UC San Diego

Although cold-formed steel (CFS) framing systems have the potential to support the need for resilient housing, the use of CFS has been restricted due to gaps in understanding its structural behavior and by the limited guidelines provided in design standards. In particular, the contribution from nondesignated lateral systems and portions of the building system not specifically designated by the design engineers has not been substantially investigated through experiments. To address these shortcomings, a two-phased experimental effort was undertaken to assess the impact of gravity walls, finish application, window openings, and their relationship with the designated lateral force-resisting system. The wall-line assemblies tested, which have shear walls placed in-line with gravity walls, adopted chord stud packs with a tie-rod assembly and were either unfinished or finished, and laid out in a symmetrical or unsymmetrical fashion. In addition, both Type I and Type II shear wall and anchorage detailing were investigated. In this paper, the impact of test variables governing the nonstructural detailing of CFS-framed walls has been quantified, and a companion paper presents findings regarding the impact of structural detailing.