighth oor 2.6 W14X283 W27X94 W30X116 4.7
Seventh oor 3.1 W14X283 W27X94
Sixth oor 3.4 W14X398 W30X108
Fifth oor 4.7 W14X398 W27X94 W30X116
Fourth oor 4.7 W14X665 W30X116 W30X116 5.1
Third oor 6.3 W14X665 W27X94
Second oor 6.3 W14X665 W27X94
First oor 6.3 W14X665 W30X108

the capacity design approach for boundary elements. Plate material is ASTM A36 and boundary
element material is ASTM A992. There are four piers in each direction to resist the lateral forces in
the building with all the other columns are being attached to the resisting SPSWs by linked beams.
In order to compare the behavior of SPSWs with CP (SPSW-CP) versus the behavior of
conventional SPSWs, one pair of SPSWs was located on the southern edge with a 9-m intermediate
span has been adopted. Moreover, CPs should be placed in different stories in the aforementioned

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 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 7 of 22

frame. It is obvious that by a probabilistic evaluation, 29 CP patterns can be considered for a nine story
building. But in practice, there are some architectural limits that reduce the available choices. In this
model, it is assumed that the CPs are placed only in the fourth and eighth stories. Furthermore, the
thickness of the CPs is derived as a result of an optimization method which will be discussed later.
The plate thicknesses and dimensions for both the conventional and coupled SPSWs are presented
in Table 1. The loading pattern is according to the load distribution of ASCE 7-10 (American Society
of Civil Engineers, 2010), which is presented in the corresponding reference, and a pushover analysis
is conducted for both frames up to 3.0% drift at the roof level.
Before embarking into following steps, the validation of the proposed modification indicated in
Table 2 should be checked. It can be seen that the FE model can correctly estimate the TFA for a
conventional SPSW. However, the TFAs captured from the modeling results for CPs do not show
an acceptable correlation with the original AISC 341-10 equation values; however, they are generally
in line with the proposed modified equation results. Note that the CP angles calculated by the original
AISC 341-10 equation show about a 15% underestimation with respect to the FE results; this means
that the VBEs will be designed based on lower distributed lateral forces in comparison with the actual
situation and vice versa for the HBEs, when using AISC proposed equation for CPs.
The total base shear versus the story drift ratio of the frames with and without CP obtained from the
pushover analysis is shown in Figure 5. According to the curves, for the same base shears, displace-
ment of the coupled frame is less than the conventional frame due to the frame action mechanism that
adds stiffness to the two cantilever piers. The ratio of the frame stiffness to strength is greater than
cantilevered piers. Thus, a considerable portion of the lateral load in the elastic region is resisted by
the coupling members. Therefore, the more strength and stiffness they have, the less demand will
exerted on the shear walls. The extra stiffness that is added to the conventional walls by implementing
CPs can be evaluated by comparing the initial stiffness of two pushover curves. In addition, the
coupled frame has a more uniform inelastic deformation distribution and this leads to more efficient
behavior when compared to a conventional one. The deformed shape and plastic strain distribution
are shown in Figure 6. The deformed shapes of the conventional frame (Figure 6-I) demonstrate the
region of maximum curvature in the middle stories. Therefore, the conventional frame shows undesir-
able inelastic strain concentrations in that region. Moreover, the additional ultimate strength of the
coupled frame, approximately 12% higher than a conventional frame, is caused by the additional com-
ponents participating in resistance against the lateral load.
A comparison between the two deformed shapes of the conventional and coupled frames in Figure 6
reveals that CP can have a considerable effect on drift control. Thus, a knowledge-based procedure for
the location of coupling members can achieve desirable uniform inter-story drift. The sequence of
inelastic deformation with respect to the magnitude of lateral load is also shown in Figure 6. As
mentioned above, as a result of the frame action of coupled frames, CP reduce inelastic deformation
in comparison with original SPSWs. The DC ratio of the coupled frame affirms the aforementioned
conclusion. In the coupled frame, the DC ratio equals 0.4 in the elastic range and as the CP starts to
yield, the DC ratio comes down and converges to a residual magnitude of 0.2. It can be concluded that
for a moderate magnitude of lateral loads, CP work in the same way as sacrificial members and even
can form a replaceable part of the frame. Thus, the CP can be considered as resiliency effective
members in buildings.
Furthermore, there is an approximate 14% reduction in the maximum column uplift found in the
coupled frame due to the frame action of the coupled walls. In a perfectly coupled system, axial forces
are induced in the adjacent piers and the resultant moment of the piers axial forces resists against the
overturning moment. However, in linked piers, each pier works individually and significant reaction

Table 2. TFA measures comparisonrespect to the vertical axis.

FEM result AISC 340-10 Modied equation
First story SPSW 47.5 43.1
Fourth story CP 56.7 44.9 52.7
Eighth story CP 59.5 49.4 53.7

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8 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

Figure 5. Comparison of the pushover curves of conventional and coupled frames.

