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.”