I have always had an issue with this approach because it seems to me that the old Chapter D checks still apply for side face blowout etc. However I could maybe buy it if you have equal area adjacent reinforcing to lap too that drags down to the foundation, in which case you are really a lap...
This sound like you are creating a tie beam but using the slab reinforcing in lieu of a separate beam below the slab, in which case it's a constant tension member and I believe per code requires mech or welded splices not allowing for lapped.
I don't follow your thought here, are these dowels across a joint only, if so the way I read the code is you would have a constant tension member and therefore require continuous reinforcing or mechanical/welded splices in the zone in which you intend to grade for friction resistance due to slab...
Maybe some sort of foam or grout injection could be used to stabilize the soils a bit better, it's often use for jacking up foundations and roadways where soils have settled.
SSMA when I use SSMA shapes, ie wall studs and sometimes floor or roof framing, AISI when I use members similar to PEMB's, ie Z and CEE shapes for things like purlins and wall girts. I haven't encountered any challenges or confusion thus far from contractors, other than some like to list gages...
There is one engineer we work with who is amazing at doing preliminary truss designs for projects and has a side business doing truss repairs, we use and refer him often on projects that need truss repairs or strengthening.
Wow, my site visit is a min $750 now days, including travel time and then I would be anther $1000 to $1500 on top of that for any sketches or calcs based on min fees and if they agree up front to bundle with the site visit.
You may be surprised that I'm starting to come around to your thinking the longer I am in this industry, the more I just want to make money and find a way to retire earlier and earlier. My only big complaints with trusses as of late is all the verbiage of "EOR to verify loading was input...
The one thing I haven't seen posted yet is what kind of fees was the other engineer doing these for, that is probably one of the biggest reasons to do or not to do this kind of work. I would want to see in writing what kind of fees are expected on these types of projects as it's not all that...
Out of curiosity, how did you deal with out of plane attachment/continuity through the beam in the wall? Normally I see blocking and HD's with thru-bolts or a bunch of screws in tension both sides and drags as needed.
Typically we do a pin on one end and a slip, with an actual slip connection clip - something like the Simpson TC, the opposite and alternate every other truss. This way you do have a pin for the wall/diaphragm connection and you have a slip the opposite end.
The reason I use 10 sq-ft is because that is the lower bound for the factors, not because the trib area is actually 10 sq-ft.
Good info and good to know some of the players do it better. I don't recall who was the manufacturer on the ones I have seen recently using full length including splices.
There are corners left to be cut in PEMBs?
I agree with everyone else here, I wouldn't' touch it and if you did you would need to re-calculate everything and you will be hard pressed to get it to work without strengthening. We ended up on one where an owner ordered a kit online without knowing...
Interesting information, I'll need to read into it. It has been my experience that since it's a multispan situation you can use the full length for the C&C wind as I have seen commonly done by pretty much everyone I know. If what you state is true, then EVERY PEMB ever built is inadequate and...
Chapter 17 of the IBC has load testing requirements. Most that we have done so far consisted of loading a roof or other members to test gravity loading.
keep in mind, you could always have them do a load test. We have had a few instances where something didn't calc out on paper, but load testing showed way more than enough capacity even when considering safety factors.
@JStructsteel I recommend always using model merge in RISA, often times this can find these kinds of mistakes in modeling. I once saw a model where an engineer was copying nodes a lot to draw plates, ended up having over 5000 extra duplicate nodes in the model and was taking 30+ minutes to run...
