Steel Framing Buildings with Concrete-Filled Cold-Formed Studs. Earthquake-Resistant Capacity
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Light gauge steel framing is being increasingly used, mainly for low-rise buildings, due to fast erection, high construction quality, rather moderate cost, and lightness. However, the strength of these structures is rather low; therefore, for mid-rise buildings, seismic effects can be highly demanding. In this sense, steel bracing has been proposed to gain more lateral capacity; in the ensuing steel frames, the chord studs are severely loaded, thus limiting the building’s seismic capacity (the European design codes state that to maintain a ductile dissipative behaviour, the chord studs need to withstand the maximum force that can be transmitted by the braces). In some cases, steel-only solutions (even built-up members) might be insufficient; then, this paper investigates the possibility of using concrete-filled cold-formed built-up sections for the chord studs. This research analyses 5, 7, and 10-story representative prototype buildings located in moderate-to-high seismicity areas (PGA 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 g). Noticeably, the mass increment due to the filling is rather negligible; on the contrary, the stiffness increase can be more significant. In this study, innovative built-up members have been considered to fulfil the design requirements.