Numerical Study of the Seismic Performance of Cold‐Formed and Hot‐Rolled Steel Hybrid Modular Wall Panel Systems

Abstract Structural systems comprising Cold‐Formed Steel (CFS) shear wall panels, despite their lightweight advantage and modular construction capabilities, are not employed in mid‐rise multi‐storey buildings due to their slender rigidity and low lateral strength. With the objective of enabling their usage as mid‐rise LFRS, a hybrid CFS based modular wall panel with hot‐rolled Square Hollow Steel (SHS) members, is proposed. Experiments were conducted on the full‐scale wall panel sub‐assemblies under the combined vertical and horizontal cyclic loading conditions to investigate the seismic performance. A Finite Element model was then developed using the ABAQUS tool and validated using the experimental data. This paper summarizes the parametric investigation carried out to assess the effects of various factors like fastener spacing, sheathing configuration, and gravity load. Based on the numerical study, the following conclusions were drawn: the lateral strength and stiffness of the system were significantly improved with the use of more uniform configuration of the FCB sheathing units. Also, the reduction in the fastener spacing between the sheathing and frame members was observed to have a decisive role on the seismic performance of the proposed hybrid wall system.