Influence of hold-down anchors on lateral strength of cold-formed steel wall framing

This study focuses on a study of cold-formed steel wall framing installed with hold-down anchors and subjected to lateral loads. The steel framing wall specimens were assembled with sheathing on one or both sides. Two different thicknesses of calcium silicate board were used as the sheathing material. The wall specimens were tested under both monotonic and cyclic loads. All wall specimens were fixed at both ends with hold-down anchors. In addition to structural strength, the energy absorption, ductility ratio, overstrength factor and response modification factor were studied for all wall specimens. Previous studies in which the specimens were tested without a hold-down anchor are discussed for comparison. The test results show that the ultimate strengths are similar for the specimens with the same configuration tested under either monotonic or cyclic loads. The wall specimen installed with hold-down anchors has a higher ultimate strength but lower ductility ratio compared with the same configuration's wall specimen without hold-down anchor. The response modification factor given in the AISI standard was found to be conservative for the wall framing with sheathing of calcium silicate board tested in the present study.