Seismic behavior of steel sheathed cold-formed steel shear wall: Experimental investigation and numerical modeling

Abstract

Cold-formed steel (CFS) shear wall with steel sheathing is one of the lateral load resisting systems in light steel frame (LSF) construction industry. In recent years, several experimental studies have been conducted on the performance of CFS shear walls with one sided steel sheathing. However, there are little studies regarding the structural performance of CFS shear walls with double sided steel sheathing or thicker steel sheathing. This paper reports the results of an experimental and numerical study that has been conducted on steel sheathed CFS shear wall panels. The steel sheathing thickness and the number of the layers of sheathings are the parameters, considered in this study. Of particular interests were the specimens' maximum lateral load capacity and failure modes. Three physical tests have been conducted to study the performance of different CFS shear walls. Also, Non-linear Finite Element Analyses have been performed in order to investigate the seismic behavior of steel sheathed CFS shear wall panels. Geometric and material non-linearities were included in the finite element models. The numerical model presented here are verified based on the tests results. A comparison between the numerical simulations and the test results shows a good agreement between the results of the numerical studies and the test results so the developed finite element models can confidently be used to predict the lateral behavior of steel sheathed CFS shear wall panels.