INVESTIGATION ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF COLD-FORMED STEEL BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS

Cold-formed steel (CFS) members are an economic solution for many construction applications in buildings. The sections are formed by usingroll-forming, press brake, or bending machines. In general, CFS members are thin; the width-to-thickness ratios are large, compared to hot-rolled steel sections. Local buckling is a major consideration in design of CFS members; which provides a good safety margin local instabilities. For framed buildings, construction of cold-formed steel sections by using screw connections and evaluation of connection stiffness is an essential requirement. In view of this, a review has been conducted on the guidelines available in various codes of practice for screw connections and also a comparative study on the strength of lap joint fastened with screws has been conducted. Limited studies are available on the performance of connection between CFS beams and columns by using screws. Hence, analysis of a single storey residential CFS frame and an experimental investigation has been conducted to predict the exact M-θ behavior of screw connections