CFS10 Building Test Program

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The program involved testing of a full-scale 10-story cold-formed steel (CFS)-framed building subject to earthquake and fire hazard scenarios. Built on the NHERI 6-DOF Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table (LHPOST6), the specimen exceeded ASCE 7-22 height limits, integrated several nonstructural components, and employed modular and panelized construction methods.

The program enabled:

Validating analytical models for tall CFS building under seismic shaking
Quantifying damage for nonstructural elements such as suspended ceilings, resilient stairs, fire sprinkler and gas piping systems, windows and doors, and roof-mounted mechanical equipment.

Explore the linked program website for technical publications and media from the ambitious CFS10 experimental program.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF) CMMI Awards #1663569 and #1663348, Collaborative Research: Seismic Resiliency of Repetitively Framed Mid-Rise Cold-Formed Steel Buildings.

Publications

[Journal Articles] [Conference Papers] [Presentations & Posters]

Journal Articles

(J11)

D. Rivera , S. Sorosh , A. Singh , J. Zhang , R. Ji , M. M. Eladly , F. Cyizere Rukundo , D. Rivera , M. Ellis , L. Padgett , H. Jones , J. Karns , R. Belvin , K. Smith , D. Stewart , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2026). Towards Cold-Formed Steel Modular Construction in Tall Building Systems: Investigation within a Landmark 10-story Building Shake Table Test Program. Structures (In Preparation)

(J10)

A. Singh , S. Sorosh , X. Zhang , D. Rivera , F. Cyizere Rukundo , J. Zhang , S. Fathali , D. T. Cook , M. S. Speicher , S. Sattar , R. G. Guy , M. D. Kohler , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2026). Benchmarking Multi-hazard (Earthquake and Fire) Resilience of a 10-story Cold-formed Steel-framed Building. Part 2: Nonstructural Component Seismic Performance. (In Preparation)

(J9)

T. C. Hutchinson , J. Zhang , S. Sorosh , R. Ji , D. Rivera , X. Zhang , A. Singh , F. Cyizere Rukundo , M. M. Eladly , H. Jones , J. Karns , L. Padgett , R. L. Emberley , T. Gernay , B. J. Meacham , B. W. Schafer (2026). Benchmarking Multi-hazard (Earthquake and Fire) Resilience of a 10-story Cold-formed Steel-framed Building. Part 1: Program Overview and Seismic Behavior. Engineering Structures (In Review)

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Conference Papers

(C28)

M. M. Eladly , Z. Zhang , J. Zhang , A. Singh , M. S. Speicher , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2026, September). Pre-Test Evaluation of Ground Motion Sequence Effects on a Ten-Story Cold-Formed Steel Framed Building. Proceedings of the 11th European Scientific Conference on Steel and Composite Structures (Eurosteel 2026), Cracow, Poland.

DOI

(C27)

A. Singh , M. S. Speicher , F. Cyizere Rukundo , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2026, July). Application of 360 Degree Imaging and Construction Progress Documentation Platforms in Large-scale Experiments: a CFS10 Case Study. Proceedings of the 13th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Portland, OR.

Source

(C25)

J. Zhang , M. M. Eladly , A. Singh , F. Cyizere Rukundo , J. Karns , H. Jones , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2026, July). Performance of Continuous Tie-Rod Systems within a 10-Story Cold-Formed Steel Shake Table Tested Building. Proceedings of the 13th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Portland, OR.

Source

(C24)

M. M. Eladly , Z. Zhang , J. Zhang , A. Singh , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2026, July). Pre-Test Assessment of a Ten-Story Cold-Formed Steel-framed Building under MCEᵣ-Level Ground Motions. Proceedings of the 13th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Portland, OR.

Source

(C23)

A. Singh , S. Sorosh , X. Zhang , J. Zhang , F. Cyizere Rukundo , M. M. Eladly , R. Ji , D. Rivera , L. Padgett , B. J. Meacham , T. Gernay , R. L. Emberley , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2026, May). Physical Damage - Measured Response Correlation for Nonstructural Components Tested under Multi-hazard (Earthquake and Fire) Demands in the CFS10 Building. In Structures Congress 2026. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.

