SAG R O D S AS LATERAL SUPPORTS FOR GIRTS

AND FURLINS

By D i m o s Polyzois, 1 A. M . ASCE

ABSTRACT: Although cold-formed sections provide substantial savings, be-

cause of their high strength-to-weight ratio, their cross-sectional configuration
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gives rise to behavioral phenomena not encountered in the more familiar hot-
rolled sections. Of great concern to structural engineers is the tendency of these
members to deform under most conditions of loading and to fail by yielding
or local buckling as a result of the stresses developed. Channels and Z-sections
are commonly used as girts and purlins. In many installations, sag rods are
used to provide alignment for these members for the attachment of the steel
panels and to reduce their tendency to bend laterally and twist. Test results
indicate that the presence of sag rods may not always be beneficial to the girts
or purlins and, in fact, may cause premature distortional buckling of the
compression flange.

INTRODUCTION

Light gage cold-formed steel channel and Z-sections are commonly

used to support wall and roofing materials, which usually consist of steel
panels. Since these sections are not symmetric and since the load is usu-
ally applied through the flanges, they will bend and twist unless ade-
quate lateral and rotational supports are provided. The steel panels could
possibly serve as a bracing system and thus help reduce the lateral and
rotational movements of these members. Ref. 13 states that:

Channel a n d Z-sections used to support attached covering material

and loaded in a plane parallel to the w e b shall b e designed taking
into account the restraining effects of the covering material and the
fasteners. [Clause 5.2.1]

This implies that channels or Z-sections may be considered laterally

supported if they are attached to a wall or roofing material. In this case,
their design may be based on the theory of " c o l u m n s " on elastic foun-
dations (4,6), where the "column" consists of the compression flange
and part of the web, and the elastic foundation consists of the tension
flange, part of the web and the wall or roofing material. The " c o l u m n "
is assumed to be simply supported at points of lateral braces. Further-
more, Ref. 13 requires that the forces, developed in the covering material
as a result of the tendency of the channel and Z-sections to bend and
twist, be transferred to the framing system. A number of ways to ac-
complish this transfer are suggested (3): Using the shear rigidity of the
wall or roofing material; using a system of sag members such as rods,
angles, or channels; or attaching the steel panels directly to the framing
system. The use of sag rods, however, has been eliminated in m a n y
'Asst. Prof, of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78758-4497.
Note.—Discussion open until December 1, 1987. To extend the closing date
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals.
The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication
on December 12, 1985. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engineering,
Vol. 113, No. 7, July, 1987. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/87/0007-1521/$01.00. Paper
No. 21660.

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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 installations on the assumption that the wall or roof panels provide ad-
equate restraint to the girts or purlins and that the forces developed in
these panels can be transferred to the framing system through the shear
action of the panels.
The covering material's ability to act as a shear diaphragm, however,
depends on the cross-sectional properties and spans of the panels, the
spacing and types of fasteners, and the various methods used to attach
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the panels to the girts or the purlins.

Often the steel panels are attached directly to the girts or the purlins.
The fasteners, in this case, must be capable of transmitting shear be-
tween the girts or the purlins and the panels with relatively little slip.
On the other hand, the fasteners must permit the short-term movements
caused by temperature change. These requirements are incompatible.
Attempts to fix the panels by means of a sliding clip, which ensures
movement of the panels, might render the sheeting ineffective as a shear
diaphragm, in which case other means of transferring the forces devel-
oped in the covering material must be used. Ref. 13 requires that the
adequacy of any system chosen to transfer the force developed in the
covering material be checked experimentally.
The effectiveness of shear diaphragms as restraint devices for beams
and columns has been studied extensively at Cornell University (2,5,7,12).
A number of experimental and theoretical programs have also been con-
ducted by this writer to study the performance of girts and purlins (1,8-
10). Using full-scale wall systems, both channel and Z-section girts have
been tested under suction using various restraint conditions, both along
the span and at the supports. An important parametric variation on the
specimens tested was the presence/absence of sag rods at midspan. The
specific objective in this case was to determine how sag rods affect the
performance of girts and purlins under negative loading (suction). The
results discussed in this paper were obtained from these research pro-
grams.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The experimental results for rotation and lateral displacement at mid-

