Inelastic buckling criteria for aluminum shear panels as energy dissipation devices

Yielding of the aluminum shear panels can be used to dissipate energy through hysteresis provided strength deterioration due to inelastic buckling is controlled. A detailed experimental study of the inelastic behaviour of the full scale models of shear panels of 6063-O and 1100-O alloys of aluminum is conducted under slow cyclic loading of increasing displacement levels. The geometric parameters that determine buckling of the shear panels, such as, web depth-to-thickness ratio, aspect ratio of panels and number of panels were varied among the specimens. The result is used to obtain a relation between panel aspect ratio, the web panel depth-to-thickness ratio, and web buckling deformation angle for cyclic inelastic buckling, which can be used to determine the spacing of stiffeners, which will limit the inelastic web buckling at design shear strains.