DOI

(C22)

T. C. Hutchinson , J. Zhang , S. Sorosh , R. Ji , D. Rivera , X. Zhang , A. Singh , F. Cyizere Rukundo , M. M. Eladly , H. Jones , J. Karns , L. Padgett , R. L. Emberley , T. Gernay , B. J. Meacham , B. W. Schafer (2026, May). Overview of the CFS10 Program: Full-scale Shake Table (Earthquake and Fire) Testing of a 10-Story Cold-Formed Steel Building. In Structures Congress 2026. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.

DOI

(C21)

T. C. Hutchinson , M. M. Eladly , R. Ji , D. Rivera , F. Cyizere Rukundo , A. Singh , S. Sorosh , J. Zhang , X. Zhang , L. Padgett , H. Jones , J. Karns , B. W. Schafer (2026, March). Advancing use of Cold-formed Steel Framing Systems for Mid-Rise Residential Construction in Seismic Zones via Full-Scale Shake Table Testing. Proceedings of the 8th Residential Building Design & Construction Conference, Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, State College, PA.

Source

(C20)

D. Rivera , J. Zhang , A. Singh , R. Ji , S. Sorosh , M. M. Eladly , F. Cyizere Rukundo , D. Rivera , M. Ellis , L. Padgett , H. Jones , J. Karns , D. Stewart , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2026, March). Investigating Construction Methods in a Landmark 10-story Cold-Formed Steel Residential Building Specimen Shake Table Test Program. Proceedings of the 8th Residential Building Design & Construction Conference, Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, State College, PA.

Source

(C19)

M. M. Eladly , Z. Zhang , J. Zhang , A. Singh , M. S. Speicher , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2026, March). Pre-Test High-Fidelity Numerical Modeling of a Ten-Story Cold-Formed Steel Framed Building under Seismic Loading. Proceedings of the 8th Residential Building Design & Construction Conference, Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, State College, PA.

Source

(C18)

A. Singh , F. Cyizere Rukundo , J. Ameen , S. Fathali , J. Jaramillo , B. Torbin , J. Huntress , G. Szakats , D. T. Cook , M. S. Speicher , S. Sattar , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2026, March). Interaction of Suspended Ceilings and Pressurized Piping in a Full-scale 10-story Cold-formed Steel Building Shake Table Program. Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Seismic Performance of Non-Structural Elements (SPONSE), Yokohama, Japan.

Source

(C16)

J. Zhang , S. Sorosh , A. Singh , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2026, January). Evolution of Modal Characteristics and Model Comparison for a 10-Story Cold-Formed Steel Framed Building under Seismic Excitation. Proceedings of the International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC) XLIV, Palm Springs, CA.

Source

(C15)

M. M. Eladly , Z. Zhang , A. Singh , J. Zhang , T. C. Hutchinson , B. W. Schafer (2025, April). Stability assumptions in numerical modeling of cold-formed steel-framed buildings under seismic loading. Proceedings of the Annual Stability Conference Structural Stability Research Council 2025, Louisville, KY.

Source

(C14)

A. Singh , J. Zhang , D. Rivera , M. M. Eladly , H. Jones , A. Kovac , L. Padgett , D. Rivera , K. Smith , S. Torabian , K. D. Peterman , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2024, July). CFS-NHERI 10-Story Building Shake Table Test Specimen: Design Updates. 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Milan, Italy.

Source Slides

(C13)

J. Zhang , A. Singh , M. M. Eladly , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2024, July). Pre-test Numerical Modeling of the CFS-NHERI 10-Story Capstone Building. 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Milan, Italy.

Source

(C12)

J. Zhang , A. Singh , M. M. Eladly , S. Marcinek , S. Guha , K. D. Peterman , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2024, July). Ground Motion Selection and Scaling Considerations for the CFS-NHERI Capstone 10-Story Building Specimen. 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Milan, Italy.

