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      <doi>10.14455/ISEC.2026.13(2).STR-40</doi>
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        <article-title>OUT-OF-PLANE PERFORMANCE OF POWER ACTUATED FASTENER (PAF) ATTACHMENTS UNDER MONOTONIC AND CYCLIC LOADING</article-title>
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      <author>ARTURO SCHULTZ<sup>1</sup>, DAVID AMORI<sup>1</sup>, OLUGBENGA FALOMO<sup>1</sup> and SCOTT OVERACKER<sup>2</sup></author>
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        <sup>1</sup>CECM School, The Univ of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA<br />
        <sup>2</sup>Ulteig Engineers, Inc., St. Paul, USA<br />
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    <abstract>
      <title>ABSTRACT</title>
      <p>Power-actuated fasteners (PAF) are commonly used to attach concrete floors to cold-formed steel track that support drywall in non-structural partition walls.  These connections can be susceptible to damage during earthquakes, with several critical parameters affecting their performance, including coarse aggregate properties, PAF dimensions, embedment depth, concrete condition and loading type.  Research on the seismic behavior of typical PAF attachment to concrete is limited in the US, which has led to overly conservative treatment of PAF attachments for seismic applications in US codes.  Most US manufacturers have opted for evaluation reports prepared using outdated acceptance criteria.  This paper summarizes a research program designed to characterize the performance of multi-connector PAF attachments that are loaded out-of-plane.  The research addresses the influence of aggregate type (with three types considered), loading type (monotonic and cyclic), concrete conditions (uncracked and cracked) and PAF connector dimensions.  The results indicate improved behavior for PAF attachments that 1) are embedded in concrete with softer rather than harder aggregate; 2) feature monotonic loading rather than cyclic loading; 3) are located in uncracked instead of cracked concrete; 4) have greater embedment rather than shallower ones; and 5) feature larger diameter PAFs rather than smaller ones.</p>
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        <italic>Keywords: </italic>Aggregate, Concrete, Cracking, Experiments, Toughness</p>
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      <hpdf>STR-40</hpdf>
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