Two typical transfer plate–shear wa

Two typical transfer plate–shear wall models with different wall layouts, as shown in Figure 1, are considered in the analysis. Variables that may affect the structural behaviour include plate thickness, stiffness of shear walls and support columns, and wall location. In order to investigate the interaction effects between the transfer plate and the shear walls on the structural behaviour of the system, the height of the shear walls, H, is larger than twice the length L or width B of the transfer plate. Owing to the complexities of the interaction between the transfer plate and the upper shear wall, the finite element method is employed in the analysis.Figure 1 shows the finite element modelling for the systems, where solid elements are adopted to analyse the transfer plate and shear walls. Computations are conducted by employing the finite element code SAP-2000 (Computers and Structures, 1997) to generate the stresses of the structures.