The current practice of design for

The current practice of design for a transfer plate–shear wall system in tall buildings does not generally include the interaction effect of the transfer plate and the supported shear walls on the structural behaviour of the system. As a result, it may lead to an unreasonable design for the internal forces of structural members and the corre- sponding steel reinforcement detailing. In this paper, analysis and structural behaviour of transfer plates sup- porting in-plane loaded shear walls are presented, where emphasis is placed on the interaction between the transfer plate and the supported shear walls. The interaction effect is shown to cause significant stress redistributions both in the transfer plate and in the shear walls within an interactive zone. Parameters that influence significantly the structural behaviour and force transfer mechanism, such as the span–depth ratio of the transfer plate, the stiff- ness and locations of the shear walls, and the stiffness of support columns, are also highlighted. The paper is expected to provide not only a better understanding of the interactive characteristic of transfer plate–shear wall systems, but also a useful reference for the design of transfer plates supporting in-plane loaded shear walls in tall buildings. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.