Shear behaviour of screw connections in plasterboard sheathed cold- formed steel-framed ceiling diaphragms: experimental and comparative study

Abstract

In Australian domestic structures, steel framing and sheathing panels are usually connected using screws. The ceiling diaphragm plays an important role in distributing lateral loads to the bracing walls. Shear connection tests could be used to observe the ceiling diaphragm performance without the complexity of testing full-scale isolated diaphragms. In this research, numerous inexpensive tests have been conducted to replicate representative tests to determine the parameters outlining the load-displacement behaviour for the screw connections between cold-formed steel framing members and plasterboard sheathing. All investigations of shear connection tests have focused on monotonic loading test..