Cold-formed steel centre-sheathed (mid-ply) shear walls

An innovative configuration for cold-formed steel (CFS) framed and sheathed shear walls developed to address the need for a ductile lateral framing system of high shear resistance appropriate for mid-rise buildings is presented in this paper. This shear wall configuration comprises a sheathing placed at the mid-line of the framing, and hence is known as either a centre-sheathed or mid-ply wall. A laboratory based research program was conducted following an iterative design, analysis and testing process. The testing included fifteen 1218 mm × 2438 mm shear walls subjected to in-plane displacement-based monotonic and cyclic loading. The test specimens were able to reach shear resistances substantially exceeding the capacity of the CFS walls listed in the AISI S400 Standard, while attaining storey drift values superior to 6% in the best case. A preliminary equation-based nominal shear strength prediction method has been developed, reflecting the shear wall's innovative configuration and superior behaviour.