Introduction

1.1 DEFINITION
Cold-formed steel products are just what the name con-
notes: products that are made by bending a flat sheet of
steel at room temperature into a shape that will support
more load than the flat sheet itself.

1.2 BRIEF HISTORY OF COLD-FORMED

STEEL USAGE
While cold-formed steel products are used in automobile
bodies, kitchen appliances, furniture, and hundreds of
other domestic applications, the emphasis in this book is
on structural members used for buildings.
Cold-formed structures have been produced and widely
used in the United States for at least a century. Corrugated
sheets for farm buildings, corrugated culverts, round grain
bins, retaining walls, rails, and other structures have been

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 around for most of the 20th century. Cold-formed steel for
industrial and commercial buildings began about mid-20th
century, and widespread usage of steel in residential build-
ings started in the latter two decades of the century.

1.3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DESIGN

STANDARD
It is with structural steel for buildings that this book is
concerned and this requires some widely accepted standard
for design. But the design standard for hot-rolled steel, the
American Institute of Steel Construction's Specification
(Ref. 1.1), is not appropriate for cold-formed steel for
several reasons. First, cold-formed sections, being thinner
than hot-rolled sections, have different behavior and differ-
ent modes of failure. Thin-walled sections are characterized
by local instabilities that do not normally lead to failure,
but are helped by postbuckling strength; hot-rolled sections
rarely exhibit local buckling. The properties of cold-formed
steel are altered by the forming process and residual
stresses are significantly different from hot-rolled. Any
design standard, then, must be particularly sensitive to
these characteristics which are peculiar to cold-formed
steel.
Fastening methods are different, too. Whereas hot-
rolled steel members are usually connected with bolts or
welds, light gauge sections may be connected with bolts,
screws, puddle welds, pop rivets, mechanical seaming, and
sometimes "clinching."
Second, the industry of cold-formed steel differs from
that of hot-rolled steel in an important way: there is much
less standardization of shapes in cold-formed steel. Rolling
heavy structural sections involves a major investment in
equipment. The handling of heavy billets, the need to
reheat them to 2300°F, the heavy rolling stands capable
of exerting great pressure on the billet, and the loading,
stacking, and storage of the finished product all make the

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 production of hot-rolled steel shapes a significant financial
investment by the manufacturer. Thus, when a designer
specifies a W21x62, for example, he can be assured that it
will have the same dimensions, no matter what company
makes it.
Conversely, all it takes to make a cold-formed struc-
tural shape is to take a flat sheet at room temperature and
bend it. This may be as simple as a single person lifting a
sheet onto a press brake. Generally, though, cold-formed
members are made by running a coil of sheet steel through
a series of rolling stands, each of which makes a small step
in bending the sheet to its final form. But the equipment
investment is still much less than that of the hot-rolled
industry, and the end product coming out of the last roller
stand can often be lifted by one person.
It is easy for a manufacturer of cold-formed steel
sections to add a wrinkle here and there to try and get an
edge on a competitor. For this reason, there is not much in
the way of standardization of parts. Each manufacturer
makes the section it thinks will best compete in the market-
place. They may be close but rarely exactly like products by
other manufacturers used in similar applications.
The sections which appear in Part I of the AISI Cold-
Formed Steel Manual (Ref. 1.2) are "commonly used"
sections representing an average survey of suppliers, but
they are not "standard" in the sense that every manufac-
turer makes these sizes.

1.4 HISTORY OF COLD-FORMED

STANDARDS
In order to ensure that all designers and manufacturers of
cold-formed steel products were competing fairly, and to
provide guidance to building codes, some sort of national
consensus standard was needed. Such a standard was first
developed by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)
in 1946.

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 The first AISI Specification for the Design of Cold-
Formed Steel Members was based largely on research work
done under the direction of Professor George Winter at
Cornell University. Research was done between 1939 and
1946 on beams, studs, roof decks, and connections under
the supervision of an AISI Technical Subcommittee, which
prepared the first edition of the specification and manual.
The specification has been revised and updated as new
research reveals better design methods. A complete chron-
ology of all the editions follows:
First edition: 1946
Second edition: 1956
Third edition: 1960
Fourth edition: 1962
Fifth edition: 1968
Sixth edition: 1980
Seventh edition: 1986
Addendum: 1989
First edition LRFD: 1991
Combined ASD and LRFD and 50th anniversary
edition: 1996
Addendum to the 1996 edition: 1999
Further details on the history can be found in Ref. 1.3.
The 1996 edition of the specification combines allow-
able stress design (ASD) and load and resistance factor
design (LRFD) into one document. It was the feeling of the
Specification Committee that there should be only one
formula for calculating ultimate strength for various limit
states. For example, the moment causing lateral-torsional
buckling of a beam should not depend on whether one is
using ASD or LRFD. Once the ultimate moment is deter-
mined, the user can then divide it by a factor of safety (Q)
and compare it to the applied moment, as in ASD, or
multiply it by a resistance (0) factor and compare it to an
applied moment which has been multiplied by appropriate
load factors, as in LRFD.

