Performance of cold-formed steel shear walls with single and double sided steel sheet sheathing subjected to cyclic loading

Cold-formed steel (CFS) stud-framed shear wall with steel sheathing is an approved lateral force-resisting system in ASCE7-10 for low-rise buildings. In high risk seismic regions, designers of structures with cold-formed members may tend to employ shear walls with steel sheathing to provide a higher shear capacity. This paper presents an experimental investigation into cold-formed steel shear walls with steel sheathing in one side and both sides with different failure modes. Adding a steel sheathing on the second side increases the shear strength and stiffness of the walls. Shear strength improvement ratio, ductility ratio, and energy dissipation for walls with frame connection failure mode were higher than walls with chord stud failure mode.