span of a channel section girt under suction are shown in Figs. 1 and
2. The girt was part of a three-girt wall system spaced at 7 ft (2,133 mm),
spanning 16 ft 1-1/2 in. (4,914 mm) and supporting 14-ft (4,267-mm) 22-
gage steel panels.
Three types of tests were conducted by varying the location of the sag
rods at midspan. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a considerable reduction
in both the rotational and the lateral displacements at midspan was ob-
served when the sag rods were located near the unsupported flange. A
similar reduction in the rotation and the lateral deflection was observed
in Z-section girts, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The Z-section girts were
part of a two-girt wall system, spaced at 7 ft 6 in. (2,286 mm) and sup-
porting 14-ft (4,267-mm), 20-gage steel panels. As in the case of the channel
sections, these girts were also tested under suction.
When the steel panels were attached along the midflange of the Z-
section girts, the girts tended to rotate in such a way that the heel of
the section came into direct bearing against the steel panels. This method
i522

J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 r rj

25 -
PJ
* L 3j
(a) ** (bl ** (c) *»

- 20 " ]''' l /(b) *

a
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7
% 15 -
L
^r
tn
w
Ld • / /
^
<r
a.
10 "

JJ
5 - o'/ r/

0 ' i i i i
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
ROTATION <p (deg.)

FIG. 1.—Rotation of Midspan of Channel Section Girt under Suction

30

25

(cl

K 15

/ ,y
^ \ i i_ _J | L_
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
DISPLACEMENT TTS ( i n . )

FIG. 2.—Lateral Displacement of Channel Section under Suction

of attachment gave rise to a rotational restraint, which helped reduce

the tendency of the girts to twist. The importance of the sag rods was
best demonstrated in the case where the fasteners connecting the steel
panels to the girts were located at the flange-to-web juncture of the Z-
section. In this case, no rotational restraint was developed by the panels,
and as a result, large rotational displacements took place even before
any external loading was applied. It became, therefore, necessary to con-
duct the testing with sag rods attached at midspan. As shown in Fig.
5, large displacements of the compression flange took place, even when
the sag rods were located at midweb. These displacements were con-
siderably higher than those recorded in the girts where the panels were

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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 (b) (c)

(o) (b) (c)

30 r
^trt T*
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8. 20

S 10

I 2 3 0.1 0.2 0.3

ROTATION <£ (deg.) D I S P L A C E M E N T ' S , (in)

FIG. 3.—Rotation at Midspan of Z-Sec- FIG. 4.—Displacement at Mldspan of Z-

tlon Girt under Suction Section Girt under Suction

attached at midflange. The sag rods were most effective in reducing the
displacements when located near the compression flange.
The provision of a discrete restraint, such as the sag rods, at midspan
resulted in a redistribution of stresses in the member. In general, the
total stress at any point on a channel or a Z-section is the result of both
biaxial bending and twisting. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, when no in-
termediate restraint was used, the maximum stress occurred at the web-
to-flange juncture of the compression flange. When a discrete restraint
was placed at midspan, however, the maximum stress occurred at the
flange-to-lip juncture of the compression flange. This shift in the max-
imum stress could have serious implications in the behavior of cold-formed
sections. The specification criteria for the design of cold-formed sections
are based on the assumption that the stress in the compression flange
is uniform and that the longitudinal lip stiffener provides sufficient re-
straint to the compression flange to reach yielding. These assumptions
preclude the possibility of premature failure as a result of distortional

-0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 O.I 0.2 0.3

DISPLACEMENT u (in.) DISPLACEMENT TI (in.)

