Open concept residential wood framing vs steel moment frame

[hra1981]

Hi

I am a structural engineer in Toronto, these days most of the 2 storey houses coming from the architect don't have any interior walls on the main floor. (Let say the width of the house is 30' wide and 55' long.)
I am concern regarding the lateral support of the structure specifically along the width of the house.

I usually consider 1-2 steel beam along the width of the house in the middle of the main floor, but not sure what is the best way to calculate the lateral loads for sizing the steel beams.

I will appreciate if someone can advise if there is any software or spreadsheet calculations for the lateral loads on the main floor

 

[KootK]

I am concern regarding the lateral support of the structure specifically along the width of the house.

Yeah, that urban = infill type of house, combined with the new energy codes and the open concept stuff, tends to produce a structure with next to no cross width lateral resistance. And there have been reports of these things feeling a little wobbly to their owners.

I will appreciate if someone can advise if there is any software or spreadsheet calculations for the lateral loads on the main floor

This utility is handy for the basic calculation of wind and seismic loads:

https://www.jabacus.com/.

Maybe start there and then report back if you need more guidance. Going from zero to the lateral loads on a moment frame isn't rocket science but it does encompass a lot of stuff.

 

[As-Lag]

bra1981

I have the same problems and have been trying to get answers from this forum for a while. I am doing a Masonry seminar on Thursday to try to answer this very problem and if I get any answers, I will share them with you.

 

[dik]

I have a spreadsheet that I enter the element stiffnesses into and the loads and I get forces in the walls. A year or so back, I helped one of my classmates with a problem. He was putting an addition on an existing building that may have been 'iffy' and there were no drawings available. The U shaped box took care of the lateral. It was CFS and I had X-bracing in two of the walls and in the rear wall, there were a huge pile of windows, so I had a rigid portal frame.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik