This thesis presents a research project aimed at advancing the treatment of cold-formed steel (CFS) structural reliability in roof trusses. Structural design today relies almost exclusively on component-level design, so structural safety is assured by limiting the probability of failure of individual components. Reliability of the entire system is typically not assessed, so in a worst-case scenario the system reliability may be less than the component reliability, or in a best-case scenario the system reliability may be much greater than the component reliability. A roof truss itself, is a subsystem with several possible failure modes that are being studied in this test program. These trusses are constructed of CFS members that nest with one another at the truss nodes and are connected by drilling fasteners through the mated surfaces, as well as having steel sheathing fastened to the top chords for lateral bracing. Presented in this paper is a series of full-scale static tests on single cold-formed steel roof trusses with a unique experimental setup. The test specimens were carefully monitored to address multiple failure modes: buckling of the top chord, buckling of the truss webs, and any connection failures. This research includes the experimental results, the computed system reliability of the trusses as well as their relationship between the components reliability.

In this project, the main research objective is intend to seek criteria for evaluating the capacity of BAC screw fasteners with mixed configuration of waterproof seal washer, sealer tape and different pre-drill holes to determine shear and tension strength values for the screws used in cold-formed steel connections. The thesis presents the design methods and test program conducted to investigate the behavior and strength of the screw connections in shear and tension test. Test results were compared with AISI design provisions to determine if new design equations will be developed for those screws used in BAC cooling tower applications. LRFD resistance factors and ASD safety factors were investigated to the proposed design equations.

No description available.

No / This paper presents the structural behaviour of cold-formed steel cassette wall panels subjected to in-plane shear loads. To understand the influence of configuration, lining material and connector arrangement on the overall shear behaviour of typical cassette wall panels, different lining materials, fastener spacing and positions, edge stiffeners and specific boundary conditions were assumed in the numerical simulations. The comparison and analysis presented in this paper demonstrate typical effect factors to the load-bearing capacity of selected wall panel systems. In particular, the effect of wall opening to the structural shear behaviour of wall panels is highlighted.

Experimental testing and elastic buckling studies were performed on 68 C-section cold-formed steel joists with unstiffened rectangular web holes. Four Steel Stud Manufacturers Association (SSMA) cross-section types; 800S200-33, 800S200-43, 1000S162-54, and 1200S162-97, were evaluated to explore the influence of holes on local, distortional, and global bucking failure modes. Hole depth was varied in the tests to identify trends in ultimate strength. Ultimate strength was observed to decrease with increasing hole depth for 800S200-33, 1200S162-97 cross-sections. Due to small number of specimen and unidentified behavior of the beams, a more in depth study of the behavior of 800S200-43 and 1000S162-54 beams are necessary. Local buckling of the unstiffened strip above the hole was observed to accompany distortional buckling at the hole for the locally slender 800S200-33 and 1000S162-54 cross-sections. Thin shell finite element eigen-buckling analysis of each joist specimen, including measured cross-section dimensions and tested boundary and loading conditions, were conducted in parallel with the experiments to identify those elastic buckling mode shapes which influence load-deformation response. The distortional and lateral-torsional buckling moments were observed to decrease with increasing hole depth while a contrasting behavior was captured for local buckling modes. A modification to the AISI Direct Strength Method equations for beams with slotted web-holes was compared against the experimental results with predictions lower than tested strength. Initial cross-section imperfections led to inclined webs which decreased the capacity of the beams. The use of a water-jet cutting process was employed successfully to produce accurate holes sizes and locations in each joist specimen and is recommended for researchers and manufacturers as a method for custom fabrication of cold-formed steel members. / Master of Science

This research investigates if the LRFD strength reduction factor for cold-formed steel compression members can be increased above its current value of Ï c = 0.85, which was established by the LRFD Cold-Formed Steel Design Manual (1991) on the basis of 264 column tests. The resistance factor in the Canadian code for cold-formed steel compression members is also evaluated. A total of 675 concentrically loaded plain and lipped C-section columns, plain and lipped Z-section columns, hat and angle columns, including members with holes, are considered in the study. The predicted strengths are calculated with the AISI-S100-07 Main Specification and the AISI Direct Strength Method. The test-to-predicted strength statistics are employed with the first order second moment reliability approach in AISI-S100-07 Chapter F as well as a higher order method to calculate the resistance factor per cross-section type, ultimate limit state, and considering partially and fully effective columns. The observed trends support a higher resistance factor for columns buckling in a distortional buckling limit state and an expansion of the current DSM prequalified limits. The results also show that DSM predicts the column capacity more accurately than the Main Specification. The test-to-predicted ratios for plain and lipped angle columns exhibit a high coefficient of variation and become more and more conservative as global slenderness increases. It is concluded that fundamental research on the mechanics of angle compression members is needed to improve existing design methods. / Master of Science

