Steel housing solutions made of thin-walled cold-formed steel profiles (CFS) appear to be competitive in seismic areas because of their light weight and the associated reduced mass. This non-negligible advantage on top of their competitive costs and the ease with which they are built have made this type of building popular. 

In addition, several in-depth studies into the lateral response of shear walls have been carried out in recent years in order to analyse the potential of these structural systems. However, little attention has been paid to the behaviour of floor diaphragms and to their contribution to the overall building response. 

In an attempt to address this issue, the University of Trento has conducted research into the response of CFS floor systems subjected to in-plane shear loading, as part of a broader research project aimed at the development of a residential building system made of CFS profiles. This involved testing six types of floors featuring two different beam systems and three different types of deck, using monotonic and cyclic protocols. The results of the experiments provide a background to FE model calibration, simulating both the floor components and the whole floor. In this paper, the main features and outcomes of these tests are presented and discussed.