Additional Shear Wall Values for Light Weight Steel Framing (draft)

AlSI sponsored research at Santa Clara University (Serrette, 1996) led to the development of shear values for plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), and gypswn wallboard (GWB) sheathed light weight steel framed wall assemblies. The scope of the 1996 work was, however, limited to plywood, OSB. and GWB on 0.033 in. (20 gauge) framing. To provide a wider range of design options and clarify some of the values from the 1996 test program. a new test program was initialed. The new program included the following wall assemblies: flat strap X-braced walls. steel sheathed walls, high aspect ratio walls, and walls framed with 0.054 in. and 0.043 in. (16 gauge and 18 gauge, respectively} studs. As in the I 996 test program, the new assemblies were tested under static and cyclic loading. For each wall assembly configuration tested in the current program, the applied load, lateral displacement (at the top plate), slip, uplift, and mode of failure were monitored and recorded. Based on the test results, maximum loads (and corresponding displacements) were interpreted for design