The Influence of Web Holes on the Behaviour of Cold-Formed Steel Members: A Review

Abstract

The use of cold-formed steel (CFS) members in structural engineering has been on the increase recently due to a wide range of benefits. The placement of electrical and/or plumbing installations within the floor or wall thickness requires that members are being manufactured with holes along the web, inevitably affecting their resistance. This article aims at providing a useful and comprehensive overview of the existing literature regarding CFS members with web holes. Experimental and numerical research on CFS members with web holes subjected to pure compression, bending, web crippling and shear is outlined and discussed. Although research on these types of members date back to the early 1970s, the greatest progress in the research field of CFS members with web holes was achieved during the past 15 years; hence, mostly the research conducted during this period was addressed. Additionally, design proposals are summarised for each of the aforementioned stress states. A brief description of the main concepts of design presented in four principal design codes, as well as numerical solution methods for predicting global, local, and distortional buckling modes, is also presented, aiming to collect the accessible up-to-date knowledge of CFS members with holes and identify areas that were modestly covered by previous research.