Novel self-centering cold-formed steel composite wall: Concept, theoretical analysis, and numerical investigation

Abstract

Cold-formed steel (CFS) structures exhibit considerable superiority in efficient and environmentally friendly building construction in high-seismic regions. The objective of this study is to develop and validate the concept of self-centering cold-formed steel composite (SC-CFSC) wall structures, and to characterize the lateral behavior of an SC-CFSC wall through numerical and theoretical analyses. Based on tests on shape memory alloy wires and CFSC walls, their hysteretic behavior is applied in ABAQUS to construct a finite element (FE) model of an SC-CFSC wall. The FE and theoretical analysis results of the SC-CFSC wall are in reasonable agreement, and valuable information regarding the design of the SC-CFSC wall is summarized. This study not only aims to provide a novel concept of self-centering CFS structures, but also to provide comprehensive explanation regarding the theoretical derivation and simulation procedures for characterizing the lateral behavior of both CFSC and SC-CFSC walls.