Analysis of Experimental Data on Cold-Formed Steel Shear Wall Panels

Cold-formed steel-sheathed shear wall panels are a reliable lateral force-resisting systems in low and mid-rise cold-formed steel buildings. The mechanics of shear wall behavior is highly complex due to nonlinear interaction of different components which are individually nonlinear in behavior. Due to the complexity in their behavior, especially, their dependence on various parameters, numerous experiments were conducted to understand their response. So, there is a need for a comprehensive understanding, bringing together the results of various experiments conducted on CFS shear wall panels using standard methods by researchers across the globe. This paper extracts the published experimental data (numbering more than 400 experiments) on laterally loaded CFS shear wall panels by different researchers to compare the effect of different parameters like type of sheathing, thickness, screw spacing, aspect ratio, stud dimensions, and so on. This analysis gives a fairly good understanding of the behavior of CFS shear walls and the influence of various parameters so that quick conclusions can be drawn on proportioning, dimensioning, choice of sheathing, and designing the CFS shear walls.