Investigation of screw assembly on cold-formed steel members: experimental and numerical studies

The strength of the Cold Formed Steel Members (CFS-M) assembly with screws connection governs the global behavior of CFS Shear Wall Panel (CFS-SWP). Hence, the development of a Finite Element Modelling (FEM) with a reliable simulation accounting for the strength performances of these member assemblies strongly relies on experimental data. The current study consists of a rigorous experimental program to evaluate the performances of Cold Formed Steel Member (CFS-M) assemblies in terms of failure mechanisms, strength capacity, and nonlinear force-displacement response. The results show that varying the thickness and steel quality results in several failure modes, including CFS-M bearing, tilting, and shear screw. Furthermore, increasing the number of screws had no bearing on the strength capacity of the assembly. A Finite Element Model (FEM) of the CFS-M assembly is developed simulate and investigate the assembly's strength.