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 The equations in the 1996 edition are organized in
such a way that any system of units can be used. Thus, the
same equations work for either customary or SI units. This
makes it one of the most versatile standards ever devel-
oped.
The main purpose of this book is to discuss the 1996
version of AISI's Specification for the Design of Cold-
Formed Structural Steel Members, along with the 1999
Addendum, and to demonstrate with design examples how
it can be used for the design of cold-formed steel members
and frames.
Other international standards for the design of cold-
formed steel structures are the Australia/New Zealand
Standard AS/NZS 4600 (Ref. 1.4), which is based mainly
on the 1996 AISI Specification with some extensions for
high-strength steels, the British Standard BS 5950-Part 5
(Ref. 1.5), the Canadian Standard CAN/CSA S136 (Ref 1.6)
and the Eurocode 3 Part 1.3 (Ref. 1.7), which is still a
prestandard. All these international standards are only in
limit states format.

1.5 COMMON SECTION PROFILES AND

APPLICATIONS OF COLD-FORMED
STEEL
Cold-formed steel structural members are normally used in
the following applications.
Roof and wall systems of industrial, commercial and
agricultural buildings: Typical sections for use in roof and
wall systems are Z- (zee) or C- (channel) sections, used as
purlins and girts, or sometimes beams and columns. Typi-
cally, formed steel sheathing or decking spans across these
members and is fastened to them with self-drilling screws
through the "valley" part of the deck. In most cases, glass
fiber insulation is sandwiched between the deck and the
purlins or girts. Concealed fasteners can also be used to
eliminate penetrations in the sheathing. Typical purlin

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 Chapter

sections and profiles are shown in Figure 1.1, and typical

deck profiles as shown in Figure 1.2. Typical fixed clip and
sliding clip fasteners are shown in Figure 1.3.
Steel racks for supporting storage pallets: The
uprights are usually channels with or without additional
rear flanges, or tubular sections. Tubular or pseudotubular
sections such as lipped channels intermittently welded toe-
to-toe are normally used as pallet beams. Typical sections
are shown in Figure 1.4, and a complete steel storage rack
in Figure 1.5. In the United States the braces are usually
welded to the uprights, whereas in Europe, the braces are
normally bolted to the uprights, as shown in Figure 1.4a.
Structural members for plane and space trusses: Typi-
cal members are circular, square, or rectangular hollow
sections both as chords and webs, usually with welded
joints as shown in Figure 1.6a. Bolted joints can also be
achieved by bolting onto splice plates welded to the tubular
sections. Channel section chord members can also be used
with tubular braces bolted or welded into the open sections
as shown in Figure 1.6b. Cold-formed channel and Z
sections are commonly used for the chord members of roof
trusses of steel-framed housing. Trusses can also be fabri-
cated from cold-formed angles.
Frameless stressed-skin structures: Corrugated sheets
or sheeting profiles with stiffened edges are used to form
small structures up to a 30-ft clear span with no interior

Z (Zee) seciicmK C (Channel} section

FIGURE 1.1 Purlin sections.

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 2-1/2" l.Vlfi"
-I 9/I6"

7/8"

(•i)

Ribs. Approx. 6" c. loc.

. 1"

1/2" Min.

- 3/8" Min.

Ribs. Approx. 6" c. loc.

Msu. 1-3/4" I—;——;

,——— =
I/?.11 Min.

—j — \n ' Min.

Ribs. Appro*.. 6" c. toe.

Max, 2-1/2" h—•—H

Mm.

Ribs 8" c. 10 c.
I-

3" Min.

I -3/4" Min.

FIGURE 1.2 Deck profiles: (a) form deck (representative); (b)

narrow rib deck type NR; (c) intermediate rib deck type IR; (d)
wide rib deck type WR; (e) deep rib deck type 3DR.

