 | Cold-formed sections: New designations
Until now, Canam publications identified cold-formed sections according to their depth and weight, in the same way as “W” sections are designated. In the United States, the Steel Stud Manufacturers Association (SSMA), whose membership comprises steel fabricators, implemented a procedure to standardize the dimensions and thicknesses of cold-formed sections in order to facilitate the specification of sections and thus ensure their availability from multiple manufacturers. This standardization procedure led to a nomenclature system for sections based on their dimensions.
This new system is used by the SSMA, the Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute (CSSBI) and the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) in all of their publications. This new nomenclature and the corresponding designations used by Canam in its Purlins and Girts catalogue will be presented in this article.
Designations in Canam publications
Products listed in current Canam publications are identified by a three-part code that refers to the section type, flange depth and weight.
Depth
Total nominal flange depth in inches or millimetres
| Section | Weight |
| Type of section according to the following code: | Nominal weight of section in kg/m or plf |
| C: "C" Section (stud) | |
| Z: "Z" Section | |
Designations in SSMA and CSSBI publications
 
Imperial
In SSMA and CSSBI publications, products are identified by a four-part code that refers to the flange depth, section type, flange width and material thickness.
1 For Track sections, depth is a nominal inside-to-inside dimension. Other dimensions are out-to-out.
2 If the yield strength used at the design stage is greater than 33 ksi, it must be identified. For example, a 9 x 3½ in. stud section with a nominal thickness of 0.120 in. and a yield strength of 50 ksi would be designated as 900S350-114 (50 ksi). Note that if the mention (50 ksi) is omitted, 33 ksi is the assumed yield strength.
Designations in CISC publications
Metric
In CISC publications, products are identified by the same four-part code as utilized by the SSMA and CSSBI, but in millimetres rather than inches as the basic unit of measurement and with the letter “M” at the end to designate the metric (SI) system.
Cold-Formed Steel Design Manual
The designations used to identify products in the 2002 edition of the Cold-Formed Steel Design Manual of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) are the same as those utilized by the SSMA and CSSBI. However, section types may be designated differently as follows:
Sections
S: SSMA Stud or Joist Section
T: SSMA Track Section
CS: “C” Section with lips
ZS: “Z” Section with lips
ZU: “Z” Section without lips
Like the CSSBI and CISC, Canam will use the new designations in subsequent editions of its publications. Until then, the table below gives the Canam sections that correspond to the nomenclature standards described in this article.
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