Photo © Bigstock.com/AlexLMX
A mid-rise cold-formed steel (CFS) building system built by SWS Panel and Truss was tested by the University of California San Diego’s (UCSD’s) engineering department for earthquake durability.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), California Seismic Safety Commission, and industry sponsors partnered to perform a unique, experimental research program in mid-June. This research evaluates the earthquake and post-earthquake fire performance of mid-rise CFS-building systems through full-scale earthquake and live thermal testing of a six-story wall-braced system on a large outdoor shake table. Interior construction was equipped with seismic instrumentation of the building and its key structural components.
The test building was subject to low-amplitude white noise motions and sequentially increasing amplitude earthquake motions. The live thermal tests were conducted on two floors of the building—in the corridor and room-like spaces strategically designed to investigate thermal patterns that develop due to reduced compartmentation ensued during earthquake motions.
