Seismic Response of Innovative CFS Walls Braced With Uhs Steel Bars: Experimental Investigation

Abstract

Advantages of Cold Formed Steel (CFS) structures are now well known all over the world. The new goal is represented by the improvement of structural performances, in order to build higher and safer constructions in seismic area. To this aim, in the framework of an Italian project in cooperation with Lamieredil S.p.A. company, the University of Naples "Federico II" developed a new Lateral Force Resisting System (LFRS), made of CFS frame braced by Ultra High Strength (UHS) steel bars in "V" configuration. Three different configurations of the LFRS, with increasing lateral capacities, were designed, and tested under monotonic and reversed cyclic load protocols at the Lab of the Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture. In total, five tests on full scale 2400x2800 mm2 (length x height) were carried out. The paper provides all the details on the full-scale wall tests and discusses the obtained results. Moreover, a test-based evaluation of behaviour factor is presented.