Basement Wall Design
Basement Wall Design
(OP)
I am looking for some references/codes/guides that would be available for the design of basement walls as plates with fixed end supports rather than as a retaining wall. While constructing residential basements, I had built walls with a very minimal longitudnal steel. I had gone out to a consultant recently that returned a basement wall design which I believe is far overdesigned as a retaining wall.






RE: Basement Wall Design
There are also numerous charts available in "Rectangular Concrete Tanks" by PCA. Years ago, I used a book that had similar charts. I think it was a book called "Moments and Reactions for Rectangular Plates". I think that it was written in the UK.
RE: Basement Wall Design
15-1A and 15-2A Will give you tables for the basement wall up to 16 feet high. Determine your soil pressure and check the tables and see how it comparew with what you got. If you use IBC read
Table 1610.1 (c) For relatively rigid walls, as when braced by floors, the design lateral soil load shall be increased for sand and gravel type soils to 60 pounds per square foot per foot of depth. Basement walls extended not more than 8 feet below grade and supporting flexible floor systems are not considered as being relatively rigid walls.
RE: Basement Wall Design
RE: Basement Wall Design
RE: Basement Wall Design
RE: Basement Wall Design
I am assuming you are talking about concrete reinforcing basement wall.
There is a good example on how to design basement wall for reinforce or nonreinforce basement wall in ACI 318-99 commentary.
Good luck.
Structural01
RE: Basement Wall Design
RE: Basement Wall Design
RE: Basement Wall Design
With residential basements, I have seen lots of failures of walls (designed/built by others). The main reasons have been no reinforcing in the wall, inadequate connection between the top of the wall and the floor system, and substandard backfill resulting in large horizontal forces.
I recommend that you always provide vertical and horizontal reinforcing so that the wall has strength when it cracks, even if you can make things work on paper without reinforcing. The 2000 IBC allows unreinforced basement walls, but I strongly recommend against it. Vertical rebar greatly increases the bending strength, and you're covered if the wall cracks. If something happens to an unreinforced wall and you get a horizontal crack, the wall has failed. Fixing it costs way more than providing some rebar during construction. Unfortunately, in my area it is common not to reinforce residential basement walls. The contractor for the last failed wall that I designed a repair for indicated he would now start putting in some vertical rebar. Horizontal rebar is a good idea for crack control and to tie the wall together.
Also, the connection between the top of wall and the wall is a major source of failures. The minimum code requirement of a 1/2" bolt spaced not more than 6 feet apart usually doesn't work. Again, this is for residential basement walls with wood floor framing.