FIQ. 5.—Effect of Position of Panel-to-G!rt Fasteners on Displacement of Z-See-

tion Girts under Suction

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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 /
\ c /

- J\
-i
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• • i • i • • i

500 1000
STRAIN x I0" 6

500 1000
STRAIN x I0" 6

(b)

FIG. 6.—Effect of Discrete Restraint on Strain Distribution of Channel Section Girt

under Suction: (a) Strain at Web-to-Flange Juncture; (b) Strain at Flange-to-Lip
Juncture

(local) buckling of the compression flange, which could take place if the
longitudinal lip stiffener is inadequate. There are three main factors that
may influence the effectiveness of the lip stiffeners: (1) The lip stiffeners
may be deformed (damaged) during transportation or erection; (2) the
angle between the lip stiffener and the flange may be too small; and (3)
the length of the lip stiffener may be too small because of an error in
the cold-forming process. In general, when no discrete restraint is pro-
vided at midspan, the maximum stress occurs at the flange-to-web junc-
ture, as shown in Figs. 6(a) and 7(a). The lip stiffener, in this case, is
either under very low compressive stress or, at high applied loads, in
tension, as shown in Figs. 7(b) and 6(b). Thus, the danger of distortional
buckling is reduced considerably, and the mode of failure is likely to be
one of yielding. When a discrete restraint is provided, however, the lip
stiffener is under increasingly large compressive stress, as shown in Figs.
6(b) and 7(b), and the most likely mode of failure is by distortional buck-
ling. Both of these modes of failure were observed in the experimental
work conducted by this writer.
As shown in Fig. 8, the channel section with the compression flange
laterally restrained by a sag rod experienced a high stress concentration
at the lip-to-flange juncture. The longitudinal lip stiffener in this case
provided sufficient restraint to the compression flange, which failed by
yielding. The same behavior was observed when the sag rods were lo-
cated at midweb of the girt, as shown in Fig. 9. The simple beam theory,
1525

J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 25

„ 20

Q.
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0 200 400 600 BOO

STRAIN x i d 6
(o)

25

£20

uj
£c | 5
=>tn

0 200 400 600 800

STRAIN x I0" 6
(b)

FIG. 7.—Effect of Discrete Restraint on Strain Distribution of Z-Section Girt under

Suction: (a) Strain at Web-to-Flange Juncture; (b) Strain at Flange-to-Lip Juncture

assuming bending about the strong axis, cannot be used in this case
since the maximum stress is the cumulative result of three stress com-
ponents, as discussed earlier. A more exact method of analysis must be
used to compute the actual stress, one which accounts for the lateral
and rotational restraints provided by the panels as well as the lateral
restraint provided by the discrete restraint.
In the case of Z-section girts, the lateral and rotational displacements
were quite small, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The steel panels in this case
provided sufficient lateral and rotational restraint to the girts to cause
bending about the strong axis. The simple beam theory, in this case,
provided good approximations for the maximum strain in the section,
as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. As noted earlier, the use of sag rods re-
sulted in a more uniform stress distribution in the compression flange,
as shown in Fig. 11, whereas the stress distribution in the flange of the
girt without a sag rod was non-uniform, resulting in considerably lower
stress in the lip stiffener than the flange-to-web juncture, as shown in
Fig. 10. However, because the lip stiffeners of both girts were inade-
quate, failure by distortional buckling took place. As shown in Fig. 10,
failure in the girts without sag rods took place at 80% of the yielding
load. The effect of distortional buckling was more pronounced, how-
ever, in the girts with sag rods where failure took place at 45% of the

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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 MAXIMUM PRESSURE ACHIEVED 48 psf
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itn\
2000 3000
STRAIN x I0" 6

