Experiments on Long-Span Cold-Formed Steel Single C-Section Portal Frames: Fid-Bau Portal

Experiments on Long-Span Cold-Formed Steel Single C-Section Portal Frames

Rinchen, Rinchen / Rasmussen, Kim J. R.

This paper presents a series of full-scale tests on long-span cold-formed steel single C-section portal frames subjected to gravity load and combined gravity and lateral load. The tests were carried out with the objectives of observing the structural performance of an existing portal frame configuration, determining the ultimate strength of the existing and modified portal frame configurations, and validating the structural behavior simulated by numerical models. The tests on cold-formed steel single C-section portal frames demonstrated that the flexural-torsional buckling of columns was the dominant structural behavior. The ultimate failure deformations were concentrated at the eaves and the apex and were governed by the type of fasteners used for the connections of column lips to the connection brackets. The strengths of the frames with modified joint configuration were slightly higher than those of the frames with the existing proprietary joint configuration. The ultimate loads obtained from the tests are compared with ultimate loads predicted by the Direct Strength Method. A method for including the bimoment in the design of CFS portal frames is highlighted.