New Edition of the North American Specification of CFS
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), in cooperation with CSA Group, today announced publication of the 2016 edition of the North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members (also referred to as the North American Specification, or Specification). The latest edition provides updated information from recent advances in research on cold-formed steel design. It supersedes all previous editions.
The North American Specification harmonizes cold-formed steel design technology across the United States, Canada and Mexico, allowing for faster introduction of new technologies as well as opening up the market for a variety of derivative products such as design aids and educational materials. The 2016 edition of the Specification has been reorganized―it includes the Direct Strength Method in the main body of the document in parallel to the traditional Effective Width Method; has a similar format to the AISC 360 specification for structural steel buildings; and minimizes the differences in design provisions between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The reorganized Specification contains a main document—Chapters A through M and Appendices 1 and 2—intended for use by all three countries. There are two country-specific appendices: Appendix A is for use in the United States and Mexico, and Appendix B is for use in Canada. The Specification also provides an integrated treatment of Allowable Strength Design (ASD), Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD), and Limit States Design (LSD).