The Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute will host a new webinar titled “Cold-Formed Steel Bracing—Why? When? And How?” on Thursday, October 4, at 3:00 p.m. EST. The webinar will explain why different sections and systems need bracing, when to use bracing effectively, and how to design it. The presenter will be Jennifer Zabik, P.E., S.E., an expert in this area and co-author of “Bracing Cold-Formed Steel Structures: A Design Guide,” which will be referenced during the webinar. 1.5 hours of continuing education credit will be awarded.

“Loading a cold-formed steel section is unique compared with most other sections because the load path does not typically travel through the shear center,” Zabik said. “This eccentricity can cause twist and sway of the members if they are not properly braced. For proper design, the brace force for individual sections must be transferred through the system. Therefore, the system as a whole must be braced and designed to carry this force.”

Zabik said that in addition to the completed design (which carries the permanent load), the engineer can be asked to design temporary bracing for the construction phase of the project. “The webinar will provide recommendations to guide the design engineer through this process, which is especially important to preventing potential failures due to the lack of bracing during installation,” she said.

Jennifer Zabik, P.E., S.E., is registered in the state of Florida and has been practicing structural engineering there for seven years. She is also registered in Louisiana, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Puerto Rico. She served as president of the CFSEI-Florida Chapter from 2010-2012. She serves on the board of directors for the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE-SEI) East Central Branch. Zabik earned her Master’s degree at the University of Florida and co-authored the monograph “Bracing Cold-Formed Steel Structures: A Design Guide” with Thomas Sputo, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., technical director of the Steel Deck Institute.

More information on the webinar and registration are available on the CFSEI website, www.cfsei.org.