This thesis introduces an approach for modeling the monotonic and cyclic response of cold-formed steel framing screw-fastened connections in commercial finite element programs. The model proposed and verified herein lays the groundwork for seismic modeling of cold-formed steel (CFS) framing including shear walls, gravity walls, floor and roof diaphragms, and eventually whole building seismic analysis considering individual fastener behavior and CFS structural components modeled with thin-shell elements. An ABAQUS user element (UEL) is written and verified for a nonlinear hysteretic model that can simulate pinching and strength and stiffness degradation consistent with CFS screw-fastened connections. The user element is verified at the connection level, including complex cyclic deformation paths, by comparing to OpenSees connection simulation results. The connection model is employed in ABAQUS shear wall simulations of recent monotonic and cyclic experiments where each screw-fastened connection is represented as a UEL. The experimental and simulation results are consistent for shear wall load-deformation response and cyclic strength and stiffness degradation, confirming the validity of the UEL element and demonstrating that light steel framing performance can be directly studied with simulations as an alternative to experiments. / Master of Science

Cold-formed steel connections are commonly fastened using self-tapping self-drilling screws. The behavior of these connections can differ based on the screw manufacturer or the cold-formed steel product used, both of which have a large selection available for use in industry. Because of their popularity and the many possible variations of these connections, researchers have frequently tested screw connections to characterize their behavior. However, repeatedly conducting this type of experiment is time consuming and expensive. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to create finite element models that can successfully predict the behavior of single lap shear screw connections, a common connection type used in cold-formed steel framing. These models were created using the finite element program Abaqus/CAE. To validate these models, test results from Pham and Moen (2015) were used to compare the stiffness, strength, and failure mode of multiple connections. A parametric study is also conducted to determine the influence of contact parameters on the behavior of the model. The results showed that all models consistently had good agreement with the connection stiffness and that most of the models also had good agreement with the peak load and failure mode of the v tests. These results were also compared to the design equations available for screw connections from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). This comparison revealed that the models are more successful at predicting screw connection behavior than AISI, and thus work is required to improve the accuracy of AISI’s design equations. The eventual goal of this work is to develop a procedure to build and validate models without requiring test data. This work continuing in the future can lead to recommendations to improve AISI’s design equations and to implement the behavior of the connections into large cold-formed steel framing models such as diaphragms or shear walls.