Steel end shear walls as an efficient seismic mitigation strategy for high-rise steel buildings

Lateral load-resisting systems are a fundamental aspect of structural design in tall buildings. Among various strategies for mitigating their seismic response, end shear walls have proven efficiency as specialized elements that connect the ends of shear walls across all floors, leading to decreased tensions and improving the structure performance under lateral excitations for tall buildings. This study introduces the possible use of steel end shear walls in steel high-rise buildings, and evaluates their impact. A comparative analysis is presented for two 20-story steel structures: one (“T1”) incorporates a steel core with conventional steel shear walls, while the other (“T2”) integrates a steel core, conventional shear walls, and additional steel end shear walls. The numerical results indicate a 33% reduction in terms of average maximum drift ratio, when the structure is equipped with steel end shear walls (T2). Furthermore, statistical analysis using a normal quantile–quantile plot is presented for the displacement parameter for the T1 and T2 buildings under the El Mayor-Cucapah ground motion. The analysis reveals that both the expected value domain and deviation from the normal distribution of displacement at the effective story decreased by 33% in T2. These comparative numerical findings highlight the crucial role of steel end shear walls as key seismic design elements, significantly enhancing the seismic resilience of high-rise steel buildings.