FIG. 8.—Maximum Strain at Midspan of Channel Section Girt Restrained by Sag

Rod Located Close to Compression Flange

FAILURE LOAD 49 psf

500
STRAIN x i d 6

FIG. 9.—Maximum Strain at Midspan of Channel Section Girt Restrained by Sag

Rod Located at Midweb

load corresponding to yielding, as shown in Fig. 11. Had the lip sof-
teners been properly designed, the section could have reached the yield-
ing load.
The simple beam theory provided good approximations of the behav-
ior of the Z-section girts up to failure. The distortional buckling load was
computed from the following empirical expression for stress developed
on the basis of a series of tests involving channel sections with sloping
edge stiffeners (11). Thus

fcr = few + (fave ~ fcro) S i n 6 (1)

in which 9 is the angle between the compression flange and the lip stif-
fener; fcro = local buckling stress of the compression flange, assuming it
to be unstiffened; and fave = average stress in the compression flange,
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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 60 - y
YIELDING ( T h e o r e t i c a l )
SIMPLE / 54 psf
BEAM ^ /
SO THEORY /^
/ DISTORTIONAL BUCKLING 46DSI
i-' / / MAXIMUM PRESSURE 41.7 psf
PRESSURE (p

40'
'°^Q. *20
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30
t

20 - |Rcl

10
0/ ^ ^
1
• i

1000 1500 2000

STRAIN x id"6

FIG. 10.—Maximum Strain at Midspan of Z-Section Girt

YIELDING (Theoretical ) 96 psi

SIMPLE BEAM THEORY
{End span at 3 span
Beam )
DISTORTIONAL BUCKLING 4 6 pst

FIG. 11.—Maximum Strain at Midspan of Z-Section Girt Restrained by Sag Rod

Located near Compression Flange

assuming it to be stiffened. fcro was computed from the following expres-

sion:
TT 2 E
Jcro *nu (2)
2
12(1 - v )

in which kw, the local buckling coefficient is equal to 0.425; E = modulus

of elasticity; v = Poisson ratio; and b/t = width-to-thickness ratio of the
compression flange. The average stress, fave, was computed from Win-
ter's modified expression (11):
fave = V/ crl / max (1 - 0.22 V/crl/max) . (3)
in which fcrl was obtained from Eq. 2 usingfcro= 4; and /max = maximum

J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

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Force (lbs)

FIG. 12.—Force in Discrete Restraint Located at Midspan of Z-Section Girt

stress the flange can sustain. Unless there is a member instability, /max
is equal to the yield stress of the section. As shown in Figs. 10 and 11,
the maximum load predicted on the basis of distortional buckling was
approximately 10% higher than the actual load at failure.
The maximum force recorded in the top sag rod supporting the Z-
section girts, where the panels were attached very close to the flange-
to-web juncture, was approximately 200 lbs (0.9 kN). This force repre-
sents approximately 10% of the uniformly distributed load over half the
span of the member. Considerably higher force was recorded in the sag
rod between the bottom girts and the fixed base. As shown in Fig. 12,
the force in this sag rod at failure was 625 lbs (2.8 kN), over three times
that of the top sag rod.

CONCLUSIONS

Test results indicate that sag rods provide substantial reduction to the
lateral and rotational displacements of cold-formed girts. The effective-
ness of sag rods as restraint devices, however, depends on their location
as well as the location of the panel-to-girt or panel-to-purlin fasteners.
In the case of uplift or negative pressure (suction) the sag rods are most
effective if they are attached along the unsupported compression flange
and if the fasteners connecting the panels to the girts or purlins are very
close to the flange-to-web junction.
While sag rods can be used to control excessive lateral and rotational
displacements, they also result in a change in the stress distribution in
the section. With sag rods, the stress becomes more uniform in the
compression flange placing the longitudinal lip stiffener under compres-
sion. The likely mode of failure in this case is by distortional buckling
unless the section has no initial deformations along the lip stiffeners or
the lip stiffeners have sufficient bending rigidity, in which case the sec-
tion can be designed on the basis of failure by yielding. Without sag
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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 rods, the stress distribution in the compression flange changes contin-
uously during loading, with the longitudinal lip stiffener subjected to
low compressive stresses or tensile stresses. The maximum compressive
stress in this case occurs at the flange-to-web juncture and the possibility
of distortional buckling is reduced. Assuming that the lip stiffener is
properly designed, the likely mode of failure is by yielding.
Z-section girts and purlins braced along the tension flange by a shear
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diaphragm can be used without sag rods as long as the fasteners con-
necting the panels to the girts or purlins are located along the midflange.
The simple beam theory can be used, in this case, to compute the max-
imum stress since the rotations are very small. In the case of channel
sections, however, the lateral and rotational displacements can be ex-
cessive. In this case, sag rods can be used at midspan to reduce these
displacements. Thus, it is important to consider those stresses resulting
from bending about both axes, as well as those resulting from warping
action.
In both channel and Z-section girts and purlins the lip stiffeners play
a very important role and must be properly designed. The ultimate load
based on distortional buckling of the compression flange must always
be computed and used in evaluating the allowable load.

