thanks AlohaBob - just a follow-up to your response. The A35's will probable be my choice. I believe I can account for some load transfer from the studs @16'' oc with 2-16d into the top plate.
Now, I'll design (or select) a roof diaphram based on the shear reaction and a calculated unit shear. Do you agree?
I am concerned about the bending stress. Your quick assesment is correct, it's over stressed for a double 2x6 top plate. However, I have not seen a triple plate in a 2-story house. I must not be thinking about this correctly, or being to conservative? What do you
think? Also, the double top plates need to function as one piece, so I'd need to design the nailing to make thes act as a composite, right?
Finally, I believe you are cautioning me to look at the interaction of bending and axial forces in the top chord, sounds reasonable, but I'm not quite sure if your thinking I should combine these with vertical, or just mentioning not to forget to check bending due to vertical?
Any comment is appreciated..............