Source

(C11)

A. Singh , T. C. Hutchinson , S. Torabian , B. W. Schafer , K. D. Peterman , Padgett , H. L. Jones (2022, October). Structural Design Narrative of the CFS-NHERI 10-story Test Building for Multi-dimensional Shake Table Testing. Proceedings of the Cold-Formed Steel Research Consortium Colloquium.

Source Slides

(C10)

J. Zhang , A. Singh , T. C. Hutchinson , X. Wang (2022, October). Seismic Analysis of the 10-Story CFS-NHERI Building. Proceedings of the Cold-Formed Steel Research Consortium Colloquium.

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Presentations & Posters

(P10)

J. Zhang , S. Sorosh , M. M. Eladly , A. Singh , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2026, May). Findings from the CFS10 Multi-Hazard Test Program: Practice-Oriented Numerical Modeling and Preliminary Model-Experiment Comparison of a 10-story Shake Table Tested Cold-Formed Steel Building. ASCE Structures Congress 2026, Boston, MA.

(P9)

T. C. Hutchinson , M. M. Eladly , R. Emberley , T. Gernay , H. Jones , J. Karns , L. Padgett , F. Cyizere Rukundo , D. Rivera , L. Seifert , A. Singh , S. Sorosh , J. Zhang , B. W. Schafer (2025, January). CFS10: Full-scale Shake Table (Earthquake and Fire) Test Program on a 10-story Cold-formed Steel Building. 2025 SEAOC Convention, San Diego, CA.

(P8)

A. Singh , J. Zhang , D. Rivera , M. M. Eladly , R. Ji , T. Gernay , R. Emberley , B. Meacham , K. D. Peterman , B. W. Schafer , T. C. Hutchinson (2024, May). Innovations in Cold-Formed Steel Design and Construction: Towards Tall, Fast, Dry, Multi-hazard Resilience. Natural Hazards Research Summit 2024, College Park, MD.

DOI Poster

(P7)

J. Zhang , A. Singh , T. C. Hutchinson (2023, April). Numerical Investigation of the Response of a Mid-rise Cold-Formed Steel Building under the Türkiye/Syria Earthquake Sequence Scenario. 2023 EERI Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Poster

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Nonstructural Element Database (NED)

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Nonstructural Element Database (NED) aggregates experimental and field performance data for ceilings, piping, façades, elevators, and other systems that govern downtime in modern buildings. Records ingest measurements from experimental programs since 2010s, FEMA P-58 background documentation, and reconnaissance observations so that researchers can compare detailing, demand parameters, and observed limit states within a unified schema.

Key features include:

Component-specific hierarchical information (detail, material, and size classes) tied to experiment measurements.
Open-source, SQL-based relational database.
Fragility functions that feed into resilience frameworks, enabling estimation of functional recovery metrics (repair time and cost).

NED supports development of new fragility functions for wide range of nonstructural elements through a centralized source with traceable knowledge .

Funding: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Publications

[Conference Papers]

Conference Papers

(C26)

D. T. Cook , J. Bhatta , A. Singh , M. M. Eladly , A. Zsarnóczay , S. Sattar , B. W. Schafer , M. S. Speicher (2026, July). Development of Nonstructural Fragility Models Using an Expanded Research Database. Proceedings of the 13th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Portland, OR.

Source

(C23)

DOI

(C17)

D. T. Cook , J. Bhatta , A. Singh , M. M. Eladly , A. Zsarnóczay , S. Sattar , B. W. Schafer , M. S. Speicher (2026, March). An Open-Source Nonstructural Element Database to Shorten the Tech Transfer Gap Between Nonstructural Research and Building Design. Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Seismic Performance of Non-Structural Elements (SPONSE), Yokohama, Japan.

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Nonstructural Components | Singh Research Group

CFS10 Building Test Program

Publications

Journal Articles

Conference Papers

Presentations & Posters

Nonstructural Element Database (NED)

Publications

Conference Papers