Featured image: Dr. Anthony Ariyanayagam (left) and Professor Mahen Mahendran of the QUT School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Photo credit: Queensland University of Technology
The Queensland University of Technology research project, “Superior cold-formed steel floor truss systems to modernize construction,” was recently awarded $379,503 through an Australian Research Council Linkage Program with Scottsdale Construction Systems, a global roll-forming technology provider and member of the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA).
The QUT researchers hope to provide building design and construction solutions that will address current housing shortages and the need for more affordable housing found in many parts of the world.
High-Strength CFS Trusses
The “Superior cold-formed steel floor truss systems …” research project’s aim is to develop high-strength cold-formed steel (CFS) floor truss systems for mid-rise CFS buildings worldwide.
“It will generate new knowledge of the true behavior and capacity of various CFS truss systems using extensive experimental and numerical studies,” said Dr. Mahen Mahendran, chief investigator professor with the QUT School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The QUT research would improve truss systems “using simple strengthening techniques, new connections and built-up sections with reliable design methods,” said Mahendran. Such improvements in steel framing design would “enable off-site construction to produce faster, safer, sustainable and low-cost mid-rise building solutions to address the current housing crisis,” he said.
Besides Mahendran, the project’s researchers include Dr. Anthony Ariyanayagam with QUT’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and partner investigator Dr. Thanuja Ranawaka of Scottsdale Construction Systems.
Scottsdale and QUT Partnership
J.R. Ubejd Mujagic, chief revenue officer at Scottsdale, said the research project will benefit the design of steel-framed mid-rise structures worldwide.
CFS-framed systems “offer tremendous advantages over traditional wood framing,” says a Scottsdale Construction Systems page on LinkedIn. The advantages include “fire resistance, strength, weight, ductility, span of applications or virtually any other consideration,” the page says.
Scottsdale, which routinely invests in research partnerships with leading universities worldwide, says on the same LinkedIn page: “We are particularly proud of our relationship with our hometown university, Queensland University of Technology.”
The company adds: “We look forward to the latest engagement with QUT, enabled in part by the Australian Research Council, as we embark on the latest phase of fine-tuning and advancing steel truss framing.”
Additional Resources
- ICC-ES and Scottsdale to Appear on ‘Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid’
- SFIA Releases Updated Technical Guide with the Most Up-to-Date CFS Load and Span Tables in the Industry
- 5 Need-to-Knows about Building Codes and Cold-Formed Steel