Cold-formed steel structural members are shapes commonly manufactured from steel plate, sheet or strip material. The manufacturing process involves forming the material by either press-braking or cold roll-forming to achieve the desired shape. No heat is required to form the shapes (unlike hot-rolled steel), and thus the name ‘cold- formed steel’. Cold- formed steel members and other products are thinner, lighter, and easier to produce, and typically cost less than their hot-rolled steel members.
Cold-formed steel offers versatility in building because of its light weight and ease of handling and use. Cold-formed steel structures framing provides builders and consumers flexibility in design options which cannot be economically accommodated using traditional framing materials (i.e., larger open space, longer spans, and doorways).
Steel does not contain knots, twists, or warps that are commonly found in lumber. It is always dimensionally correct and manufactured to very strict tolerances.
Steel members weigh as much as 40% less than conventional lumber, reducing total building and seismic loads.
