Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

This thesis presents two major sections with the objective of introducing a new cold-formed steel (CFS) shear wall system with corrugated steel sheathings. The work shown herein includes the development of an optimal shear wall system as well as an optimal slit configuration for the CFS corrugated sheathings which result in a CFS shear wall with high ductility, high strength, high stiffness and overall high performance. The conclusion is based on the results of 36 full-scale shear wall tests performed in the structural laboratory of the University of North Texas. A variety of shear walls were the subject of this research to make further discussions and conclusions based on different sheathing materials, slit configurations, wall configurations, sheathing connection methods, wall dimensions, shear wall member thicknesses, and etc. The walls were subject to cyclic (CUREE protocol) lateral loading to study their deformations and structural performances. The optimal sit configuration for CFS shear walls with corrugated steel sheathings was found to be 12×2 in. vertical slits in 6 rows. The failure mode observed in this shear wall system was the connection failure between the sheathing and the framing members. Also, most of the shear walls tested displayed local buckling of the chord framing members located above the hold-down locations. The second section includes details of developing a Finite Element Model (FEM) in ABAQUS software to analyze the lateral response of the new shear wall systems. Different modeling techniques were used to define each element of the CFS shear wall and are reported herein. Material properties from coupon test results are applied. Connection tests are performed to define pinching paths to model fasteners with hysteretic user-defined elements. Element interactions, boundary conditions and loading applications are consistent with full scale tests. CFS members and corrugated sheathings are modeled with shell elements, sheathing-to-frame fasteners are modeled using nonlinear springs (SPRING2 elements) for monotonic models and a general user defined element (user subroutine UEL) for cyclic models. Hold-downs are defined by boundary conditions. A total of three models were developed and validated by comparing ABAQUS results to full scale test results.

An analytical model for lateral deflection in cold-formed steel shear walls sheathed with steel is developed in this research. The model is based on the four factors: fastener displacement, steel sheet deformation, and hold-down deformation, which are from the effective strip concept and a complexity factor, which accounts for the additional influential factors not considered in the previous three terms. The model uses design equations based on the actual material and mechanical properties of the shear wall. Furthermore, the model accounts for aggressive and conservative designers by predicting deflection at different shear strength degrees.