Cold formed steel structure: An overview

Nowadays, the application of cold formed steel elements in construction is becoming very popular due to several advantages like Speedy construction, higher strength to weight ratio, dimensional stability and recycled material. Besides, cold formed steel section has some undesirable properties that create challenges for its use in construction. The very small thickness makes it vulnerable to the different type of buckling, web crippling, torsional failure and also susceptible to fire. To overcome these challenges and utilize the advantages of cold formed steel element by improving its properties, important research works are being carried out all over the world. There are guidelines and specifications available in different codes of cold formed steel structure and it makes engineers confident in the application of cold formed steel elements in construction. The objective of this study is to represent an introduction of cold formed steel structure by reviewing the behavior, material properties, production methods, classification of cold formed steel elements. It also discusses the codes and guideline available for cold formed steel structure, important design criteria, connection, methods and durability issues based on some excellent researches.