Author: Jeff Ellis

Jeff is a licensed Civil and Structural Engineer in California and multiple other states who has been practicing since 1991. Before joining Simpson Strong-Tie in 2000, he spent nine years as a design engineer on residential, commercial, institutional, and forensic projects, working in wood, cold-formed steel, structural steel, masonry, and concrete. At Simpson Strong-Tie, he has held roles spanning branch engineering, regional engineering management, codes and product compliance, and business unit leadership. He currently serves as Manager for Engineering Department Operations. His industry involvement includes serving as chairman of the AISI Committee on Framing Standards Lateral Design Subcommittee, president of both SEAOSC and the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI), and as a member of the ICC-ES Board of Managers. He is a SEAOC Fellow and current co-chair of the SEAOSC Legislative Action Committee, and has authored design guides and technical articles and presented on structural design and codes and standards topics throughout his career.

Wings or No Wings?

Guest blogger Jeff Ellis, engineering manager

While the title of this blog post might remind you of the tasty turkey dinner you enjoyed on Thanksgiving, it’s actually a question regarding a shear wall component’s effect on performance. What type of fastener do you use to attach wood structural panel sheathing to cold-formed steel (CFS) framing, and what is the effect on a shear wall assembly?

Wood Structural Panel Sheathed CFS Framed Shear Walls.( Image credit: Don Allen, DSi Engineering)

Structural sheathing is most commonly attached to CFS framing with self-piercing or self-drilling tapping screws, power driven pins, and adhesives.

The AISI North American Standard for Cold-Formed Steel Framing – Lateral Design standard (S213) specifies using either #8 or #10 self-tapping screws (depending on the assembly) that comply with ASTM C1513, and have a minimum head diameter of 0.285” or 0.333”, respectively.

It’s worth noting that you cannot verify ASTM C1513 compliance by simple inspection. While screw dimensions are easy to measure, other features such as hardness, ductility, torsional strength, drill drive, and thread tapping cannot be evaluated in the field or by visual inspection. It’s prudent that a Designer and jurisdiction expect a screw manufacturer to validate its product’s compliance with ASTM C1513. This can be done through test reports by an accredited test lab and evaluation data, or by an evaluation report published by an ANSI-accredited product certification entity such as ICC-ES or IAPMO UES.Continue Reading

Call for Papers: 22nd International Conference on CFS Structures

The Wei-Wen Yu Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures has issued a Call for Papers for the 22^nd International Conference on Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) Structures, to be held Nov. 5-6 in St. Louis, MO. The goal of the conference is to enable sharing of state-of-the-art information pertaining to CFS design.

Both engineering researchers and practitioners have provided valuable contributions to the conference. Past proceedings are available online.

Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to submit abstracts for consideration by the conference steering committee. Application-oriented topics highlighting innovations in CFS applications are strongly encouraged. The deadline is Dec. 31. Abstracts may be submitted by e-mail to ccfss@mst.edu.

What are your thoughts? Visit the blog and leave a comment!

2013 Buildings At Risk Summit Focused on Individual and Community Safety, Resiliency

The Structural Engineers Association of Northern and Southern California hosted the third annual Buildings At Risk ǀ Earthquake Loss Reduction Summit in Los Angeles on October 8 and in San Francisco on October 15. Robust panel presentations and discussions presented by professionals from diverse yet complimentary fields targeted a mixed audience of building owners, architects, engineers, government officials, insurance representatives, and financial industry representatives.Continue Reading

23rd Short Course on CFS Structures: October 15-17 in St. Louis

Simpson Strong-Tie is sponsoring the 23^rd Short Course on Cold-Formed Steel Structures hosted by the Wei-Wen Yu Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures (CCFSS). The course will be held on October 15-17, 2013 at the Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch in St. Louis, MO.

This course is for engineers who have limited or no experience designing with cold-formed steel (CFS), as well as those with experience who would like to expand their knowledge. Lectures will be given by industry-recognized experts Roger LaBoube, Ph.D, P.E., and Sutton Stephens, Ph.D, P.E., S.E. The course is based on the 2007 and 2012 AISI North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members with the 2010 Supplement (AISI S100-07/S2-10 and S100-12) and will reference the Cold-Formed Steel Design (4^th Edition) text.

Topics include design of wall studs, floor joists, purlins, girts, decks and panels. For more information and to register, visit the CCFSS website.

– Jeff