Numerical Modeling and Seismic Performance of Strap Braced Shear Walls Sheathed by Gypsum Board

Diagonal Strap bracing is one of the most applicable lateral bracing systems in light steel framing (LSF). In practice, one or more panels of Gypsum Wall Boards (GWBs) is used for the cladding of strap braced frames. Usually, the effect of these GWBs in modelling and design is neglected by designers, but this effect can affect the seismic performance of the system In this paper, firstly, a simple numerical method is developed to model the monotonic and cyclic behavior of cold-formed strap braced shear walls together with GWBs. Then, the effects of GWB on the lateral characteristics and seismic performance levels of shear walls are evaluated. It is found that neglecting GWB in the lateral design or modeling of LSF is not rational and GWB can increase the dissipation of earthquake energy, lateral strength and stiffness of the walls. Also, the shear wall composed of strap bracing and SWBs reaches a certain performance level in a less drift ratio in comparison to to only strap braced system