APPENDIX I.—REFERENCES

1. Birkemoe, P. C , and Polyzois, D., "The Behavior of Cold-Formed Channels

Braced Continuously Along Their Tension Side and Restrained by Sag Rods,"
Thin Walled Structures, J. Rhodes and A. C. Walker, Eds., Granada Publishing
Ltd., London, U.K., 1980.
2. Celebi, N., "Diaphragm Braced Channel and Z-Section Beams," Report No.
344, Department of Structural Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.,
May, 1972.
3. "Cold-Formed Design Manual—Part II," American Iron and Steel Institute,
1983.
4. "Cold-Formed Design Manual—Part III," American Iron and Steel Institute,
1983.
5. Errera, S. J., "The Performance of Beams and Columns Continuously Braced
with Diaphragms—I," Report No, 321, Department of Structural Engineering,
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., Oct., 1965.
6. Haussler, R. W., "Strength of Elastically Stabilized Beams," Journal of the
Structural Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol. 90, No. 3, 1964, pp. 219-264.
7. Pekoz, T., and Soroushian, P., "Behavior of C- and Z-Purlins Under Wind
Uplift," Proceedings, 6th Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Struc-
tures, University of Missouri, Rolla, Mo., 1982.
8. Polyzois, D., and Birkemoe, P. C , "Z-Section Girts Under Negative Load-
ings," Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, Vol. I l l , No. 3, Mar., 1985,
pp. 528-544.
9. Polyzois, D,, and Birkemoe, P. C , "The Effect of End Supports on the Be-
havior of Braced Girts and Purlins," Proceedings, 7th International Specialty
Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures, University of Missouri, Rolla,
Mo., Nov. 13-14, 1984.
10. Polyzois, D., and Birkemoe, P. E., "Behavior and Design of Continuous Girts
and Purlins," Proceedings, 5th International Specialty Conference on Cold-
Formed Steel Structures, University of Missouri, Rolla, Mo., Nov. 18-19,
1980.
11. Polyzois, D., "Effects of Sloping Edge Stiffeners on the Capacity of Cold-
Formed Sections," Proceedings, Structural Stability Research Council, Cleve-
land, Ohio, Apr. 16-17, 1985.

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J. Struct. Eng. 1987.113:1521-1531.

 12. Razak, M. A. A., "Ultimate Strength of Cold-Formed Steel Z-Purlins," Report
No. 80-3, Department of Structural Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca,
N.Y., Feb., 1980.
13. "Specification for Design of Cold-Formed Steel Members," American Iron
and Steel Institute, 1980.

APPENDIX II.—NOTATION
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The following symbols are used in this paper:

b = flat w i d t h of c o m p r e s s i o n flange;
E = m o d u l u s of elasticity;
=
fave average stress i n c o m p r e s s i o n flange;
f„ = distortional buckling stress;
fcro = local buckling stress of unstiffened flange;
f„\ = local buckling stress of stiffened flange;
=
/max m a x i m u m stress i n c o m p r e s s i o n flange;
kw = local buckling coefficient of unstiffened flange;
u = lateral displacement of c o m p r e s s i o n flange;
us = lateral displacement of shear center;
9 = angle b e t w e e n c o m p r e s s i o n flange and lip stiffener;
v = P o i s s o n ratio;
TT = constant; a n d
<)> = rotational displacement of section.

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