Figure 6. Equivalent plastic strain distribution and deformed shape of conventional and
coupled frames.

forces are induced in the columns(Eljadei and Harries, 2014). Thus, the actual force of the VBEs found
in coupled frames is somewhere between the axial force of fully coupled piers and completely separate
piers.
In coupled frames, CP can be surrounded by moment resisting HBE-to-VBE connections or hinged
connections. It should be noted that both choices have very similar results with respect to the stiffness
and strength of the whole system. However, in case of higher rates of drift, the moment resisting
connections impose additional plastic moments in the VBEs that can lead to VBE debilitation.
Consideration of this issue is deemed essential when the CP are going to be used as a retrofitting
device in an existing building.
Moreover, the deformed shape of the coupled panel in Figure 6 clarifies the discussion regarding the
deformation mechanism of the coupled panels. The inter-span deformation mechanism instead of the
inter-story deformation mechanism is clearly visible. It is also notable that the deformation mechanism
of the CPs is independent of their location and that both the eighth and fourth story panels show similar
predictable deformations.

Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 9 of 22

4. ANALYTICAL ASSESSMENT

In this section, response and performance assessments are carried out for the nine story AISC Design
Guide No. 20High Seismic example. Currently available design guidelines, such as FEMA 356
(Council, 2000) and ASCE 41-13 (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2014) suffer from a lack of
acceptance criteria for un-stiffened SPSWs. Nevertheless, it is a proven concept that both structural
and nonstructural damage sustained during earthquake ground motions are primarily induced by lateral
displacement (Moghaddam and Hajirasouliha, 2008). Current research indicates that during different
ground motions, the deformation demand of the original designed SPSW, based on the AISC
341-10 (ANSI/AISC, 2010) strength-based capacity design method, experiences a wide range of
values. In other words, this means that some stories do not reach their acceptable inter-story drift ratio
while other stories suffer a higher than acceptable rate of drift ratio. Therefore, uniform lateral
deformation criterion has been chosen as the main goal of the optimization procedure (Moghaddam
and Hajirasouliha, 2008). When aiming toward this goal, both efficient material distribution and
controlled inter-story drift ratios for critical stories can be achieved simultaneously. In order to find
a practical optimization method for the design and retrofit of SPSWs, three analysis methods are used.
The Nonlinear Static Procedure (NSP), MPA and THA have all been implemented, the performance
parameters have been compared and the best method ascertained. The optimization method has
employed two approaches. For existing building retrofit, a conventionally designed SPSW has been
equipped with CP between the original piers. However, in case of new building design, the
optimization is done without any limitation with regards to the usage of CPs.
The OP method (Haftka and Grdal, 2012) has been utilized with different approaches in order to
achieve the easiest and most precise method for designing new buildings as well as for retrofitting
existing buildings, based on a uniform distribution of drift throughout the height of the structure.
The most practical method has been introduced and the optimized frame is examined in relation to
other performance criteria including peak absolute story acceleration, residual drift, DC and maximum
column uplift. In cases of strict architectural limits with regards to the location of CPs, a step-by-step
procedure is conducted with the purpose of using CPs only in the allowable stories.

4.1. Modeling assumptions

A two-dimensional nonlinear analytical model was developed for the SPSW piers found in the
southern elevation of the AISC Design Guide building structure using a nonlinear structural analysis
program (McKenna et al., 2000). Half the total story mass is assigned to a leaning column adjacent to
the original frame in order to capture the P effect according to the reference assumptions (Sabelli,
2007). In addition the boundary elements are defined as elastic beam elements. Due to the usage of a
strip model for steel plate walls, each boundary element is divided into several pieces. Hence, in
order to capture inelastic behavior among beam or column lengths, a nonlinear rotational moment
hinge is located at the ends of each piece. The spring behavior is defined based on the proposed
momentrotation relationship of Technical Report MCEER-14-0005 (Purba and Bruneau, 2014),
for a single story SPSW, as defined by Vian and Bruneau (2005). Ten nonlinear tension-only bars
are used for modeling each panel and the strip forcedisplacement model proposed in the MCEER
Report is implemented for defining strips. It should be noted that other material definition sets which
are introduced in the MCEER report consider strength degradation by taking into account the
probability of local weld fractures or tearing but there are not related to this topic. Thus, simple
material definitions are sufficient for the purpose of structural behavior assessment. It is also
presumed that the surrounding HBEs of CP are connected to the original VBEs by pinned
connections; otherwise, the VBEs would form undesirable coupling beam plastic hinges that
are outside the area of interest of this paper. Besides, the focus of the current paper pertains to the
behavior of CP as an easy assembled retrofit device. Hence, changing the load-resisting
HBE-to-VBE connections to moment-resisting ones would not be a simple or appropriate choice
for a designer. For dynamic analysis, Rayleigh damping is used to represent the inherent damping
ratio of a steel frame, adjusted so that a 2% damping ratio in the period range 0.2 T1 to 0.9 T1 is
provided (T1 is the first fundamental modal period of the frame).

