Mechanical properties and automatic design method for rural residences with hinged frames and cold-formed thin-walled stiffened walls

At present, the overall construction quality of rural residences is still relatively poor, and the seismic performance of their structural systems is insufficient. In this study, quasi-static tests were carried out on three cold-formed thin-walled stiffened steel plate wall (CFSW) specimens infilled in a single-span two-story 1/2 scale hinged special-shaped column frame. The seismic performance of each specimen was evaluated by comparing the bearing capacity, ductility, stiffness degradation, energy dissipation capacity, and strain. The results show that the filling of concrete and gypsum in the column helps improve the bearing capacity of the structure but has no notable effect on the stiffness. The brittle failure phenomenon in the filled concrete specimens is obvious, and those specimens either without filler or whose columns are filled with gypsum show better ductility and energy dissipation capacities. A finite element (FE) model was established and validated, and the influence of parameters such as the connection method between the wall and frame, the shear-span ratio of the wall, the thickness of the stiffened wall, and the number of hat-section cold-formed steel (HCFS) stiffeners upon the structural system was analyzed. In combination with the test and the FE analysis results, the calculation method for horizontal bearing capacity of CFSW restrained by HCFS stiffeners and engineering design suggestions were put forward. In addition, an automatic program for the forward generation of the CFSW was designed, and the application of the system in practical engineering was verified using Midas software.