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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the performance of efficient cold-formed steel (CFS) sections in building a truss system. A comparative study was performed comparing trusses built with cold-formed and hot-rolled sections.

Medium-scale specimens were fabricated and tested under monotonic loading. Closed CFS sections (tubular sections) were adopted as compression members of the truss, against the open sections (angle sections) in the hot-rolled steel truss. While as open sections (angle sections) were adopted as tension members in both these cases, the performance assessment was made on the basis of the peak loads carried by the trusses, the vertical deflections and the failure modes exhibited.

The results of this study indicated that the overall strength, strength-to-weight ratio and overall convenience in terms of cost and fabrication, in the CFS truss was better than that of the hot-rolled one. Also, the judicious utilization of steel which has limited reserves can be achieved.

Cold-formed and hot-rolled sections are widely used in the steel structures. There are advantages and disadvantages in using each of these configurations, discussed in this work. The advantages are widely known by the scientific community; however, few studies are developed with the purpose of quantifying the gains of each solution. Thus, this work emerges with great innovation, with regard to the experimental evaluation of the trusses' behavior composed of different structural sections.