Detailing recommendations for 1.83 m wide cold-formed steel shear walls with steel sheathing

Abstract The paper presents an experimental investigation on 1.83 m wide, 2.44 m high cold-formed steel (CFS) stud framed shear walls using steel sheet sheathing. Four wall configurations were studied through monotonic and cyclic tests. The test results indicated that besides the sheet buckling and screw pull out, the buckling of interior studs might occur for the 1.83 m CFS walls. To prevent the failure in the studs, special detailing was developed in this research. It was discovered that the special detailing could increase both the shear strength and the ductility of the shear walls. The research also found that the codified nominal shear strengths can be conservatively used for walls with an aspect ratio of 3:2. Based on the test results, the nominal seismic shear strength for 1.83 m wide CFS shear walls was established for design purposes.