Kara D. Peterman

Experimental Seismic Response of a Full-Scale Cold-Formed Steel-Framed Building. II: Subsystem-Level Response

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to employ the results from the extensive instrumentation installed on recently tested full-scale cold-formed steel (CFS)-framed buildings to reveal a deeper understanding of the behavior of the building under seismic excitations. In particular, this paper complements a companion paper that focuses on system-level design and response. Here, utilizing strategically located string potentiometers, strain gauges, and accelerometers, the responses of the walls and diaphragms are isolated from the overall building response and studied. The interaction of shear walls along a wall line, as well as across stories is studied through measured data on strains in hold-down anchors, strains on floor-to-floor strap connecting shear-wall chord studs, and displacements across shear-wall sheathing and openings. The behavior of the floor diaphragm is studied through displacements measured perpendicular to the plane of one wall of the building and accelerometers throughout the floor of t...

Sheathed Cold-Formed Steel Studs under Axial and Lateral Load

AbstractThis research aims to identify and characterize the behavior of dissimilarly sheathed, load bearing, cold-formed steel studs under axial and lateral load. A series of tests on single studs, set in track, and sheathed with either oriented strand board, gypsum board, or combinations thereof are completed. The tests approximate the behavior of a sheathed stud within a larger wall. In each test, a predetermined level of axial load (or displacement) is introduced into the stud and lateral displacement (load) is then applied and increased until failure. This configuration results in axial load, bending, and (potentially) torsion on the stud. Observed failure modes for studs sheathed on only one face include torsion and/or fastener pull-through. For studs sheathed on both faces, failure modes include torsion, local buckling, fastener pull-through, and bearing (particularly for gypsum-sheathed studs). Analysis of the torsional response indicates the important role of the sheathing in limiting torsion and ...