Structural Stability of Cold-Formed Steel Wall Studs Under Compression by DSM Approach

Abstract

The significance of the application of Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) in residential and industrial structures depends upon the stability and the sustainable load-bearing criteria. The main element in the CFS wall panel assembly is its studs, which bear all the compressive load in the wall system. The parametric study on the CFS wall stud is important to assess its variation in axial load-carrying capacity when stiffeners are used in its cross-section. In this study, the variation of the strength of wall stud made up of C-type section has been done by performing the finite strip analysis to assess their elastic buckling loads in Confined and Unconfined Finite Strip Method (CUFSM) tool of version 4.05. The parametric variation considered here is the change in size configuration, length of the section, thickness of cross-section, using web and flange stiffeners in the cross-section, and dimension of lip in the cross-section. The results obtained for each specimen by the Direct Strength Method (DSM) of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI S-100) (Appendix-2) procedure. The semi-analytical DSM approach is the robust procedure to evaluate the CFS wall studs under with and without sheathed condition for the axial strength. The important aspect of this study is to explore the variety of results obtained when both standard and optimized sections are analyzed for nominal axial strength. This study could be further utilized for the study and design purpose of CFS wall panels.