Open-web steel joists supporting concrete slab or wood deck systems can exhibit perceptible footfall vibrations, particularly in office, school, and residential occupancies where lightweight construction and long spans coincide. Our team measured vertical acceleration responses in four Indiana office buildings, comparing measured values against AISC Design Guide 11 criteria for walking excitation. Damping ratios in […]

Light gauge wall studs depend on bridging to provide torsional restraint and to establish the unbraced length for weak-axis buckling. Flat strap X-bracing, continuous channel bridging, and cold-formed hat sections each offer distinct stiffness and installation characteristics. Our field surveys across twenty active Indiana job sites revealed inconsistent bridging installation practices, particularly at openings, corners,

Moment connections in metal building framework most commonly employ bolted end-plate configurations at the knee — the intersection of tapered column and rafter. Extended end-plates with four bolts outside the flange width provide predictable tension field action and rotational ductility. Our study focused specifically on tapered beam-column interfaces common in clear-span rigid frames up to

Indiana steel framing relies extensively on back-to-back C-sections for columns, headers, and primary vertical load-bearing members. This assembly method allows designers to achieve increased moment capacity and axial stiffness without the need for custom rolling or heavy hot-rolled sections. By pairing two cold-formed channels facing each other, the combined section develops composite action through discrete