Capacity of Screw Connections between Plasterboard Panels and Cold-Formed Steel for Modular Buildings
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 4
Abstract
Plasterboard panels attached to cold-formed steel trough screw connections are commonly used in prefabricated and modular building construction. Building modules are built in a factory as panelized or volumetric units and then delivered to site for assembly. Those modules experience different loading scenarios during lifting and transportation that may cause damages to nonstructural elements such as plasterboard panels and their connections. Therefore, the connection capacity of plasterboard to steel becomes an important design consideration for modular buildings. This paper presents an experimental and analytical study of the load capacity of such screw connections. Bearing tests were first conducted to examine the bearing behavior of plasterboard with screw shanks or metal strips as the bearing components. The connection performance with different screw sizes was then studied through single-lap shear tests. Finally, as validated by the experimental results, an analytical formulation was proposed based on the concept of equivalent diameter for the estimation of connection capacity.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the industry partners of the Modular Construction Codes Board (MCCB) and the State Government of Victoria through the Manufacturing Productivity Networks program, as well as the technical support of Mr. Long Goh, Mr. Philip Warner, and Mr. Zoltan Csaki in the Civil Engineering Laboratory of Monash University.
References
Ang, C. N., and Y. C. Wang. 2009. “Effect of moisture transfer on specific heat of gypsum plasterboard at high temperatures.” Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (2): 675–686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2008.02.016.
ASTM. 1999. Standard test methods for physical testing of gypsum. C472. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2013. Standard test method for evaluating dowel-bearing strength of wood and wood-based products. D5764. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
AWC (American Wood Council). 2015. General dowel equations for calculating lateral connection values. Technical Rep. 12. Leesburg, VA: AWC.
Benouis, A. 1995. “Comportement mécanique des ouvrages en plaques de plâtre sur ossature métallique.” Ph.D. thesis, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. HAL archives-ouvertes.fr (pastel-00569016). https://pastel.archives-ouvertes.fr/pastel-00569016/document.
Boyd, N., M. M. A. Khalfan, and T. Maqsood. 2012. “Off-site construction of apartment buildings.” J. Archit. Eng. 19 (1): 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AE.1943-5568.0000091.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization). 2005. Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures – Part 1–8: Design of joints. EN 1993-1-8. Brussels, Belgium: CEN.
Chen, W., J. Ye, Y. Bai, and X.-L. Zhao. 2012. “Full-scale fire experiments on load-bearing cold-formed steel walls lined with different panels.” J. Constr. Steel Res. 79: 242–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2012.07.031.
Chen, W., J. Ye, Y. Bai, and X.-L. Zhao. 2013. “Improved fire resistant performance of load bearing cold-formed steel interior and exterior wall systems.” Thin Walled Struct. 73: 145–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2013.07.017.
Chen, W., J. Ye, Y. Bai, and X.-L. Zhao. 2014. “Thermal and mechanical modeling of load-bearing cold-formed steel wall systems in fire.” J. Struct. Eng. 140 (8): A4013002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000862.
Corvetti, J., Gad, E. F., and Wilson, J. L. 2004. “Plasterboard damage thresholds for light framed residential structures subject to blast vibrations.” In Proc., 18th Australasian Conf. on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials. Perth, Western Australia: Balkema.
Fausti, P., R. Pompoli, and R. S. Smith. 1999. “An intercomparison of laboratory measurements of airborne sound insulation of lightweight plasterboard walls.” Build. Acoust. 6 (2): 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1260/1351010991501329.
Fiorino, L., G. Della Corte, and R. Landolfo. 2007. “Experimental tests on typical screw connections for cold-formed steel housing.” Eng. Struct. 29 (8): 1761–1773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2006.09.006.
Golledge, B., Clayton, T. and Reardon, G. 1992. “Racking performance of plasterboard-clad steel stud walls.” In Proc., 11th International Specialty Conf. on Cold-Formed Steel Structures, 437–464 . St. Louis, MO: Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology.
Kolaitis, D. I., E. K. Asimakopoulou, and M. A. Founti. 2014. “Fire protection of light and massive timber elements using gypsum plasterboards and wood based panels: A large-scale compartment fire test.” Constr. Build. Mater. 73: 163–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.09.027.
Lawson, M., R. Ogden, and C. Goodier. 2014. Design in modular construction. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Liew, Y. L., E. F. Gad, and C. F. Duffield. 2004. “Development of test method for determining plasterboard bracing performance.” J. Struct. Eng. 130 (7): 1108–1116. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(2004)130:7(1108).
Liew, Y. L., E. F. Gad, and C. F. Duffield. 2006. “Experimental and analytical validation of a fastener bearing test as a means of evaluating the bracing characteristics of plasterboard.” Adv. Struct. Eng. 9 (3): 421–432. https://doi.org/10.1260/136943306777641931.
Liew, Y., E. F. Gad, and C. F. Duffield. 2005. “Modularised' closed-form mathematical model for predicting the bracing performance of plasterboard clad walls.” Struct. Eng. Mech. 20 (1): 45–67. https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2005.20.1.045.
Lift Holdings Pty. Ltd. 2017. “Hickory-Brooklyn to Port Headland and Perth.” Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.liftholdings.com/works/hickory-brooklyn-to-port-headland-and-hickory-brookly-to-perth/.
Memari, A. M., B. Kasal, H. B. Manbeck, and A. R. Adams. 2009. “Lateral load resistance evaluation of wood- and steel-stud partition shear walls.” J. Archit. Eng. 15 (4): 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1076-0431(2009)15:4(122).
SAA (Standard Association of Australia). 1998. Gypsum plasterboard. Australian/New Zealand Standard. AS/NZS-2588, Sydney, Australia: SAA.
SAA (Standard Association of Australia). 2002. Self-drilling screws for the building and construction industries. General requirements and mechanical properties. AS 3566.1-2002. Sydney, Australia: SAA.
Serrette, R. L., J. Encalada, M. Juadines, and H. Nguyen. 1997. “Static racking behavior of plywood, OSB, gypsum, and fiberbond walls with metal framing.” J. Struct. Eng. 123 (8): 1079–1086. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(1997)123:8(1079).
Telue, Y., and M. Mahendran. 2001. “Behaviour of cold-formed steel wall frames lined with plasterboard.” J. Constr. Steel Res. 57 (4): 435–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0143-974X(00)00024-9.
Veljkovic, M., and B. Johansson. 2006. “Light steel framing for residential buildings.” Thin Walled Struct. 44 (12): 1272–1279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2007.01.006.
Vimmrová, A., M. Keppert, L. Svoboda, and R. Černý. 2011. “Lightweight gypsum composites: Design strategies for multi-functionality.” Cem. Concr. Compos. 33 (1): 84–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2010.09.011.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 4 • December 2018
Copyright
© 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 15, 2018
Accepted: Jul 12, 2018
Published online: Sep 27, 2018
Published in print: Dec 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Feb 27, 2019
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.