Shear walls
Shear walls
(OP)
I have an existing building (single story wood truss roof framing) with CMU walls on all four sides. They are wanting to expand the building and remove on of the CMU walls and expand out the side. The addition will be constructed of wood stud walls. Does the IBC allow the mixing of CMU and wood shear walls? Thanks!






RE: Shear walls
If you mixed wood/CMU types in the same line of shear walls, that is where I would have a problem.
In the past I have mixed steel frames and concrete shear walls in the same line for a hospital expansion, but you have to do an iterative rigidity analysis to properly assess the relative loads taken.
Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)
RE: Shear walls
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Shear walls
If you have a flexible diaphragm you're going to have to think about it and decide if it's actually flexible *enough* to make up for the differential flexibility of the CMU and wood shear walls. I would suspect it's in the middle zone where the diaphragm and wall stiffnesses are comparable and you really should be modelling the stiffness of the whole system or you should be checking it as a flexible and stiff diaphragm and then enveloping the solutions.
RE: Shear walls
RE: Shear walls
RE: Shear walls
RE: Shear walls