Behavior and Design of Sheathed Cold-Formed Steel Stud Walls under Compression
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 5
Abstract
Currently, there is a need for a design method for cold-formed steel (CFS) stud and track walls that use traditional sheathing materials to brace against compressive load. The objective of this paper is to provide a robust design method for these walls. Existing design methods are unable to handle dissimilar sheathing attached to the CFS stud flanges [e.g., oriented strand board (OSB) on the exterior face and gypsum board on the interior face] and provide no clarity on the impact of key properties including sheathing shear rigidity and stud spacing. A series of tests on axially loaded sheathed single studs and sheathed full walls using OSB, gypsum board, or an unsheathed face (and combinations thereof) is performed to elucidate the basic behavior and limit states. The stiffness that the fastener-sheathing system supplies to the stud as bracing is characterized analytically and experimentally. The characterization clarifies how both local fastener deformations and global sheathing deformations contribute to sheathing bracing. The impact of sheathing on elastic stability of the stud in local, distortional, and global buckling modes is provided. Both computational and analytical methods for stability determination including bracing stiffness from sheathing are detailed. An extension to current design methods that uses the enhanced elastic stability provided by sheathing bracing is proposed for member strength prediction. The design method is shown to agree well with the performed tests, providing consistent predictions for the limit state and the strength for walls with sheathing, including sheathing on one side only, and dissimilar sheathing on the two stud flanges.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Senior Instrument Designer Nickolay Logvinovsky and undergraduate researchers Hannah Blum, Mo Alkyasi, Lauren Thompson, Linda Wan, and Maggie Wildnauer for help in the laboratory. The authors also thank the Steel Stud Manufacturers Association and Simpson Strong Tie for providing materials and equipment. The authors thank the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Stud Manufacturers Association for funding the research. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors, or material suppliers.
References
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). (1962). “Light gage cold-formed steel design manual.” Washington, DC.
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). (1980). “Light gage cold-formed steel design manual.” Washington, DC.
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). (2007a). “North American specification for the design of cold-formed steel structural members.” AISI-S100, Washington, DC.
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). (2007b). “North American standard for cold-formed steel framing—General provisions.” AISI-S200-07, Washington, DC.
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). (2007c). “North American specification for the design of cold-formed steel structural members.” AISI-S211, Washington, DC.
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). (2002). “Rotational-lateral stiffness test method for beam-to-panel assemblies.” AISI-TS-1-02, Washington, DC.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI). (2005). “National design specification (NDS) for wood construction.” NDS-2005, Washington, DC.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2002a). “Standard test method for structural panels in shear through-the-thickness.” ASTM D2719-89, West Conshohocken, PA.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2002b). “Standard test methods of conducting strength tests of panels for building construction.” E 72-98, West Conshohocken, PA.
APA. (2008). “Panel design specification.” APA-D510C, The Engineered Wood Association, Tacoma, WA.
Chen, C. Y., Okasha, A. F., and Rogers, C. A. (2006). “Analytical predictions of strength and deflection of light gauge steel frame/wood panel shear walls.” Int. Conf. on Advances in Engineering Structures, Mechanics and Construction, Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, 381–391.
Fiorino, L., Della Corte, G., and Landolfo, R. (2007). “Experimental tests on typical screw connections for cold-formed steel housing.” J. Struct. Eng., 29(8), 1761–1773.
Green, G. G., Winter, G., and Cuykendall, T. R. (1947). “Light gage steel columns in wall-braced panels.” Rep. 35, Pt. 2, Engineering Experiment Station, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY.
Gypsum Association. (2010). “Gypsum board typical mechanical and physical properties.” GA-235-10, Hyattsville, MD.
Iourio, O., and Schafer, B. W. (2008). “FE modeling of elastic buckling of stud walls.” Report to American Iron and Steel Institute, Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, 42.
Li, Z., and Schafer, B. W. (2010a). “Application of the finite strip method in cold-formed steel member design.” J. Constr. Steel Res., 66(8–9), 971–980.
Li, Z., and Schafer, B. W. (2010b).“Buckling analysis of cold-formed steel members with general boundary conditions using CUFSM: Conventional and constrained finite strip methods.” Proc., 20th Int. Specialty Conf. on Cold-Formed Steel Structures, Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures, Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO.
Li, Z., and Schafer, B. W. (2011). “Local and distortional elastic buckling loads and moments for SSMA stud sections.” Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute, 5.
Miller, T. H., and Pekoz, T. (1993). “Behavior of cold-formed wall stud-assemblies.” J. Struct. Eng., 119(2), 641–651.
Moen, C. D. (2008). “Direct strength design for cold-formed steel members with perforations.” Ph.D. thesis, Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore.
Okasha, A. F. (2004). “Performance of steel frame/wood sheathing screw connections subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading.” M.Sci. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill Univ., Montréal.
Schafer, B. W. (2006). Direct strength method design guide, American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington, DC, 171.
Schafer, B. W. (2008). “Design aids and examples for distortional buckling.” Tech Note, Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute, Washington, DC, 22.
Schafer, B. W., and Adany, S. (2006). “Buckling analysis of cold-formed steel members using CUFSM: Conventional and constrained finite strip methods.” Proc., 18th Int. Specialty Conf. on Cold-Formed Steel Structures: Recent Research and Developments in Cold-Formed Steel Design and Construction, Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures, Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, 39–54.
Schafer, B. W., Iourio, O., and Vieira, L. C. M., Jr. (2008). “Notes on AISI design methods for sheathing braced design of wall studs in compression.” Sup. rep. for AISI-COFS project on sheathing braced design of wall studs, Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore.
Schafer, B. W., Vieira, L. C. M., Jr., Sangre, R. H., and Guan, Y. (2010). “Rotational restraint and distortional buckling in cold-formed steel framing systems.” Rev. Sul-Americana Engenharia Estrutural, 7(1), 71–90.
Simaan, A., and Pekoz, T. B. (1976). “Diaphragm braced members and design of wall studs.” J. Struct. Div., 102(1), 77–92.
Steel Stud Manufacturers Association (SSMA). (2001). “Product technical information.” ICBO ER-4943P, Chicago.
Timoshenko, S. P., and Gere, J. M. (1961). Theory of elastic stability, McGraw Hill, New York.
Trestain, T. (2002). “AISI cold-formed steel framing design guide.” AISI-CF02-1, American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington, DC.
Vieira, L. C. M., Jr. (2011). “Behavior and design of sheathed cold-formed steel stud walls under compression.” Ph.D. thesis, Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore.
Vieira, L. C. M., Jr., and Schafer, B. W. (2012). “Lateral stiffness and strength of sheathing braced cold-formed steel stud walls.” J. Struct Eng., in press.
Vieira, L. C. M., Jr., Shifferaw, Y., and Schafer, B. W. (2011). “Experiments on sheathed cold-formed steel studs in compression.” J. Constr. Steel Res. 67(10), 1554–1566.
Winter, G. (1960). “Lateral bracing of beams and columns.” J. Struct. Div. 102(1), 77–92.
Zeinoddini, V. M., and Schafer, B. W. (2011). “Global imperfections and dimensional variations in cold-formed steel members.” Int. J. Struct. Stab. Dyn.11(5), 829–854.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 5 • May 2013
Pages: 772 - 786
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 20, 2012
Accepted: Sep 6, 2012
Published online: Sep 10, 2012
Published in print: May 1, 2013
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.