A series of twelve full-scale walls, cold-formed steel studs with different sheathing configurations, were tested under axial compression. This study concentrated on the impact of different types of sheathing being attached to the side of the wall, specifically bare (no sheathing), oriented strand board (OSB) or Gypsum (Gyp). Wall sheathing combinations for the two sides of the wall consisting of Bare-Bare, OSB-Bare, Gyp-Gyp, OSB-Gyp and OSB-OSB were all tested. Results revealed that the attachment of boards to the side of the wall can increase the axial strength of the wall by as much as 91%, for example, when comparing the case of Bare-Bare to that of OSB-OSB. However detrimental results were also observed, specifically the OSB-Bare walls had no post-buckling reserve as they failed in a dramatic flexural-torsional mode. In walls with symmetric sheathing (OSB-OSB and Gyp-Gyp), the observed failure mode of the stud was local buckling, and exhibited deformations essentially identical for the two sheathing types. However, for the case with asymmetric sheathing (OSB-Gyp) local buckling failure modes as well as other failure modes were observed in the studs.
展开▼
