Shaketable tests of a cold-formed steel shear panel

Buildings composed of cold-formed steel framing systems are popular in many parts of the United States. Box-shaped columns can be built-up from cold-formed thin-walled channels. Latered bracing is often provided by cross-bracing using thin tension-only straps in selected bays. Although several static cyclic tests of individual shear panels have been conducted by several investigators, no dynamic tests have previously been conducted. Results of shaketable tests of a full-scale two-story one-bay structure are reported herein. During the large amplitude tests, the cross-bracing straps showed very ductile but highly pinched hysteresis behavior. The columns that were fixed at the top and bottom provided limited strength, stiffness, and energy dissipation because of local buckling of the thin-walled members. Analytical results reproduced the measured behavior relatively well.