In recent years, using steel plate shear walls has turned from an idea to a practical and acceptable lateral load resisting system. Steel plate shear wall is a relatively new structural system, which has been accepted by the United States design codes since 2005. A new form of this system is the composite steel plate shear wall (CSPSW), which consists of a steel plate and reinforced concrete (RC) walls at one or both sides of the steel plate. The RC wall(s) are connected to the steel plate by means of shear studs. This new system has many advantages in comparison with other lateral load resisting systems, such as light weight, small thickness, and ease of construction. The RC walls prevent buckling of the steel plate and moreover increase lateral strength and stiffness of the overall system. But introduction of openings, which is necessary in some cases, has negative effects on the seismic performance of the system. In this study, the effects of openings on the performance of CSPSW system is evaluated experimentally, and then various methods are proposed to reduce the negative effects. Moreover, an empirical relation for calculating ultimate strength of the CSPSW is proposed, which can facilitate design and analysis of this new lateral load carrying system.

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