Photo courtesy Steel Framing Alliance

An update to American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) S100 has been published to blend cold-formed steel design technologies and help industry experts in steel safety.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has released a supplement to its 2007 AISI S100, North American Specification for the Design of Cold-formed Steel Structural Members.

The supplement adds the provision for deciding the safety and resistance factor for partition walls, and updates the reference to Supplement No. 1 of AISI S213, North American Cold-formed Steel Framing Standard–Lateral. The North American specification blends cold-formed steel design technologies among Canada, the United States, and Mexico, allowing faster introduction of new technologies.

According to Helen Chen, PhD, PE, and manager for AISI's Construction Standards Development, this update was needed because the modifications to recognize behaviour and probability of failure for a composite interior partition wall stud differs from the direct load-bearing system. It will also help industry experts in steel safety.

"With these changes, the designers—and especially the manufacturers—can use a more realistic safety and resistance factor for the design of composite interior partition wall studs," said Chen.

The supplement was developed by AISI's Committee on Specifications, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Technical Committee on Cold-formed Steel Structural Members, and Mexico's Camara Nacional de la Industria del Hierro y del Acero (CANACERO).