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 FIGURE 1.3 Sliding clip and fixed clip.

framework. Farm buildings, storage sheds, and grain bins

are typical applications, although such construction has
historically been used for industrial buildings as well.
Residential framing: Lipped and unlipped channels,
made to the same dimensions as nominal 2x4s, and some-
times known as "steel lumber," are typically used in the
walls of residential buildings. Larger channel sections are
used as floor and ceiling joists, and roof trusses are
commonly made of small channel sections screwed or
bolted together. Some examples are shown in Figure 1.7b
for a simple roof truss and in Figure 1.7a for wall framing.
Steel floor and roof deck: Formed steel deck is laid
across steel beams to provide a safe working platform and a
form for concrete. It is normally designated as a wide rib,
intermediate rib, or narrow rib deck. Some deck types have
a flat sheet attached to the bottom of the ribs which creates
hollow cells providing raceways for electrical and other
cables. This bottom sheet may be perforated for an acous-

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 Fillet weld

• Single inclined brace

(imlipped channel)
(USA)

Upright Brace inclined upwards

Eo
" (Europe)

\
Rear/ ^ ftrace inclined downwards
flange
(»)

\Fillci
Fillet
weld
weld

Rectangular Welded Welded

lio]low channel lipped
sectio:) sections angles

FIGURE 1.4 Storage rack sections: (a) plan view of uprights and
bracing; (b) pallet beam sections.

tical ceiling. Typical examples of each of these decks are

shown in Figure 1.2.
Some decks have embossments in the sloping sides of
the rib that engage the concrete slab as a kind of shear key
and permit the deck to act compositely with the concrete.

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 Upright
frame

Shelf beam

Shelf henm
(semi-rigid joint)

Upright

FIGURE 1.5 Steel storage rack.

It is not common to use a concrete slab on roofs, so roof

deck is generally narrow rib so that it can provide support
for insulating board. A typical narrow rib roof deck is
shown in Figure 1.2.
Utility poles: All of the foregoing may lead the reader
to think that "cold-formed" means "thin sheet." It is often
surprising to one not familiar with the subject that cold-
formed structures may be fabricated from plates up to 1 in.
thick. (In fact the 1996 AISI Specification declares that it
covers all steel up to an inch thick.) A good example is a
type of vertical tapered pole that may be used for street
lights or traffic signals. It is difficult to make a 90° bend in a

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 FilJet welds all round
Tubular
top
' uhurd

Tubular
web
member

lubular
bottom
chord

Bolted or welded
Channel
_ _ section
top chord
Channel or
— tubular web
member

_ Channel
section
(|o bottom
chord
FIGURE 1.6 Plane truss frames: (a) tubular truss; (b) channel
section truss.

1 in.-thick plate, and even if it could be done it would

probably crack the plate, but it is feasible to make a 60°
bend. Such poles are generally octagonal in cross section
and are made in halves that are then welded together.
Because they are tapered, they can be stacked to attain
greater height. An example of this kind of cold-formed
structure can be seen in Figure 1.8.
Automotive applications: All major structural
elements can be used, but normally hat sections or box
sections are used. Several publications on this subject are
available from the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Grain storage bins or silos: Grain bins usually consist
of curved corrugated sheets stiffened by hat or channel

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 IJnlippctl channel
top (rack
(4 jn., 18 jja, 33 ksi typical) Screwed
cunnuctiun
tvnka.1

"\
Slud inside
stud tup track

7 Stud inside.
Fiat strip
• Bolt Din track bottom tract
(4 in. x 18 g;i typical}

En)

Well member (2^- in., 20 pa. 3.3 ksi typical

i Top chord (.6 in., IH gn, 33 ksi lypu-;tl)

t^
Bottom choid (3 ^ in., 20 ga, 33 ksi typical)
fb)
FIGURE 1.7 Residual construction: (a) wall framing; (b) roof truss.

sections. While the AISI Specification for cold-formed struc-

tures does not deal specifically with such structures, the
same principles can be applied. A good reference on this
kind of structure is Gay lord and Gaylord (Ref. 1.8).
Cold-formed tubular members: Hollow structural
sections (HSS) may be made by cold-roll-forming to produce

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 Sections are
tapered
to nest

Sections up to l !f thick
formed in 2 halves &. welded

FIGURE 1.8 Cold-formed steel utility poles.

a round, which is then closed by electric resistance welding

(ERW). The round shape can then be used as is or further
formed into a square or rectangle. Examples are shown in
Figure 1.9.

