Simulation of Cold-Formed Steel Shear Wall Sheathed with Steel Plate: Non-Linear Finite Element Modelling and Analysis

The usage of cold-formed steel (CFS) is gaining popularity all around the world these days.

Buildings made of such elements as an independent structural system are applied in the

construction of small commercial complexes, low-raised buildings, industrial units, and

single-story sports halls. CFS shear walls sheathed with steel sheets are the most popular

lateral-load resisting system in low to mid-raised structures. In this paper, a full-scale steel

seated CFS shear wall has been simulated by a non-linear finite element method.

Furthermore, parametric studies have been carried out to analyze the effects of the blocking

members, fastener spacing at steel plate to boundary frame connections, and steel sheet

thickness on the behavior of CFS shear wall sheathed with steel plate. It was concluded that

the blocking members prevent the studs from twisting and decrease the local bucking of the

studs. Meanwhile, the results indicate that the thickness of the steel plate affects the shear

strength of the CFS shear wall system to an extent. Besides, increasing the spacing of the

fasteners at the connection of the steel plate to the frame system affects the buckling mode

of the steel plate, and by increasing the spacing of the fasteners from 100 mm to 150 mm

and 200 mm the nominal shear strength of the wall system decreased by 6.5% and 14.1%

respectively, while decreasing the fastener spacing causes web distortion of the boundary

column elements.