Evaluation of gypsum and fiber cement boards cladding on seismic behavior of steel sheathed cold-formed steel shear walls

An experimental study on cold-formed steel (CFS) shear walls having steel sheathing along with gypsum and fiber cement board cladding is presented in this paper. Cyclic tests were performed on six full-scale wall specimens to determine lateral stiffness, strength and nonlinear behavior of the steel sheathed shear walls in presence of other sheathings that are often counted as non-structural elements. Adding gypsum boards to one and both sides of the walls increased the shear strength by 18% and 45%, respectively, and resulted in 20% and 34% increase in the stiffness of the walls. In addition, adding fiber cement boards to one and both sides of the walls increased the shear strength by 31% and 80% and the wall stiffness by 32% and 67%, respectively. Adding gypsum and fiber cement boards led to an increase in the energy dissipation capability up to 85%, and utilizing gypsum boards increased the ductility of the walls up to 33%.