1.6 MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

Cold-formed members are usually manufactured by one of
two processes: (1) roll forming and (2) brake forming.

1.6.1 Roll Forming

Roll forming consists of feeding a continuous steel strip
through a series of opposing rolls to progressively deform
the steel plastically to form the desired shape. Each pair of
rolls produces a fixed amount of deformation in a sequence

ERW
weld

Circular Rectangular or Squar

(CHS) (RHSandSHS)

FIGURE 1.9 Typical tubular sections.

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 of the type shown in Figure 1.10. In this example, a Z
section is formed by first developing the bends to form the
lip stiffeners and then producing the bends to form the
flanges. Each pair of opposing rolls is called a stage, as
shown in Figure 1.1 la. In general, the more complex the
cross-sectional shape, the greater the number of stages that
are required. In the case of cold-formed rectangular hollow
sections, the rolls initially form the section into a circular
section and a weld is applied between the opposing edges of
the strip before final rolling (called sizing) into a square or
rectangle.

1.6.2 Brake Forming

Brake forming involves producing one complete fold at a
time along the full length of the section, using a machine
called a press brake, such as the one shown in Figure l.llb.
For sections with several folds, it is necessary to move the
steel plate in the press and to repeat the braking operation
several times. The completed section is then removed from
the press and a new piece of plate is inserted for manufac-
ture of the next section.

ate^

FIGURE 1.10 Typical roll-forming sequence for a Z-section.

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 Stage 4

e2

Stage 5

Stage 3
NxUnttom
\XX\\\X\\.\\N.\> (a)

Stage 1

Tliin plate

Stage 2

FIGURE 1.11 Cold-forming tools: (a) roll-forming tools; (b) brake

press dies.

Roll forming is the more popular process for producing

large quantities of a given shape. The initial tooling costs
are high, but the subsequent labor content is low. Press
braking is normally used for low-volume production where
a variety of shapes are required and the roll-forming tool-
ing costs cannot be justified. Press braking has the further
limitation that it is difficult to produce continuous lengths
exceeding about 20ft.

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 A significant limitation of roll forming is the time it
takes to change rolls for a different size section. Conse-
quently, adjustable rolls are often used which allow a rapid
change to a different section width or depth. Roll forming
may produce a different set of residual stresses in the
section when compared with braking, so the section
strength may be different in cases where buckling and
yielding interact. Also, corner radii tend to be much
larger in roll-formed sections, and this can affect structural
actions such as web crippling.

1.7 GENERAL APPROACH TO THE DESIGN

OF COLD-FORMED SECTIONS
1.7.1 Special Problems
The use of thinner material and cold-forming processes
result in special design problems not normally encountered
in hot-rolled construction. For this reason, the AISI Cold-
Formed Specification has been produced to give designers
guidance on the different modes of buckling and deforma-
tion encountered in cold-formed steel structures. In addi-
tion, welding and bolting practices in thinner sections are
also different, requiring design provisions unique to thin
sheets. A brief summary of some of these design provisions
follows.

1.7.2 Local Buckling and Post-Local Buckling

of Thin Plate Elements
The thicknesses of individual plate elements of cold-formed
sections are normally small compared to their widths, so
local buckling may occur before section yielding. However,
the presence of local buckling of an element does not
necessarily mean that its load capacity has been reached.
If such an element is stiffened by other elements on its
edges, it possesses still greater strength, called "postbuck-
ling strength." Local buckling is expected in most cold-

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 formed sections and often ensures greater economy than a
heavier section that does not buckle locally.

1.7.3 Effective Width Concept

In the first specification published by the American Iron
and Steel Institute in 1946, steel designers were introduced
to the concept of "effective width" of stiffened elements of a
cold-formed section for the first time. The notion that a flat
plate could buckle and still have strength left—postbuck-
ling strength as it was called—was a new concept in steel
specifications. To have this postbuckling strength required
that the plate be supported along its edges or "stiffened" by
some element that was attached at an angle, usually a right
angle. These stiffening elements are achieved in cold-
formed steel by bending the sheet.
Because cold-formed members typically have very
high width-to-thickness ratios, they tend to buckle elasti-
cally under low compressive stress. However, the stiffened
edges of the plate remain stable and a certain width of the
plate close to the corners is still "effective" in resisting
further compressive load. The problem is to determine how
much of the original width of the plate is still effective. This
is called "effective width," and formulas for calculating it
were developed under the leadership of Dr. George Winter
at Cornell University in the early 1940s. These effective
width formulas appeared in the first Cold-Formed Specifi-
cation in 1946 and remained unchanged until 1986.
Plates that had a stiffening element on only one edge
were called "unstiffened." These did not require calculation
of an effective width, but were designed on the basis of a
reduced stress.
Until 1986, there were only stiffened and unstiffened
elements. Examples of each are shown in Figure 1.12a. An
element was deemed stiffened if it had an adequate stif-
fener on both edges of the element. The stiffener could be
"edge" or "intermediate," as shown in Figure 1.12b. The

