Fastener Demands for Sheathing-Braced Cold-Formed Steel Stud Gravity Walls

Abstract We explore, in this paper, the demands and behavior on fasteners supplying sheathing-based bracing of gravity loaded cold-formed studs and wall assemblies. The studies are carried out by shell finite element (FE) models, which are compared to analytical solutions and previously completed laboratory tests conducted by the authors. The connection between the sheathing and the stud should be able to develop enough resistance to restrain global buckling of the studs; therefore, special attention has to be given to the demands on these connections for design. Local buckling and stress concentrations may damage some connections and redistribution of forces should be ensured. Classical practice for determining fastener demand - i.e., the 2% rule - may be deficient. An analytical method developed for determining fastener demand is compared to the FE models presented in this paper; the analytical method results in a reasonable prediction of the fastener forces in wall studs.