This paper presents the results of a self-centering steel plate shear wall (SC-SPSW) experimental program conducted at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) as part of a collaborative research endeavor. Two full-scale two-story SC-SPSW specimens were tested under pseudo-dynamic loading. The specimens investigated two different post-tensioned (PT) beam-to-column connection configurations-one using a PT connection detail where a gap forms in a connection as the beam rocks about its flanges, and one using a PT connection (called the NewZ-BREAKSS connection) where the beam in a connection always rocks about its top flanges, thus eliminating the problem of frame expansion. The test specimens also incorporated a post-tensioned column base connection that allowed the column to rock about its flanges, relying on vertical post-tensioned rods anchored along the column height. The PT column base provides additional recentering capabilities, as well as eliminates the damage and residual plastic deformations that occur in the moment resisting base connections of SC-SPSWs. The results from this project will be used to validate numerical models and inform construction and design recommendations.
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