Incorporating cold-formed steel member and system design into the undergraduate curriculum

Abstract

Cold-formed steel design, in an ideal scenario, deserves an entire advanced undergraduate or graduate level course. However, this is not practical in many institutions, where a program of study can only include a few courses in hot-rolled steel design due to teaching capacity and ever-expanding program requirements. Thus, instructors with expertise in cold-formed steel and repetitively-framed systems are forced to infuse it into other curricula, or simply not teach it at all. The pervasiveness of repetitively-framed structural systems worldwide motivates not only teaching the fundamentals of member behavior, but also system behavior, to prepare undergraduates for their careers as practicing engineers. This paper highlights efforts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to do this in two courses: a second course in steel design (CFS members), and a course on structural systems (repetitive and light framed systems). Modularized lesson plans are presented, along with in-class active learning activities, examples of student work, and feedback from students in each of courses. This paper aims to enable effective modular cold-formed steel instruction, leading to significant learning in thin-walled member behavior and repetitively-framed system behavior.