The usage of cold-formed steel (CFS) structural members as a main load carrying members in low-rise residential frames has increased due to lightweight and ease of handling. Conventionally, the CFS residential buildings are being erected by ballooning system using panels which are inter-connected by using bolts, welds and self-drilling screws. The self-drilling screws are easy to install and no need of any skilled supervision. These frames are developed by joining discrete closely spaced CFS members as panels by using self-drilling screws, which do not have interconnectivity of frames except at the floor levels. A new framing system is developed by using CFS members through gusset plates by using self-drilling screws. A joint in the framing is analyzed for two lateral restraint conditions by using finite element analysis (FEA). The CFS members are modelled by employing shell elements and the screw points have been modelled simulated with tie-constraints. The developed FE model is analysed under monotonic loading. The results of the FEA models are validated with experimental values. With the validated FE model, parametric studies are conducted. This article presents in detail about the analysis.

Keywords: Self-drilling screw, Cold-formed steel, Framing system, Gusset plate, Buckling.