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10 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

To verify the modeling assumptions, the aforementioned test is calibrated with the OpenSees
(McKenna et al., 2000) model based on exact characteristics. A nonlinear cyclic pushover analysis
is carried out with the loading time-history that is proposed by the corresponding report (Purba and
Bruneau, 2014) and the hysteresis graphs are shown in Figure 3. As shown, a good correlation is
obtained between the results, indicating that the basic modeling assumptions of the SPSW are
reasonably valid and can be used in this study.

4.2. Optimization concept

The main approach of the current research is to attain a practical method for the design or retrofit of
SPSW systems with the purpose of enhancing the performance response of a specific structure after
an earthquake. Therefore, the method is based on an iterative optimization procedure, namely, the
OP method (Haftka and Grdal, 2012) which uses a simple equation that changes a dependent factor
with respect to the difference between the actual value of a parameter compared with its desired value.
This method is also used by several researchers in order to enhance the performance behavior of
structures (Mohammadi et al., 2004; Moghaddam and Hajirasouliha, 2008; Nikoukalam et al.,
2015). The OP is a simple and practical optimization algorithm. The ductility and stiffness of a
simplified multi-degree of freedom model for multi-story buildings were optimized by Moghaddam
and Hajirasouliha based on this method (Moghaddam and Hajirasouliha, 2008). Nikoukalam et al.
(2015) also used the aforementioned optimization method in order to find the best pre-tensioning
forces for an innovative damping connection, namely, shear slotted bolted connection. Note that
the OP method may have some serious drawbacks for multi objective or highly dependent
optimization problems, but for single objective formulations with low level of dependency it works
desirably.
In this study, uniform inter-story drift is chosen as the performance enhancement objective
function during optimization iterations. The concept of drift uniformity states that a uniform
deformation distribution throughout the height of structure leads to material efficiency and
simultaneously plastic deformation control. In fact, the discrete optimization problem can be
formulated as follows:

Find X fctk 1 ctk 2 ctk n gT ;

T o minimize : covdrift X covariancedrif t 1 drif t 2 drif t n ;

where, ctki is the cumulative thickness of ith story and the objective function is to minimize covariance
of inter-story drifts (drifti). In this optimization problem, design and constraints are checked implicitly
when the updated frame is exposed against nonlinear THA, which are mostly, peak drifts, accelerations
and residual deformations.
For this purpose, an iterative procedure for choosing CP thicknesses has been adopted allowing the
most uniform inter-story drift along the height of structure to be achieved. The procedure is described
as follows:
a) After rst analysis, the average of the inter-story drifts for all stories is determined and set as the
desired uniform drift in each step. The CP thickness distribution is then adjusted with respect to
the variance of the actual story drift from the mean value. Story stiffness distribution is modied
in such a way that for higher inter-story drift demands compared with the desired one, the CP
thickness grows, and for stories with a lower inter-story drift demand, the original plate thickness
is reduced. In order to quantify this concept, the following equation is used:
 
Di
t i n1 t i n  (2)
Dt;i

where, ti = CP thickness at ith story; Di = inter-story drift at ith story; Dt,i = desired drift at the ith story;
n = step number; = convergence coefcient ranging from 0 to 1, chosen with respect to convergence
speed and the equation compatibility with the subject behavior. In this study, = 0.2 led to a good
convergence rate along with capturing the optimal value.

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 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 11 of 22

b) The adjusted thicknesses should then be applied to the frame and the steps repeated to the point
where an acceptable inter-story drift trend is achieved. In order to assess the effectiveness of the
optimization methods, the coefcient of variation (cov) is used.
The schematic steps used for optimization are illustrated in Figure 7. In order to find the simplest
and the most efficient method of optimization, several well-known analysis methods have been
assessed in the following sections. For each method, several nonlinear THA have been conducted to
check the reliability of the results obtained using the proposed optimization method. According to
ASCE 7-10 (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2010) the procedure for THA considers seven
earthquake ground motions with an identical fault mechanism, which in this study, are selected from
the FEMA P695 (FEMA, 2009) far-field ground motion sets. Basic information for the selected ground
motions is given and discussed in detail in the FEMA P695. Earthquake acceleration records are
adjusted to match the MCE target response spectrum employed in the nonlinear THA by means of
the wavelets algorithm proposed by Abrahamson and Hancock (Hancock et al., 2006) using the
SeismoMatch software (SeismoSoft, 2006). The mean spectrum converges to the target spectrum in
Figure 8 for 22 earthquake records taken from the FEMA P695, matching well over the period range
of 0.2 T1 to 1.5 T1.