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 Stiffened [[ II Unstitfened

Multiple- stiffened segment

ridge ' Intermediate

. stiffeiier stit'ten<*,r
(h)

U I-
h/2

C,b B

(d)
FIGURE 1.12 Compression elements: (a) compression elements;
(b) stiffeners; (c) effective widths; (d) effective width for a
partially stiffened element.

stiffener's adequacy was a clearly defined limiting moment

of inertia, dependent on the slenderness—that is, the
width-to-thickness ratio—of the element being stiffened.
If stiffened elements were very slender, the real width
might have to be reduced to an effective width, as shown
in Figure 1.12c. The effective area thus computed for a

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 complete section, when divided by the gross area, produced
an area reduction factor called Qa.
Effective area was not calculated for unstiffened
elements. The lower buckling stress on an unstiffened
element was calculated according to formulas which were
a function of the slenderness of the element. The resulting
stress, when divided by the design stress, usually 0.6Fy,
produced a stress reduction factor, called Qs. The total
reduction on a section in compression was Qa x Qs.
In the 1986 edition of the specification, a major shift in
philosophy was made. Now all compression elements are
treated with an effective width approach, as shown in
Figure 1.12c. There is one basic effective width equation
and the only difference that separates one element from
another is the plate buckling constant, k, which is
discussed in detail in Chapter 4. Even though the specifica-
tion still speaks of stiffened and unstiffened elements, most
elements are stiffened to some degree according to their
edge conditions and stress gradients, and one can begin to
think in terms of only one kind of element: a partially
stiffened element, as shown in Figure 1.12d. Qa and Qs are
no more.
Formerly, in a section such as a channel that has a
flange stiffened by a web on one side and a lip on the other,
the flange was considered a stiffened element. Now, there is
a distinction between the flange of a channel and the flange
of a hat section which is attached to webs on both sides. The
channel flange is now called an edge-stiffened element,
while the flange of the hat is still called a stiffened element.
The edge stiffener usually produces effective widths distrib-
uted as shown in Figure 1.12d.
The web of either type of section, which has a portion
of its depth in compression, is also now treated with an
effective width approach, as are all elements with a stress
gradient. The only items that change are the plate buckling
coefficient (k) and the distribution of the effective widths, as
discussed in Chapter 4.

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 1.7.4 Propensity for Twisting
Cold-formed sections are normally thin, and consequently
they have a low torsional stiffness. Many of the sections
produced by cold-forming are singly symmetric with their
shear centers eccentric from their centroids, as shown in
Figure 1.13a. Since the shear center of a thin-walled beam
is the axis through which it must be loaded to produce
flexural deformation without twisting, any eccentricity of
the load from this axis generally produces considerable
torsional deformations in a thin-walled beam, as shown in
Figure 1.13a. Consequently, beams usually require
torsional restraints at intervals or continuously along
them to prevent torsional deformations. Methods for
bracing channel and Z sections against torsional and
lateral deformations are found in Section D of the 1996
AISI Specification and in Chapter 10 of this book.
For a column axially loaded along its centroidal axis,
the eccentricity of the load from the shear center axis may
cause buckling in the torsional-flexural mode as shown in
Figure 1.13b at a lower load than the flexural buckling
mode, also shown in Figure 1.13b. Hence, the designer
must check for the torsional-flexural mode of buckling
using methods described in Chapter 7 of this book and in
Section C4 of the AISI Specification.
Beams such as channel and Z purlins and girts may
undergo lateral-torsional buckling because of their low
torsional stiffness. Hence, design equations for lateral-
torsional buckling of purlins with different bracing condi-
tions are given in Section C3 of the AISI Specification and
are described in Chapter 5 of this book.

