AbstractFiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bonding has been investigated as an innovative method for enhancing behavior of thin steel plates subjected to in-plane shear. The steel plate undergoes post-buckling and inclined tension field forms in the plate at a certain angle. Carbon fibers can be oriented at the angle of tension field in the plate and significant results can be obtained by strategic fiber orientation and clever placement of FRP strips. A finite element analysis research program was conducted and a steel plate shear wall model was designed. A global design rule has been taken into consideration in every model which dictates that complete yielding of the infill steel plate must precede any failure or hinging in the boundary frame and that hinging in the column must be the last step. Modeling and analysis of the steel shear wall was carefully validated with some of the most renowned laboratory tests available in the literature. Four-node shell elements with material and geometric nonlinearity were used and damage initiation and propagation in the FRP layer is considered in the model. The optimum angle of fibers is found to be in the direction of tension field in the plate and increases of over 20% have been observed in strength and enclosed area under the load-displacement curve and 10% in stiffness of the shear wall. The FRP layer is found to participate in load carrying mainly after the steel plate has completely yielded and fiber damage and stress distribution are observed along the diagonal and corners of the plate.