Cold-Formed Steel Frame Shear Walls Utilizing Structural Adhesives

This paper presents the results of two 610 mm×2,438 mm and six 1,219 mm×2,438 mm reverse cyclically tested coldformed steel frame shear walls where the sheathing was attached with a structural adhesive and pneumatically driven steel pins. The sheathing materials included 0.69-mm sheet steel and 11.1-mm OSB rated sheathing. Limited in scope, the goal of the study was to explore potential structural and economical benefits that may be available when the primary mechanism of load transfer between the framing and the structural sheathing is a continuous adhesive bond. Mechanical fasteners (steel pins) are expected to provide a means of keeping the sheathing tight against the framing as the adhesive cures and a minimum level of postpeak load resistance. The results showed that the peak wall resistances significantly exceeded the nominal values in the current building codes and standards for similarly sheathed walls without adhesives. However, compared to shear walls without adhesives, the tested walls exhibited more linear responses with higher stiffness and generally larger degradation in strength after the peak resistance. Based on these limited test results and a relatively simple interpretation of the test data, the use of structural adhesives with mechanical fasteners may be beneficial in some applications and warrants a more comprehensive study.