4.3. Nonlinear static analysis

Initially, the most prevalent analysis method found in the literature which is NSA is utilized. This
procedure, often called pushover is performed to estimate the inelastic demands found in different
components and to inspect the structural performance (Applied Technology Council (ATC), 1996).
In order to perform a NSA, the first step is to apply seismic gravity loads followed by a lateral load
pattern considering the P- effects. The FEMA 440 (FEMA, 2005) equivalent linearization method,
using ductility and the post-elastic stiffness ratio for predicting the target drift, is employed based on
the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) demand spectrum. A step-by-step iterative procedure

Figure 7. Optimization steps owchart.

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12 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

Figure 8. Matched earthquake response spectrums with respect to the design spectrum and the mean
matched spectrum.

is conducted in order to adjust CP thicknesses with respect to the uniform inter-story drift obtained.
The iteration steps have been adapted as follows:
a) The original frame is pushed until the target drift and inter-story drifts of each story have been
evaluated for the rst step inter-story pattern.
b) Prescribed steps according to the owchart of Figure 7 have been performed in order to achieve
nal plate conguration.
In this approach, the original web plate thickness of the SPSWs can be reduced in the case of
material efficiency. This concept may not be practical for existing buildings. Therefore, in later
sections, the best optimization method is categorized into two different cases pertaining to new and
existing buildings, and solutions are proposed.
The maximum inter-story drift versus story level for each iterative step of NSA procedure are
illustrated in Figure 9(a). It can be seen that the uniformity of the inter-story drift is improved
significantly in each step until the final step pattern has a nearly perfect trend of inter-story drift.
The optimization concept also has sufficient capability when aiming towards the desired drift with a
satisfactory convergence rate.
The average values of the THA inter-story drift against the number of stories are shown in
Figure 9(b). Surprisingly, the trend does not adequately predict deformation demand with a harsh
underestimation of inter-story drift for the upper stories and serious overestimation for the lower
ones. This conclusion is drawn in Moghaddam and Hajirasouliha (2006) and it is also clearly
expressed by Kalkan and Kunnath (2007) that the NSA procedure cannot provide adequate
predictions of peak inter-story drift at the upper story levels when higher mode contributions are
significant. Miranda and Akkar (2002) reported that the target displacements computed by the
NSA procedures were significantly different from response history analysis for short period
structures similar to the building investigated in this paper.

Figure 9. NSP-based optimization steps and results.

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 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 13 of 22

In fact, the most significant weaknesses of the nonlinear static procedure are first, the inability to
consider higher modes for the estimation of inelastic demands and second, the lack of capability to
adapt the loading pattern when components experience inelastic demands (Chopra and Goel, 2002;
Kalkan and Kunnath, 2006; Moghaddam and Hajirasouliha, 2006). According to recent research
(Chopra and Goel, 2002; Kalkan and Kunnath, 2006), invariant loading patterns during pushover
analysis lead to less accurate responses in comparison with methods with adaptable loading patterns.
It should also be noted that in this study, the implementation of CP plates leads to considerable
irregularities throughout the height of the structure that reduce the accuracy of NSA responses; this
is due to the effect of higher modes on the total structural responses being more significant in irregular
structures. Thus, it can be logically concluded that the NSA procedure is not an appropriate method for
the assessment and optimization of a CP equipped structure. Therefore, other analysis methods such as
MPA should be investigated in order to find an appropriate method.

4.4. Modal pushover analysis

Basically, as an alternative procedure to consider high participant modes, for the assessment and
development of an optimization method for SPSW equipped structures coupled by CP, MPA is used.
Zarfam and Mofid (2009) assessed the structural performance of several moment frames using MPA
where the results were compared with corresponding THA responses. It is reported that the MPA
method offers reliable results and also that the response accuracy had a contrariwise relationship with
the number of stories. Hence, in this section, this method is used for structural assessment.
The sequential procedure is presented by Chopra and Goel (2002). The procedure retains the
conceptual simplicity and computational attractiveness of the NSA procedure with a constant force
pattern. Moreover, this analysis method provides superior accuracy in estimating the seismic demands
on buildings. Thus, the MPA-based optimization procedure conducted in this study is explained as
follows:
a) An elastic modal analysis is executed and the natural frequencies and modal shapes of the
fundamental modes with a cumulative mass participation of more than 95% are computed.
b) For each mode with a cumulative mass participation within 95%, the structure is pushed according
to the lateral loading pattern proportional to the rth mode shape until the point of the related target
drift, evaluated based on FEMA 440, is reached. It should be noted that the gravity loads along with
the P effect are only considered for the rst fundamental mode and need not be considered for
other modes. For mode shapes in which the target drift cannot be computed according to FEMA
440, the peak point of the pushover curve is assumed as the ultimate point. From there on, an
equivalent bilinear pushover curve is idealized based on the FEMA 440 simplied equations for
further steps. At the same time, the idealized curve is converted to a scaled single degree of freedom
forcedisplacement graph that is comprehensively discussed in the corresponding paper (Chopra
and Goel, 2002). It should be noted that this step would have to be completed for all considered
modes assumed in step (a).
c) A nonlinear THA is conducted on an equivalent SDOF system for each of the considered modes
and the peak deformation of the rth mode is computed. Total response can be calculated using
the SRSS combination rule for all the modes considered by the MPA. The combined response of
the ith story is assumed as the nth step iteration result for that specic story. Furthermore, the
procedure steps from here on out are the same as steps presented in the optimization concept
section. At each step, CPs and original plate thicknesses are computed and the steps are repeated
until the desired uniform drift distribution is achieved.
In the MPA procedure, the multiplier of the presumed ground motion for the THA can affect
the results. Chopra and Goel (2002) suggest that the ground motion multiplier is directly related
to the rate of inelastic demand experienced by the structure during an earthquake. In this study,
the scaled ground motion for the THA is used for the dynamic SDOF analysis. Therefore, the
value of inter-story drift that is obtained by the MPA procedure iteration is a reliable prediction
of the inter-story drift value after MCE earthquakes and it can also be used for drift uniformity
assessment.