The AISI (1996) Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members provisions for web-crippling are believed to be conservative for multi-web deck sections. They are based on unfastened specimens and are limited to the use of decks with certain geometric parameters. The unified web crippling equation of the North American (2002) Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members (adopted from Canadian S136-94 Specification) is also limited to certain geometric parameters. Although it has new web crippling coefficients for different load cases and different end conditions, in the End One Flange (EOF) loading case, coefficients for the unfastened configuration were used as a conservative solution for the fastened case because there was no directly applicable test data available in the literature. This thesis presents the results of an experimental study on web-crippling strength of multiple-web cold-formed steel deck sections subjected to End One Flange (EOF) loading. Seventy-eight tests were conducted at Virginia Tech. Test specimens lying inside and outside of certain geometric parameters of the specifications were tested with both unrestrained and restrained end conditions. Test specimens lying inside the specification parameters have revealed conservative results in the prediction of web crippling capacity using both AISI (1996) and North American (2002) equations. Using the unified web-crippling equation of North American Specification, a nonlinear regression analysis was performed to update the unfastened case coefficients and derive new fastened case coefficients. Also, the calibration of these coefficients is done for both Canadian S136 (1994) and AISI (1996) specifications. / Master of Science

Twenty cantilever diaphragm tests were performed in the Structures and Materials Laboratory at Virginia Tech. The tests included both deep deck and cellular deck profiles with varying structural and side-lap connections. The tests were conducted with three different structural connections: screws, pins and welds and two different side-lap connections: screws and button punch. The tests were conducted and both load and deflection of the diaphragms were recorded. The current International Code Council, ICC, evaluation procedure shows that there are two different methods for measuring diaphragm deflection. The first method was by measuring specific corner displacements and making corrections to remove any rigid body motion. The second method is by measuring the deflection of the diagonals of the diaphragm. In this study both measurements were taken to do a comparison of the results that were obtained. Both strength and stiffness values were calculated based on the Steel Deck Institute (SDI) Diaphragm Design Manual (2004) and modifications described by Luttrell (2005). The paper by Luttrell (2005) only recommends modifications for the calculation of diaphragm stiffness. The data obtained from the tests were compared to the SDI calculations to distinguish any noticeable trends. Modifications are recommended regarding diaphragm strength and further research is suggested to create a better stiffness prediction of diaphragms. / Master of Science

Currently, ASHRAE has determined the zone method and modified zone method are appropriate calculation methods for materials with a high difference in conductivity, such as cold-formed steel (CFS) walls. Because there is currently no standard U-Factor calculation method for CFS walls, designers and code officials alike tend to resort to the zone method. However, the zone method is restricted to larger span assemblies because the zone factor coefficient is 2.0. This tends to overestimate the amount of surface area influenced by CFS. The modified zone method is restricted to C-shaped stud, clear wall assemblies with framing factors between 9 and 15%. The objective of the research is to narrow the gap of knowledge by re-examining the modified zone method in order to more accurately determine R-Values and U-Factors for CFS wall assemblies with whole wall framing factor percentages of 22% and above.

Utmattning av stålmaterial är ett fenomen som varit känt i närmare 190 år men trots det är det fortfarande långt ifrån helt utforskat. Utmattningsegenskaper hos grundmaterial och svetsar är idag relativt utforskat, medan områden som utmattningsegenskaper hos kallformade stålprofiler fortfarande mer eller mindre är outforskat. Med utforskningen av utmattningsegenskaper hos kallformade stålprofiler som huvudsyfte delades examensarbetet upp i två delar. En överliggande kranbomsoptimering med huvudmålet att sänka vikten så mycket som möjligt med hjälp av materialbyte till ett mer höghållfast stål och optimal användning av material med avseende på utmattning. Den andra delen av examensarbetet är en framtagning av en provkropp med huvudmålet att kunna testa utmattningsegenskaper för kallformade stålprofiler samt att ge dimensionerande värden till kranbomsoptimeringen. Provstavsframtagningen resulterade i tre versioner av provkroppar som i teorin ska ge utmattningsegenskaper i longitudinell riktning för kallformade stålprofiler. Eftersom provstavarna inte kunde prövas på grund av tidsbrist baserades kranbomsoptimeringen på teoretiska värden. Resultatet av kranbomsoptimeringen var att vikten kunde sänkas från 1027 kg till 435 kg utan att påverka andra beaktade kranegenskaper. / Even though fatigue in steel structures is a phenomenon that was discovered almost 190 years ago it is still far from fully explored. The fatigue properties of base materials and welded materials are currently relatively well known, but the fatigue properties of cold-formed steel profiles are still more or less unknown. With the investigation of fatigue properties of cold-formed steel profiles as the main purpose, this master thesis was divided into two parts. An overhead optimization of a crane with the main goal of reducing weight as much as possible with the help of upgrading materials to higher strength steels and using the materials in an optimal way with respect to fatigue. The second part of the master thesis is the development of a test specimen with the main goal of testing the fatigue properties of cold-formed steel profiles and to provide dimensioning values for the optimization of the crane. The development of test specimen resulted in three versions of specimens which in theory will provide fatigue properties in the longitudinal direction for cold-formed steel profiles. Since the test specimens could not be tested because of shortage of time, the optimization of the crane had to be based on theoretical values. The results of the optimization were that the weight could be lowered from 1027 kg to 435 kg without affecting any other consideration characteristics of the crane.