Behavior of Screw and Adhesive Connections to Gypsum Wallboard in Wood and Cold-Formed Steel-Framed Wallettes

Abstract

Increasing the lateral strength and stiffness of light-frame structures can lead to reduced damage in the event of an earthquake. Because low-rise wood and cold-formed steel-framed buildings often contain many partition walls, their performance can be improved economically by more effective engagement of gypsum-sheathed walls. This paper describes a series of tests of enhanced screw and adhesive connections between gypsum wallboard and wood and cold-formed steel-framing members. Small wall panels constructed with the improved connections were also tested and compared with wallettes built with conventional drywall screws. Test results indicate that while enhanced screws can increase connection and wall strength modestly relative to conventional screws, a much more significant increase in strength and stiffness can be obtained by using construction adhesives. Test results show that supplementing conventional screws with adhesives increased connection strength and stiffness by a factor of four to five. These adhesive-supplemented connections in light-frame wallettes increased strength by approximately two times and stiffness by approximately three times when compared with wallettes with conventional screw connections alone. This paper describes the response and damage progression of gypsum wallboard connections and framed wallettes using the enhanced screw and adhesive connections.