Cold-Formed Steel lateral force resisting systems: proposal of seismic design criteria for 2nd generation of Eurocode 8

The current edition of Eurocode 8, which provides the rules for the design of the building structures under the earthquake actions, does not cover the Lateral Force Resisting Systems (LFRS) common to Lightweight Steel (LWS) buildings made with Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) profiles. As part of the revision process of Eurocode 8, efforts are being carried out at University of Naples “Federico II” to make possible the availability of rules for the seismic design of LWS building to designers in the 2nd generation of Eurocode 8, which were developed and validated during the extensive research in the past decade. In particular, different types of LFRS would be listed in the second generation of Eurocode 8: CFS strap braced walls and CFS shear walls with steel sheet, wood or gypsum sheathing. This paper provides the background information on the research works and the reference design standards, already being used in some parts of the world, which formed the basis of design criteria for these LFRS systems. The design criteria for the LFRS common to LWS buildings would include rules necessary for ensuring the dissipative behaviour, appropriate values of the behaviour factor, guidelines to predict the design strength, geometrical and mechanical limitations.