STRENGTH OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SHEAR DIAPHRAGMS.

A study conducted to investigate whether the current analytical methods can be used instead of the empirical approach and full-scale testing for predicting the shear capacity of welded diaphragms is described. A rational method is proposed and the application of various methods is illustrated with reference to a specific example. The shear strengths of many diaphragms are predicted by the new approach developed by the authors and the results are compared to test data.