Light Gauge Steel Studs -Seismic Design

[otto_eng]

Hi,

I am designing a new room in an existing building but I am a little confused since I am new..
I am designing the perimeter room walls as shear walls which will hold the ceiling of the room. The studs of the shear walls will be connected to the existing room.
1- Should I design it as I am designing a box ? I am asking this question because studs will be spanning between floor and roof,however I am planning to extend the plywood only up to the ceiling level.

2-Ceiling Joists will be connected to the flanges of the studs which will be spanning from floor to existing roof. Do I need to check the web for bearing since there will be eccentricity axially ? Do I also need to check the shear on the studs ?

 

[Jonathan Monge Cubillo]

Hi,

You should read the AISI S-213. It explains lateral design. Also for Seismic regions AISI S-400. Here my suggestions:
1- You can model it like a box with perpendicular lateral resisting systems, this way you avoid excentricity in the stiffness. Studs should be designed to comply with axial loads, you migth need bracings. For plywood sheating AISI S-400 gives you the rules for design and the capacity. Basically you can analize it with standard methods of mechanichs. Depending on where you are and the type of project, capacity based design of the studs should be performed.

2- Sure, the excentricity must be taken in account. For multistory buildings it can cause a gage increase. I account it as a concentrated moment aditional to the bearing load.

I recomend CFS 10 from RGS software to perform the capacity analysis. It´s free. Also all the AISI codes are free to download.

Hope that helps,

Regards,

 

[P205]

Another option for capacity analysis is SteelNetwork (steelnetwork.com). They have a proprietary boot/strap system for lateral design.