Modeling of wind-induced fatigue of cold-formed steel sheet panels

Wind-induced failure around screwed connections has been documented in roof and wall cladding systems made with steel sheet cold-formed panels during high wind events. Previous research has found that low cycle fatigue caused by stress concentration and fluctuating wind loads is responsible for most such failures. A dynamic load protocol was employed in this work to represent fatigue under wind effects. A finite element model and fatigue criteria were implemented and compared with laboratory experiments in order to predict the fatigue failure associated with fluctuating wind loads. Results are used to develop an analytical model which can be employed for the fatigue analysis of steel cold-formed cladding systems. Existing three dimensional fatigue criteria are implemented and correlated with fatigue damage observed on steel claddings. Parametric studies are used to formulate suitable yet simple fatigue criteria. Fatigue failure is predicted in different configurations of loads, types of connections, and thicknesses of steel folded plate cladding. The analytical model, which correlated with experimental results reported in a companion paper, was validated for the fatigue life prediction and failure mechanism of different connection types and thicknesses of cold-formed steel cladding.