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14 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

The results of the proposed MPA procedure are illustrated in Figure 10. Basically, the cov reaches
3.7% after 10 iterations using the MPA proposed procedure. It should be noted that the iteration
sequences sometimes lead to higher cov rates in comparison with former iterations. However, the
procedure is generally convergent to an optimal configuration of plates. The optimized structure is then
subjected to the seven thrust fault mechanism ground motion suite that was scaled based on the
aforementioned method. Thus a comparison of the results leads to the conclusion that the maximum
peak drift is reduced by approximately 58% with respect to the response of the original frame.
Fortunately, the MPA procedure is very effective when it comes to reducing the maximum peak drift
ratio of the structure. However, it should be considered that the MPA procedure discussed here cannot
accurately predict the target deformation demands. This method, however, has a considerably better
performance in comparison with NSA. Hence, the strength of procedure is found in creating
uniformity among the inter-story drifts. Nevertheless, in the following sections, another alternative
method based on THA analysis is introduced that is also effective in coordinating uniform
deformations and predicting the target deformation demands.

4.5. Time history analysis

The next approach that is investigated in this study relates to optimization based on THA according to
several ground motions. This method is inspired by the Moghaddam and Hajirasouliha (2008) study
into an iterative method for optimizing a structure based on one specific ground motion. In this study,
instead of using just one ground motion, a suite of ground motions with a high probability of
occurrence on the considered structure is chosen as the basis of the optimization iterations. Feasible
ground motions are chosen based on the most probable fault mechanism that could occur on the
structure according to the active faults that could impose earthquakes on the structure. This criterion
is considered as a direct relationship between the instinctive mechanical characteristics of ground
motions and the corresponding fault mechanism. Hence, this knowledge-based criterion can capture
the probable earthquake effects on the structure better than any other selection of arbitrary ground
motions. It is also an obvious concept that a structure, optimized based on a variety of ground motions
has less uncertainty with respect to the structural responses. Thus, the optimal number of ground
motions required for optimization is also studied. The iterative procedure used in this section is carried
out and explained as follows:
A suite of ground motions used for optimization is imposed on the structure and the maximum
inter-story drift response of each story is computed. The average response is calculated by averaging
the responses of the ith story drift ratio for all the ground motions of the optimization suite. The mean
values are assumed as the current iteration step results and are used in the eq. (2). In addition, the
updated and original coupling plate thicknesses are then replaced with their current values and the THAs
are performed again. The general iteration steps are described in the optimization concepts section.
According to ASCE 7-10 (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2010), where the THA is
performed, a suite of not fewer than three ground motions of the appropriate type shall be used. It is

Figure 10. MPA-based optimization steps and results.

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DOI: 10.1002/tal
 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 15 of 22

also noted that if seven or more ground motions are conducted, the average values of the response
parameters are permitted to be used. However, in the case of fewer than seven ground motions, the
maximum value of the response parameters shall be used for assessment. In this study, THA is
executed by using three out of seven thrust fault mechanism ground motions for optimization and is
controlled using the four remaining thrust ground motions. Another similar procedure is performed
using five out of fifteen strike-slip fault mechanism ground motions for optimization and the other
10 ground motions as a controlling suite. Note that the average responses for both fault mechanisms
are calculated as the assessment parameters. In case of thrust fault, the structure is optimized based
on three ground motions and then, the responses of four new ground motions are averaged. Thus,
the average response is certainly fewer than when all seven ground motions (optimized and controlled
suites) are applied. Hence, the proposed method found here is compatible with the proposed method
given in the code. The proposed method optimization results for THA are shown in Figure 11 and
the comparison with the new ground motions is shown in Figure 12.
Figures 11 and 12 illustrate the significant effectiveness of the proposed procedure in both reaching
a uniform inter-story drift ratio and an exact prediction of the maximum inter-story drift demand under
earthquakes. Moreover, the method reduces the average maximum peak drifts in the optimized
structure by approximately 42% in thrust mechanism-affected structures and 33% in strike-slip
mechanism-affected structures in comparison with the conventional structure responses. In addition,
it can be concluded according to Figure 12(a) and (b) that the optimization method based on a suite
of probable mechanism earthquakes can accurately predict the maximum inter-story deformation
demands after future earthquakes.
The number of considered ground motions used for optimization is also investigated. The structure
is exposed to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respective ground motions in an iterative THA optimization procedure.
Results indicate that the number of ground motions used for optimization has a direct relation to the

Figure 11. THA-based optimization steps.