1.7.5 Distortional Buckling

Sections which are braced against lateral or torsional-
flexural buckling may undergo a mode of buckling
commonly known as distortional buckling, as shown in
Figure 1.14. This mode can occur for members in flexure

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 Eccemncity from shear center

1 Load (P)

f 11
i ^~"^ ^•m

\-
Ginlruid i i
Shear r
ccmcr Torsi on al
Flex lira!. deformation
Reformat or /
of shear i J]
tenter /
/

= Pe

Flcxural
buckling Axial land
alnng centroid

J1J J

Torsinnal-flexural
mode

FIGURE 1.13 Torsional deformations: (a) eccentrically loaded

channel beam; (b) axially loaded channel column.

or compression. In the 1996 edition of the AISI Specifica-

tion, distortional buckling of edge-stiffened elements is
partially accounted for by Section B4.2. Further research
is underway to include specific design rules.

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 Translalmn
Rulaliuri

Compression
flange

(a) (b)

FIGURE 1.14 Distortional buckling modes: (a) compression; (b)

flexure.

1.7.6 Cold Work of Forming

The mechanical properties of sections made from sheet
steel are affected by the cold work of forming that takes
place in the manufacturing process, specifically in the
regions of the bends. For sections which are cold-formed
from flat strip the cold work is normally confined to the four
bends adjacent to either edge of each flange. In these
regions, the material ultimate tensile strength and yield
strength are enhanced with a commensurate reduction in
material ductility. The enhanced yield strength of the steel
may be included in the design according to formulae given
in Section A7 of the AISI Specification.
For cold-formed square or rectangular hollow sections,
the flat faces will also have undergone cold work as a result
of forming the section into a circular tube and then rework-
ing it into a rectangle or square. In this case, it is very
difficult to compute theoretically the enhancement of yield
strength in the flats, so the AISI Specification allows the
measured yield strength of the steel after forming to be
used in design where the yield strength is determined
according to the procedures described in ASTM A500. The
distribution of ultimate tensile strength and yield strength

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 measured in a cold-formed square hollow section is shown
in Figure 1.15. The distribution indicates that the proper-
ties are reasonably uniform across the flats (except at the
weld location) with a yield strength of approximately 57ksi
for a nominal yield stress of 50ksi. This is substantially
higher than the yield strength of the plate before forming,
which is normally approximately 42 ksi. The enhancement
of the yield stress in the corners is very substantial, with an
average value of approximately 70 ksi.

1.7.7 Web Crippling Under Bearing

Web crippling at points of concentrated load and supports
can be a critical problem in cold-formed steel structural
members and sheeting for the following reasons:
1. In cold-formed design, it is often not practical to
provide load bearing and end bearing stiffeners.

Weld

A D

Corner Corner Corner Corner Corner

U A B Weld C D
I 1 ; 1 I
't7
90 9 i 0
80 1 v f i -
u^ 70 o o L
dt> X
, Jo
•
: 0^
WJ
I o 0 1
4J
V~ 60 " x xlx ix : L X I
x
V3
50 1 X *i : X|
1 \ I 1

Distribution of yield itresi (*) in id ultimate tensile strength (o)

FIGURE 1.15 Tensile properties in a cold-formed square hollow

section (Grade C to ASTM A500).

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 This is always the case in continuous sheeting and
decking spanning several support points.
2. The depth-to-thickness ratios of the webs of cold-
formed members are usually larger than for hot-
rolled structural members.
3. In many cases, the webs are inclined rather than
vertical.
4. The load is usually applied to the flange, which
causes the load to be eccentric to the web and
causes initial bending in the web even before
crippling takes place. The larger the corner
radius, the more severe is the case of web crip-
pling.
Section C3.4 of the AISI Specification provides design
equations for web crippling of beams with one- and two-
flange loading, stiffened or unstiffened flanges, and
sections having multiple webs.
At interior supports, beams may be subjected to a
combination of web crippling and bending. Section C3.5
provides equations for this condition. Likewise, such
sections may be subjected to a combination of shear and
bending. Section C3.3 covers this condition.

