Introduction of new CNET research lab

As part of the results from the established partnership between UNT and NUCONSTEEL, a structural testing lab is being built at Research Park for cold-formed steel structures.

The recently finished first phase includes a 12 ft high 16 ft wide reaction frame equipped with a 35 kip MTS loading system, a 20 ft high 30 ft span overhead crane, and associated interior renovation for the high bay area.

The reaction frame is capable for testing full scale structures in flexure, compression, or tension. Series of tests on cold-formed steel shear panels, stud columns, and floor trusses have been done on the new fixture.

Cold-formed steel (also called light gauge steel) members are made from flat steel sheet by cold roll forming or press brake forming process at room temperature. Unlike the traditional hot-rolled steel, cold-formed steel has significantly small thickness thus it offers a number of advantages including easy fabrication, fast construction, flexibility in shapes, termite-proof and rot-proof, etc. Cold-formed steel is considered a sustainable “green” construction material for residential and low rise commercial buildings. On the other hand, because of the thin-wall nature, cold-formed steel member may fail by local buckling on the built-up elements. Accurate prediction of the behavior and strength of cold-formed steel members becomes even more and more challenging for today’s engineers as the companies put more complicated, highly efficient sections into market.

The new lab at UNT will provide the faulty and students suitable tools to discover the stability and behavior of cold-formed steel structures, as well as other materials. Dr. Cheng Yu, assistant professor and coordinator of Contraction Engineering Technology, is in charge of the testing lab, he welcomes interested faculty and students to tour the new facility and discuss how “green” the cold-formed steel could be.