Figure 12. THA-based optimized structure response comparison with the controlled suite.

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16 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

optimization quality parameters including the inter-story drift prediction accuracy, inter-story unifor-
mity and the standard deviations range of each story drift ratio as shown in Figure 13 and Table 3.
In Figure 13-I the mean values of the inter-story drift versus the number of stories of the original struc-
ture exposed to the 10 strike-slip earthquakes with the standard deviation range per story are shown.
Figure 13-II (a) to (e) show the expected optimal inter-story drift along with the actual trend occurring
in 10 strike-slip ground motions with the range of actual drifts occurring in each story for one to five
ground motion-based optimization procedures. It is obvious that when more ground motions are used
for optimization, the expected inter-story values trend and the mean actual inter-story values have a
better correlation. The peak inter-story drift value is decreased and the maximum absolute variation
between the expected and the actual value is also noticeably reduced when more ground motions
are considered. Although it could be simply indicated that there is no notable enhancement, when three
to five ground motions have been considered. As a result, three design ground motions can be
suggested as the preferable number of design records.

4.6. Implementation considerations

In this section, the application of CP is investigated considering constructional and architectural
limitations. In general, two different cases can be envisaged: (a) new building design and (b) existing
building retrofit. For new buildings, the optimization can be considered with or without CP plates.
However, for existing buildings, the main goal is to enhance the performance of a building designed
using the available codes. The force-based methods lead to increasing story stiffness and strength
trending proportionally from the upper to the lower stories; however, the optimization method
introduced in this research practically contravenes the aforementioned force-based concept to achieve
a uniform inelastic deformation demand. Generally, in each iteration step, the cumulative thickness of
plates at each story are computed. Thus, in the case of existing buildings, the retrofitting procedure is
to locate CPs between original walls in order to increase the cumulative thickness and also to weaken
the original panels in order to reduce the cumulative thickness value. Note that, in case of cumulative

Figure 13. Inter-story drift ratio versus number of stories for THA optimization procedure.

Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 17 of 22

Table 3. Conclusion of different THA optimizations versus deformation responses.

n = (optimized by n THA)
1 2 3 4 5 Original
Mean of story drifts (%) 1.54 1.41 1.38 1.36 1.35 1.62
Mean of story standard deviations (%) 0.37 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.30
Mean of story expected drifts (%) 1.58 1.53 1.38 1.42 1.41
Max of story drifts (%) 2.71 2.13 2.15 2.23 2.32 3.37
Max of story standard deviations (%) 0.51 0.40 0.39 0.36 0.32 0.40

thickness reduction, perforation of the original plates used in the existing SPSWs can be undertaken.
The perforation can significantly reduce the SPSW stiffness which is comprehensively discussed by
Purba and Bruneau(Purba and Bruneau, 2007). Note that according to AISC 341-10, perforation is a
well-approved method for weakening of steel shear walls, and TFA equation is still valid (ANSI/AISC,
2010). In the case of new building design, the cumulative thickness can be simply divided by the
number of original SPSWs and no coupling members considered. Note that, further comparison
between the performance parameters of retrofitted and newly designed buildings shown in Table 5
may induce designers to use CPs even in new building designs.
Final plate thicknesses of the original structure and the optimized structure with and without CPs
and the corresponding performance parameters are shown in Tables 4 and 5, respectively. It is evident
from Table 5 that the optimized frames have 35% lower peak inter-story drifts and as a result residual
drifts are significantly decreased, by as much as 50%. Moreover, the optimized coupled frames have a
better performance in respect to residual drifts, peak acceleration and the SPSW deformation parameter
that is introduced by the original strip. Strains are effectively controlled in the optimized frames and
there is approximately an 8% reduction in the uplift forces of columns. Column uplifts are not
significantly affected because of the CP thicknesses being fairly small, as shown in Table 4.
Nevertheless, with higher thicknesses, a higher rate of DC and uplift force reduction can be achieved.
The total energy dissipated by the original SPSWs is reduced by 12% with respect to the original
structure and there is a 14.5% reduction in comparison with the optimized uncoupled structure.
Interestingly, the rate of dissipated energy per unit millimeter thickness of plate is almost twice as great
for CPs in comparison with the original SPSWs. This means that if 1 mm of thickness has been added
to a CP, it can dissipate twice as much energy when compared to a SPSW increased by the same value.
Hence, lower residual drift, energy dissipating ability and the corresponding sacrificial behavior of the
CPs lead to more resilient structures compared with uncoupled frames; thus, the primary SPSWs
experience less irreversible deformation demands in coupled walls. Note that the optimized frames
are about 10% lighter than the original frame, according to the Table 5, which can be considered as
an economical attraction.

