In-plane sway behaviour of slender cold-formed steel bolted frames

Abstract

The use of light steel frames in rapid construction has grown significantly, especially concerning low and medium-rise buildings. However, there are limited resources available regarding the sway stiffness of light steel frames with flexible bolted joints. This paper presents a study on the lateral sway behaviour for light steel frames with bolted top-seat flange cleat connections comprising slender cold-formed steel sections. Two different sections, flexibility of beam-to-column joint and base conditions are the investigated variables. The result recorded showed that geometrics, joint flexibility and base conditions affect the sway stiffness of light steel frame. The increase rate is ranged from 29.2% to 47.5% for the identical tests for the effect of section depth. The ratio lies between 1.10 and 3.04 for the effect of connector thickness. In addition, beam-to-column bolted connections can contribute 34–88% of the overall frame elastic lateral stiffness for pinned bases and 17–33% for rigid base connections. Frame stability analysis with respect to global frame and column design were performed for the test specimens. Appropriate frame design analysis should be determined to provide a safe and reliable design for light steel frame considering bolted flexible joints and slender cold-formed steel sections.