AbstractBecause most of the research conducted in the area of blast-resistant and retrofit designs of cold-formed steel studs has focused on high threat levels, a need exists to examine moderate blast level protection. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate and upgrade the capacities of conventionally connected cold-formed steel stud-track systems for blast-resistant design. This objective was achieved by performing quasi-static experiments on full-length (3 m) wall samples to investigate the effect of stud and track gauges, screw sizes, and screws layout on the resistance of the wall. A numerical model was developed and verified using the experimental results. Because the model showed excellent agreement with the experimental results, it was used to perform a series of simulation tests. The finite-element model, along with a failure criterion that was developed to predict the failure point of the simulated tests, provided an economical alternative way to investigate the resistance. Valuable reco...