High-Strength Cold-Formed Steel Framed Shear Wall With Steel Sheet Sheathing

The North American specifications for the design of cold-formed steel (CFS) framed shear walls (CFS-SSSW) with steel sheet sheathing provides tabulated values and equations for determining the shear strength when the thickness of frame is between 0.838 mm and 1.370 mm. At present, high-strength CFS framed shear walls with steel sheet sheathing can be needed in mid-rise construction, particularly in the seismic area. A research project was recently completed to improve the shear capacity for CFS framed shear walls with steel sheet sheathing by two methods: (1) thicker studs, tracks and blockings (thickness: 1.727 mm), (2) more sheathing screws (screws spacing: 50.8 mm). This paper presents the findings on the shear strength for high-strength CFS framed shear walls with steel sheet sheathing. Ten full-scale shear wall specimens with aspect ratios of 2:1 were tested, including four different shear wall configurations and two test methods. This paper details the test methods, specimen configurations, the test results, and provides the nominal shear strength values for the high-strength CFS framed shear walls with steel sheet sheathing. Additionally, the applicability of the effective strip method in the high-strength CFS framed shear walls with steel sheet sheathing is analyzed.