1.7.8 Connections
A. Welded Connections
In hot-rolled steel fabrication, the most common welds are
fillet welds and partial or complete penetration groove
welds. There is a much wider variety of welds available
in cold-formed construction, such as arc spot welds (some-
times referred to as puddle welds), flare bevel groove welds,
resistance welds, etc. In hot-rolled welding, generally the
two pieces being joined are close to the same thickness, so it
is easy for the welder to set the amperage on his welding
machine. In cold-formed steel, there is often a great differ-
ence in the thicknesses of the pieces being joined. For

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 example, welding a 22 gauge deck to a |-in. beam flange
requires completely different welding skills. To get enough
heat to fuse the thick flange means that the thin sheet may
be burned through and if there is not intimate contact
between the two pieces, a poor weld will result. In these
cases, weld washers, thicker than the sheet, may be used to
improve weld quality.
Another difference between hot-rolled welding and
light-gauge welding is the presence of round corners. In
welding two channels back-to-back, for example, there is a
natural groove made by the corner radii and this can be
used as a repository for weld metal. Such welds are called
flare bevel groove welds.
Tests of welded sheet steel connections have shown
that failure generally occurs in the material around the
weld rather than in the weld itself. Provisions for welded
connections are found in Section E2 of the AISI Specifica-
tion and are discussed in Chapter 9.
B. Bolted Connections
Bolted connections in cold-formed construction differ
primarily in the ratio of the bolt diameter to the thickness
of the parts being joined. Thus, most bolted connections are
controlled by bearing on the sheet rather than by bolt
shear. The "net section fracture" that is usually checked
in heavy plate material rarely occurs. Provisions for bolted
connections appear in Section E3 and are discussed in
Chapter 9.
C. Screw Connections
Self-drilling screws, self-tapping screws, sheet metal
screws, and blind rivets are all devices for joining sheet to
sheet or sheet to heavier supporting material. Of these, the
self-drilling screw is the most common for structural appli-
cations. It is used for securing roof and wall sheets to
purlins and girts and making connections in steel framing
for residential or commercial construction. Sheet metal

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 screws and rivets are mostly used for non-structural appli-
cations such as flashing, trim, and accessories. Pullover
and pullout values for screws may be calculated with the
equations in Section E4 or values may be obtained from the
manufacturer. The design of screw connections is discussed
in Chapter 9.
D. Clinching
A relatively new method for joining sheets is called clin-
ching. No external fastener is used here; a special punch
deforms the two sheets in such a way that they are held
together. At this time, no provisions for determining the
capacity of this type of connection exist in the AISI Speci-
fication, so the testing provisions of Section F of the AISI
Specification should be used.

1.7.9 Corrosion Protection

The main factor governing the corrosion resistance of cold-
formed steel sections is not the base metal thickness but
the type of protective treatment applied to the steel. Cold-
formed steel has the advantage of applying protective coat-
ings to the coil before roll forming. Galvanizing is a process
of applying a zinc coating to the sheet for corrosion protec-
tion and is purely functional. A paint finish on steel can
serve as corrosion protection and provide an attractive
finish for exterior panels. A painted or galvanized coil can
be passed through the rolls and the finish is not damaged. A
manufacturer of exterior panels can now order coils of steel
in a variety of colors and the technology of the factory finish
has improved to the point that the paint will not crack
when a bend is made in the sheet.
Other than paint, the most common types of coatings
for sheet steel are zinc (galvanizing), aluminum, and a
combination of zinc and aluminum. These are all applied
in a continuous coil line operation by passing the strip
through a molten metal bath followed by gas wiping to
control the amount of coating applied. Typical coating

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 designations are G60 and G90 for galvanized product and
T2 65 and T2 100 for aluminum-coated sheet. The numbers
in these designations refer to the total coating weight on
both sides of the sheet in hundredths of an ounce per c\

square foot (oz/ft ) of sheet area. For example, G60

means a minimum of 0.60 ounce of zinc per square foot.
This corresponds to a 1-mil thickness on each side. A G90
coating has 0.90 ounce per square foot and a thickness of
1.5 mils (Ref. 1.9).

1.7.10 Inelastic Reserve Capacity

Generally, the proportions of cold-formed sections are such
that the development of a fully plastic cross-section is
unlikely. However, there is a provision in Section
C3.1.1(b), Procedure II, that permits the use of inelastic
reserve capacity for stockier sections, such as those found
in rack structures. Here, compressive strains up to three
times the yield strain are permitted for sections satisfying
certain slenderness limits. In this case, the design moment
may not exceed the yield moment by more than 25%.

