The paper presents a research effort aimed at developing a stronger, lighter, and more economic shelter for both military and civilian use. Reported herein are the research results on developing solid wall panels using cold-formed steel corrugated sheathing and members, as well as polyurethane spray foam for insulation. This research includes calculating uniform load density, determining the overall strength of the panel, and investigating the flexural strength of the roof panels. Research incorporated different connection methods, with varied stud spacing, to determine the safest design for the new mobile facilities. Previous research has shown that cold-formed steel corrugated sheathing performs better than thicker flat sheathing of various construction materials, with screw and spot weld connections. Full scale shear wall tests on this type of shear wall system have been conducted, and it was found that the corrugated sheathing had rigid board behavior before it failed in shear buckling in sheathing and sometimes simultaneously in screw connection failures.Another aspect of the research is on the insulation of the wall panels. Research was conducted on many different insulation options for the mobile facilities. Specifically, insulation made of lightweight material, is non-combustible, added rigidity to the structure, and has high thermal properties. Closed cell polyurethane spray foam was selected for full-scale testing in this research. Closed cell polyurethane adds extra rigidity, is lighter than common honeycomb insulation, and has a higher R-value. Several polyurethane foam companies were studied for this research, and promising products were identified. The research studies the impacts of the polyurethane foam to the structural performance of the wall panels. Both shear and 4-point bending tests were completed to investigate the strength and behavior of the cold-formed steel framed wall panels with polyurethane foam insulation. The material studies, specimen details, and test results are reported in this paper.
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