Abstract
In the United States, current seismic code provisions restrict cold-formed steel (CFS) framed buildings to a maximum of six stories. To assess the potential for constructing taller buildings and to address the increasing demand for resilient, efficient, and non-combustible urban housing, a ten-story CFS-framed archetype building was designed using component-level test data utilizing strength capacities exceeding current code-based values. This archetype was the subject of a seismic testing program performed in June 2025 at the University of California San Diego’s Large High-Performance Outdoor Shake Table (LHPOST6), as part of an NSF-funded research project focused on advancing the use of CFS in mid-rise buildings in moderate-high seismic zones. In preparation for the full-scale dynamic tests, a high-fidelity nonlinear finite element model of the ten-story building was created using OpenSeesPy. The model incorporates detailed representations of the structural components and connections, capturing both material and geometric nonlinearities. The development of the model is grounded in experimental results from prior studies of CFS-framed wall lines. Focus is placed on accurately modeling the in-plane behavior of all aspects of wall lines, including chord studs, field studs, gravity studs, top and bottom tracks, rim tracks, steel sheets, finishes, and story-to-story connections. The model considers the effects of geometric nonlinearities (either implicitly or explicitly), including buckling of steel sheet sheathing; local, distortional, and global buckling of CFS members; and member and story-level (P-δ and P-Δ) effects. This paper presents pre-test simulation results that characterize the expected dynamic response of the building under earthquake excitation. The findings helped inform expectations during the experimental program and provide preliminary indicators of system-level performance trends in taller CFS-framed buildings.
Type
Publication
Proceedings of the 8th Residential Building Design & Construction Conference, Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, State College, PA.
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