4 Story Wood Building With Masonry Stair and Elevator Shafts
4 Story Wood Building With Masonry Stair and Elevator Shafts
(OP)
I have a four story wood building that is 'L' in shape. There is a masonry stair tower at each end of the building and a masonry elevator shaft at the center of the building. The building is located in California in a very high seismic zone.
I would like to utilize only wood shearwalls to resist the seismic forces, so that I can use a response modification factor of 6.5. I would design the diaphram as flexible and account for the additional weight of the CMU walls.
Does anyone see any problems with this approch of not utilizing the masonry walls to resist the lateral forces?
Thanks
I would like to utilize only wood shearwalls to resist the seismic forces, so that I can use a response modification factor of 6.5. I would design the diaphram as flexible and account for the additional weight of the CMU walls.
Does anyone see any problems with this approch of not utilizing the masonry walls to resist the lateral forces?
Thanks






RE: 4 Story Wood Building With Masonry Stair and Elevator Shafts
What's your reasoning for not wanting to use the masonry walls? Seems to me like it's free very rigid elements. Is it because you haven't designed in masonry before?
RE: 4 Story Wood Building With Masonry Stair and Elevator Shafts
Just a thought...
RE: 4 Story Wood Building With Masonry Stair and Elevator Shafts
Physics don't care that you don't want the masonry to take the load. Since the masonry is more rigid than the wood stud walls, it will attract the load whether you want it to or not unless it is independent.