Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing
Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing
(OP)
Has anyone used masonry shear walls for their lateral system on a load bearing cold formed structure? I am getting ready to start work on a two story apartment building that is to be constructed using load bearing cold formed walls. The building will include a stair tower on each end and an elevator shaft that is located roughly in the center of the building. It seems reasonable to me to have the stair towers (and possibly the elevator shaft) constructed out of CMU in order to utilize them for lateral support but I thought I might check and see if anyone has any insight as to whether or not this is or is not a viable option.






RE: Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing
RE: Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing
One other issue that I am contemplating is how the diaphragm loads from the roof get transferred to the stair towers. Are we going to be making things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves by trying to bring all the diaphragm loads to the stair towers rather than evenly distributing to the exterior walls? The plan is to use cold formed roof trusses and cold formed floor trusses with concrete slab on deck.
RE: Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing
RE: Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing
Usually you would use hot-steel angles bolted to the walls and connect your floor and roof diaphragms to the angles. Other shapes besides angles can be used depending on your details. The key it to provide collectors across your diaphragms that can fasten properly to the walls. Keep in mind that with seismic loads you have to use overstength factors on the connections.
RE: Masonry Shear Walls with Cold Formed Framing