Table 4. Optimized structures plate congurations.

Plate thickness (mm)
Strike-slip Thrust
With CPs Without CPs With CPs Without CPs
SPSW CP SPSW CP SPSW CP SPSW CP
Ninth story 1.51 0.02 1.62 1.35 1.43
Eighth story 2.34 1.06 2.97 2.34 0.94 2.92
Seventh story 2.80 1.09 3.57 2.80 1.37 3.58
Sixth story 3.01 0.89 3.54 3.01 1.31 3.68
Fifth story 4.19 0.36 4.24 4.19 0.49 4.17
Fourth story 4.01 3.71 3.94 3.77
Third story 4.74 4.42 4.48 4.52
Second story 5.17 5.10 5.44 5.34
First story 3.18 3.05 3.33 3.26

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18 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

Table 5. Performance parameters comparison for original and optimal structures with and without coupling
panels.
Original frame Optimized frame
Uncoupled Coupled
Thrust Strike-slip Thrust Strike-slip Thrust Strike-slip
fault fault fault fault fault fault
Peak drift (%) 2.39 2.75 1.62 1.68 1.62 1.70
Residual drift (%) 0.26 0.34 0.18 0.17 0.10 0.16
Peak acceleration(g) 0.98 1.30 0.85 1.06 0.76 1.08
Beam rotation 0.0122 0.0164 0.0121 0.0169 0.0157 0.0178
Original strip strain (%) 1.16 1.33 0.93 1.13 1.08 1.00
Maximum uplift (kN) 21 805 21 677 20 271 20 217 19 153 20 121
DC at target drift (%) 9.35 7.85
Energy dissipated by 87.8 85.3 91.3 89 78.3 77.8
SPSW (%)
Energy dissipated 11.4 11.3
by CPs (%)
Cumulative CP 4.12 3.42
thickness (mm)
Cumulative plate 7.71 7.71 6.23 6.13 7.04 6.85
weight (ton)

4.7. Plate reduction procedure

Evidently, as shown in Table 4, the optimization procedure itself usually leads to the infilling of
several available panels between adjacent piers which might not be desirable in respect to architectural
demands. In this section, a method is proposed as follows, to adopt the initial optimal configuration
into an acceptable plate pattern:
a) The iterative procedure is performed in order to achieve the optimal plate conguration assuming
that there is no limitation on the CP locations. However, the main goal is to concentrate CP plates
into specic vacant panels.
b) In general, CPs play two key roles in the structure. First, as a coupling member between adjacent
piers, they are exposed to an immense shear demand. Second, they act as a lateral resisting system
for the story. Therefore, in order to eliminate a CP in a specic story, the lateral resisting role of the
CP should be compensated by its adjacent original SPSWs (Figure 14-b). Moreover, the shear
regulating role of the suppressed CP should be distributed between the closest surrounding CPs
which remain in the nal plate conguration as shown in Figure 14-c.
c) When the thickness of a suppressed CP is added to an available CP, this value should be removed
from the other story plate thicknesses. Otherwise, additional stiffness is added to the story that

Figure 14. Plate reduction procedure steps.

Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 19 of 22

Table 6. Limited congurations plate thicknesses.

Plate thicknesses (mm)
Type 1 Type 2 Type 3
SPSW CP SPSW CP SPSW CP
Ninth story 1.52 1.23 1.57 1.24 0.55
Eighth story 2.18 1.38 2.87 2.87
Seventh story 2.32 2.05 3.34 2.31 2.07
Sixth story 3.45 3.45 3.45
Fifth story 4.37 3.45 1.85 3.97 0.81
Fourth story 4.01 4.01 4.01
Third story 4.74 4.74 4.74
Second story 5.17 5.17 5.17
First story 3.01 3.01 3.01

Figure 15. Limited conguration of CPs versus unlimited optimized structure.

changes the optimal conguration. For that reason, as illustrated in Figure 14-c, half of the
additional value added to an available CP should be subtracted from the adjacent original SPSWs.
d) Former steps should be executed for each CPs where it is intended to be suppressed.
To show the efficiency of the proposed CP reducing method, in this section the aforementioned
procedure is executed on the optimal structure based on strike-slip ground motions with CPs. The
procedure is conducted for three different mandatory CP locations with two and three CPs where
the final patterns are shown in Table 6. These patterns are chosen according to popular architectural
configurations like belt and cap occupied pattern (Figure 1-a), alternating story pattern (Figure 1-b)
and concentrated occupied pattern (Figure 1-c). The response of the plate reduced equivalent structures
is compared with the initial optimum structure shown in Figure 15.
The configurations are given in Table 6 and chosen based on regular patterns that are generally more
popular with respect to building appearance. The results are shown in Figure 15 indicating the very
good approximation to the inter-story drifts that occur in an unlimited CP optimized structure. Thus,
it can be concluded that the proposed procedure for reducing the number of CPs works correctly.

