Seismic Response of Nonstructural Platform framed Cold-formed Steel Walls Subassemblies Detailed for Drift Compatibility
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Authors
Ji, Yi-En
Issue Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
cold-formed steel , expansion joints , nonstructural components , slip joints
Alternative Title
Abstract
Cold-formes steel platform-framed nonstructural walls are critical to building functionality and often damaged at low drift levels during earthquakes. To investigate this problem, both exterior and interior wall subassemblies were integrated into a full-scale 10-story mass timber building at NHERI@UC San Diego. The walls were constructed with two types of horizontal slip tracks and three types of corner expansion joints to improve their seismic resilience.Experimental results showed that properly detailed slotted and double slip tracks allowed effective wall slip and limited damage. However, variations in slip performance revealed that wall behavior is highly sensitive to construction quality and frictional resistance. To further interpret these findings, analytical modeling was conducted: a detailed finite element model in ANSYS was used to estimate wall stiffness, while a simplified model in OpenSees evaluated slip behavior under different friction levels. Design recommendations were proposed for slip joint friction in nonstructural walls.