New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
(OP)
Looking at putting a 3ft man door in an existing reinf. concrete wall. The wall is on the first level of a 4 level parking structure. Half the structure uses double T's and the other half concrete beams with a waffle slab. The wall is 15ft long by 16ft tall and 18" thick. In the past I've used channel face bolted and HSS posts to handle gravity and shear(seismic). In this case the opening is in a retail space where a steel frame is not very desirable. If there's a way I can justify something less invasive or show that the wall is sufficient without reinforcement I would like to see this. I've seen many posts on here that they justified this way, but no explanation behind the calculations used. Thoughts?
Thanks,
CK
Thanks,
CK






RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
Where along the wall will the door be located? Does the wall continue up the full height of the building? Does the wall reinforcing or footing design look suggestive of a shear wall?
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
The building was designed in 1974. How well or how poorly does anyone think it conforms to current seismic design thinking and practices?
NOT THAT IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE CONSIDERED BUT....I'm curious about how likely it is that this wall is behaving well as a shear wall now.
Again, not being too familiar, does it seem to anyone else that this is a pretty small shear wall for such a large (footprint) building?
Steve
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
"First, do no harm. "
This is a stupid idea. Put the chopsaw and concrete blade down, and slowly back away with your hands up.
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
RE: New door opening in existing reinforced concrete wall
Properly sized, I think this steel braced frame could replace any shear, bending and axial stresses that could have been taken by the removed concrete.