1.8 TWO DESIGN METHODS

The 1996 AISI Specification for Cold-Formed Steel
Members is a unique document in that it simultaneously
satisfies those wishing to use the time-tested allowable
stress design (ASD) method and those wishing to use the
more modern load and resistance factor design (LRFD)
method. At the same time, all the equations in the specifi-
cation are formulated in such terms that any system of
units may be used. Thus, four permutations are available
in one reference:
ASD with customary or English units
ASD with SI units
LRFD with customary or English units
LRFD with SI units

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 Probably 90% of the 1996 specification deals with finding
failure loads or nominal capacities. The process is the same
whether one is using ASD or LRFD. The decision as to
which method to use is only made at the end, when the
nominal capacity is either divided by a safety factor (Q) or
multiplied by a resistance factor (0). Of course, in ASD the
capacity is compared to the service loads or forces and in
LRFD it is compared to factored forces.

1.8.1 Allowable Stress Design

The basis for ASD is the use of fractions of the material's
yield stress as a limiting stress. Put another way, the yield
stress is divided by a safety factor to determine the maxi-
mum stress allowed for a particular structural action. For
example, the allowable bending stress may be 0.6 x yield
stress. The inverse of this coefficient, 1.67, is Q. Each type
of stress, tension, compression, bending, shear, etc., has its
own corresponding allowable stress which cannot be
exceeded by the actual stresses. Ever since engineers
have been calculating the forces and stresses in structures,
this has been the method used. The only changes have been
in the way the allowable stress is determined, and this is
the function of a design standard such as AISC or AISI
specifications.

1.8.2 Load and Resistance Factor Design

The philosophy of LRFD is that all the variabilities that the
old safety factor was supposed to take into account should
be divided into two factors: one representing the load
variability and the other accounting for all those things
that go into making variability in resistance, such as
dimensional tolerances, material variations, errors in fabri-
cation, errors in erection, analytical assumptions, and
others. These are called, respectively, the load factor and
resistance factor. Typical frequency distribution curves for

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 load effects and corresponding resistances are shown in
Figure 1.16.
In addition, the load factor is not constant for all types
of loading. The load with least variability, such as dead
load, can have a smaller factor. This is an advantage for
structures with heavy dead load, one that is not available in
ASD. In most cold-formed steel structures, the dead load
tends to be a small percentage of the total gravity load, thus
partially negating the advantages of LRFD. In order to
produce designs that are consistent with the more tradi-
tional ASD, the LRFD specification was "calibrated" at a
live/dead load ratio of 5/1.

1.9 LOAD COMBINATIONS

The load combination in Section A5.1.2 for allowable stress
design and in Section A6.1.2 for load and resistance factor
design follow the standard ASCE-7-98 (Ref. 1.10), but with
a few important exceptions. The traditional 1/3 stress
increase is no longer permitted in ASCE-7 for ASD, but a
0.75 reduction factor may be used when wind or earth-
quake loads are used in combination with other live loads.

Magnitude of H fleet of Loads (Q)

or ResisLinr.e of Element ( R )

FIGURE 1.16 Frequency distribution curves.

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 One application that is not found in hot-rolled steel is
that of a steel deck which supports a concrete floor. A
special load combination for erection purposes, including
the weight of the wet concrete as a live load, appears in the
commentary to A6.1.2 in the AISI specification. Another
difference involves a reduced wind load factor for secondary
members, that is, sheeting, purlins, girts and other
members. These members can be designed with a lower
reliability index than primary structural members of long-
standing practice.

REFERENCES
1.1 American Institute of Steel Construction, Load and
Resistance Factor Design Specification for Structural
Steel Buildings, 1993.
1.2 American Iron and Steel Institute, Cold-Formed Steel
Design Manual, 1996.
1.3 Yu, W-W, Wolford, D. S., and Johnson, A. L., Golden
Anniversary of the AISI Specification, Center for
Cold-Formed Steel Structures, University of
Missouri-Rolla, 1996.
1.4 Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand, Cold-
Formed Steel Structures, AS/NZS 4600:1996.
1.5 British Standards Institution, Code of Practice for the
Design of Cold-Formed Sections, BS 5950, Part 5,
1986.
1.6 Canadian Standards Association, Cold-Formed Steel
Structural Members, CAN/CSA S136-94, Rexdale,
Ontario, 1994.
1.7 Comite Europeen de Normalisation, Eurocode 3:
Design of Steel Structures, Part 1.3: General Rules,
European Prestandard ENV 1993-1-3, 1996.
1.8 Gaylord, E. H., Jr, and Gaylord, C. N., Design of Steel
Bins for Storage of Bulk Solids, New York, Prentice-
Hall, 1984.

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 1.9 Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Technical Bulletin,
Coating Weight and Thickness Designations for
Coated Sheet Steels, March 1995.
1.10 American Society of Civil Engineers, Minimum
Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures,
1998.

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