S Hatami - Assistant. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Yasouj, Yasouj, Iran
A Parvaneh - Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif Unive. of Tech, Tehran, Iran
H.R. Ebrahimi - Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Yasouj, Yasouj, Iran
H.R. Ronagh - Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Nowadays, the application of cold-formed steel members is well established in light steel framing structures around the world. One of the methods to brace theses structures against wind and earthquake loads is to use diagonal steel straps. This paper is aimed at investigating the seismic characteristics of light steel framing braced with steel straps through analysis on the results of cyclic tests. The frames sections used in this study were C-shaped cold-formed steel members with thickness of 0.55 mm. The difference between different specimens relied on the connection details of steel strap to frame, number of studs and type of strap. As a result of cyclic lateral load, different failure modes were observed in the frames mainly resulting from different connection details. In some specimens, brittle failure mode caused a notable decrease in the ductility of the frame. In the current paper, behavior factor of the structure were determined through a numerical evaluation.

Cold-formed steel, light steel framing, Strap bracing, Ductility, Behavior factor