5. CONCLUSION

In this study, the application of CP in enhancing the performance of a structure is introduced. The
behavior of CP in a nine story building is investigated through FE modeling and a modification respect
to the available code equation of TFA is proposed. Due to the lack of performance criteria for
un-stiffened SPSWs in the available codes, reducing the peak inter-story drift and the uniform trend
of the lateral deformation of the structure are selected as the main performance parameters. Various
optimization methods are proposed to achieve a desired performance for SPSWs with CP. Accord-
ingly, CP are employed in a nine story SPSW equipped structure using OpenSees (McKenna et al.,

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DOI: 10.1002/tal
20 of 22 S. S. ESHKEVARI, K. M. DOLATSHAHI AND M. MOFID

2000) software. An iterative procedure is proposed for the Nonlinear Static Procedure, MPA and THA
merely to enhance the performance of the structure. Finally, the optimized structures also are evaluated
more reasonably by conducting time history analyses.
In summary, the following conclusions can be deduced:
The different inter-span deformation mechanism of CPs respect to conventional SPSWs leads to a
modication in the usage of the AISC 341-10 proposed TFA equation for these components and this
is veried by FE model results.
It is demonstrated that the implementation of CPs between structural piers leads to a more uniform
trend of inter-story drift throughout the height of the structure. A structure with cantilever walls
experiences a non-uniform trend of inter-story drift ratio because of the inherent cantilever
deformation shape against lateral force. However, implementation of strong mega-beams like CPs
between walls can lead to a combination of frame action and cantilever deformation. This is
signicantly more uniform as opposed to experiencing each one individually.
At low-to-mid rate roof drift in the nine story structure, plastic strains were concentrated in the CPs;
it means these panels can act as replaceable sacricial members for low intensity ground motions.
The performance parameters of optimized CP equipped structures emphasize the higher resiliency
of coupled walls in comparison with linked walls.
An optimization method based on converging to the mean drift is conducted using NSP. A very
weak deformation demand estimation is demonstrated when the optimized frame was excited by a
control suite of ground motions. It is concluded that the NSP method is not appropriate to utilize
when iterative methods for incremental changes are used to enhance performance of a structure,
regardless of being regular or otherwise.
The MPA method is employed for the rst timein order to optimize a structureregarding to
capture higher modes effects on the nal response of the structure. As a result, the optimized frame
demonstrates an acceptable reduced peak inter-story drift ratio in comparison with the original
frame. However, it is shown that the MPA-based response estimation of structural responses is
not accurate enough.
As a probabilistic approach, the THA optimization method is proposed for preserving the actual inherent
performance features of a structure. This method can capture the priority of inelastic deformations
amongst structural components which other proposed optimization methods considered in this study
are unable to achieve this objective. The mean value of several ground motions are used for optimization
and the optimal structure is veried by a control ground motion suite. As a result, the THA optimization
method leads to a signicant reduction of peak inter-story drift and also perfectly predicts the mean
values of the deformation responses when exposed to the control ground motion suites.
The THA-based optimization procedure illustrates that the proposed methodusing a specic num-
ber of ground motions for optimized design and examining the optimized frame with a different suite
of ground motionscan be a feasible preliminary design approach, especially for high-rise building,
which usually suffer from extremely huge structural elements. It also should be noted that the signif-
icance of the developed optimization algorithm is its reasonable result for un-trained ground mo-
tions. In other words, the optimized frame is condently endurable against possible future events,
with a negligible uncertainty.
The number of ground motions used for THA-based optimization is also investigated. The results show
that the higher the number of ground motions considered for optimization, the better the optimal structure
reects responses after possible hazards. Both uniformity of mean inter-story drift ratio and standard
deviations are enhanced when the number of ground motions in the optimized suite is increased.
However, authors suggest considering three records as the optimized number of design ground motion.
Note that the number could be various based on available records validity and other considerations.
In order to consider architectural limitations for using CPs, a procedure is proposed to locate a lim-
ited number of CPs in desirable stories. Three desired plate conguration patterns are chosen and the
optimized structure convert according to these patterns. The THA results indicates a good correlation
of responses between the unlimited optimal frame and the limited ones. Thus, it could be concluded
that the proposed panels can be easily installed in the desired places, without losing the optimized
structure response qualities.

Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUPLING PANELS IN STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS 21 of 22

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AUTHORS BIOGRAPHIES

Soheil Sadeghi Eshkevari received his MS degree in Structural Engineering from Sharif University of
Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2016.

Kiarash M. Dolatshahi is an assistant professor at Sharif University of Technology.

Massood Mod is a professor at Sharif University of Technology.

Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 2017; 26: e1301
DOI: 10.1002/tal