Behavior of Cold-Formed Steel Racking Structure—A Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Results

Pallet racking system made of cold-formed steel members is commonly used for storing palletized goods. To make the structure flexible to accommodate varied sizes of pallets, beams are hooked on to upright columns. The connection between upright column and beam is semi-rigid, and hence, the behavior of the system is nonlinear. Since uprights are made of cold-formed perforated sections, they are most vulnerable to local and torsional buckling under gravity as well as lateral load. To verify how the system responds to lateral earthquake loads, it is important to conduct full-scale experimental studies under monotonic and cyclic lateral loading conditions, for getting realistic nonlinear behavior. An attempt has been made in this study to bring out the behavior of the structure through an analytical model using STAAD PRO. To validate the model, a comparison has been made with full-scale experimental results involving static (monotonic and cyclic) load displacement behavior. The results were used to fine tune the moment rotation characteristics of upright-beam as well as upright-baseplate joint. The results from the analysis are found to be in good agreement with the respective experimental results.