Numerical Modelling of CFS Centre-Sheathed Shear Walls Using The Finite Element Method

Cold-formed steel (CFS) shear walls are used as lateral force-resisting systems that are anticipated to carry both wind and earthquake loading. They are chosen for their high stiffness and strength, ease of transport, and favourable durability. CFS shear wall designs in Canada are currently based on the North American Standard for Seismic Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Systems (AISI S400). The main drawbacks of CFS shear walls are that they are currently restricted to low-rise buildings due to their low shear strength and that the design is based on a tabulated approach, which limits the options for design engineers. Given the various advantages of CFS shear walls, there is a desire to expand their application to mid-rise buildings (up to 10 storeys). As such, an experimental research program at McGill University was launched focusing on a new wall called a "centre-sheathed" CFS shear wall. This system showed promising results as it achieved high ductility and an increase in shear strength (>160 kN/m) – up to four times higher than what is permitted by the AISI S400 Standard. To understand the force transfer within the CFS centre-sheathed walls, the parameters that can impact the structural behaviour of CFS centre-sheathed shear walls, and to develop a design approach for CFS shear walls in mid-rise buildings (up to 10 storeys), a high-fidelity finite element (FE) model of this system was needed to be built; this is the main objective of the research presented herein. 3-ply single screw connections, which are used to attach the sheathing to the framing, were first studied using FE models to understand the connection's behaviour and how a screw needs to be defined in a numerical analysis to be representative of the experimental conditions. The results showed that the Slide+Align connector in Abaqus is a suitable connector to be used to model the screws in CFS sheathed walls. Following that, a high-fidelity FE model for a "centre-sheathed" CFS shear wall was built. Given that this FE model was made of various parts that needed to be connected, the model was a complex problem from a numerical perspective. To address this, the model was built in stages, with each stage validated for convergence. Furthermore, multiple solvers were tested to assess which one was best in terms of accuracy and computational time. By doing so, a high-fidelity numerical model was built. This model was then calibrated against experimental shear wall data. Following that, the model was used to understand the force transfer inside the "centre-sheathed" CFS shear wall, which included determining the tension field stress distributions and forces inside the vertical stud members

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