DCBII
Structural
- Apr 15, 2010
- 187
I'm doing low-rise masonry shear walls in seismic design category D. There are several piers in each line of resistance, and some of them have flanges due to intersecting walls. What's the industry doing out there to account for the flanges? Do you place joints to isolate intersecting walls from each other to simplify the analysis? The strain-compatibility analysis to determine the wall's flexural strength and level of ductility is intensive. The code requires flanges be considered, since they drive up the flexural strength, which is what the required shear strength is based on. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression most engineers ignore them, which is unconservative.