Testing CFS structures: The new school BFS in Naples

• The verification procedure developed before opening the first CFS building in Italy is presented.
• The experimental response at the global and local scale is discussed.
• The results of shear tests on walls, screws, panels and connections are analyzed.
• The experimental response of walls with non-common geometry confirmed the design predictions.
• The presented experience could be considered as a milestone for the Italian Code updating.

The potentiality of cold-formed steel structures (CFS) in terms of lightness, rapid on-site erection and high structural performance is spreading the use of the technology in the most industrialized countries. In particular, the overall recognized capability to assure a good structural response in high seismic areas is allowing the adoption in some of the most conservative communities. On the other hand, despite the many ongoing research in different countries, the current seismic design codes are often inadequate if compared to the evolutionary process. In this context, the new British Force School (BFS) represents one of the first cold-formed steel structures realized in Italy and, therefore, it required a long and complex verification process. Indeed, the seismic performance at the global and local scale had to be verified during the construction phase. This paper focuses on the evaluation of lateral response of the sheathed cold-formed steel (SCFS) shear walls, which represent the seismic resisting system of this structural typology through the presentation and discussion of the experimental campaign carried out to support the design.