Cyclic test and numerical analytical assessment of cold-formed thin-walled steel shear walls using tube truss

Abstract

Abstract Cold-formed thin-walled steel tube truss (CFSTT) shear walls are gradually used in some engineering practice (i.e. residence, supermarket, school etc.) owing to their superiorities such as light weight, better ductility and easy construction. However, little attention to the seismic behavior and parametric influence of the CFSTT shear walls has been paid. In this paper, a series of cyclic tests and numerical analysis were conducted to investigate structural performance of the CFSTT shear walls. Five full-scale CFSTT shear walls sheathed with double-side oriented strand board (OSB) panels and one pure CFSTT skeleton wall were tested under constant axial compression combining lateral cyclic load. Failure pattern, horizontal load versus displacement relationship and ductility of the test specimens were analyzed and assessed. The experimental data showed that the CFSTT shear walls behaved good hysteretic behavior, ductility and energy dissipation. Following this, a nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis modeling of the type of cold-formed shear wall was developed, and the accuracy of the FE models was verified by experimental data. Parametric studies were conducted to explore the effect of X-shaped bracing number, OSB panel thickness, sheathing type, etc. on the shear bearing capacities and elastic stiffness of the CFSTT shear walls. The results indicated that the shear bearing capacity and elastic stiffness of the CFSTT shear wall were obviously affected by number of X-shaped bracing, four-limb lattice stud, thickness of OSB panel and the type of sheathing. The experimental and analytical results may promote the design and application for CFSTT shear walls in engineering practice.