Strength design of concrete-infilled double steel corrugated-plate walls under uniform compressions

Abstract

Abstract Concrete-infilled double steel corrugated-plate walls (CDSCWs) are composed of two steel corrugated-plates (SCPs) which are connected through bolts, and concrete filled the spacing formed between the two SCPs. Two vertical boundary elements are installed additionally at both sides of CDSCWs. On the one hand, the corrugated configuration of SCPs has great improvement on the load-bearing efficiency of CDSCWs; on the other hand, much higher bearing capacities and better seismic performance for CDSCWs are provided owing to the interactions among SCPs, bolts and infilled-concrete. This paper investigates the load-bearing mechanism and strength design formulae of CDSCWs under compressions. Since SCPs are prone to local buckling failure between two rows of bolts under the conditions of large vertical bolt spacing and small thickness of SCPs, this paper mainly focuses on the load-bearing mechanism of SCPs in CDSCWs under uniform compressions. The unilateral constraint on SCPs provided from infilled-concrete and the restraining effect on the flexural deformation of SCPs owing to bolts are considered. At first, series of finite element (FE) eigenvalue buckling analyses are conducted to study the elastic buckling behavior of SCPs subjected to uniform compressions. On the basis of Euler s formula, the formulae for predicting the elastic buckling stresses and corresponding normalized slenderness ratios λs of SCPs are achieved respectively. The instability performance of SCPs under uniform compressions is then investigated through FE nonlinear analyses, and accordingly the stability coefficient φs is attained. The corresponding φs−λs curve is therefore established in order to calculate the ultimate bearing capacities of SCPs. In addition, the cooperative performance of material strengths between SCPs and concrete is analyzed numerically when CDSCWs reach their compressive ultimate strength. With this consideration, the design method for predicting the cross-sectional strength of CDSCWs under compressions is proposed. Moreover, a CDSCW specimen with I-section is tested under a compressive load. Its cross-sectional strength is investigated experimentally. The results of the experiment coincide with those of numerical simulation, this verifying the safety and validity of the design method for cross-sectional strength design of CDSCWs.