Wall / column effective length

[mammut]

Hi,
I have to calculate a concrete wall. I'm bit confused about the part between the windows. (see an image)
I'm calculating that part as a column but not sure what is the right way to determine effective length of that column. Conservative way of course would be to take height of the wall.
But it seems logical tha the real capacity will be higher.
Wall has pinned connections on all edges.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[KootK]

I vote for:

1) weak axis: pin-pin, full height.
2) strong axis: fix-pin, height from bottom sill of window to the top of the wall. The restraint provided by the header would improve matters even more but I wouldn't consider that gain worth the effort.

Really, any strong axis consideration may be a moot point if your design will be governed by the weak axis.

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.