PittEng88
Structural
- Feb 14, 2015
- 90
Hi All,
I am currently designing CMU partition walls (non-load bearing) that are 16' high, for an existing building in Puerto Rico. The architect has proposed a steel support frame for behind the walls to provide bracing at mid-height and the top of the walls, see attached image. The length of the long wall is 30' and the short wall length is 6'. The only loads that I anticipate for these walls are their own selfweight, a live load of 5 psf and their seismic loads (SDC = D). Due to the walls being installed in an existing building, I would like to reduce the amount of loads induced on the existing structure as much as I can. Therefore, I would like to avoid attaching the walls to the roof and to consider the connection at the bottom of the wall as pinned. I am planning on using either 8" or 10" block.
My question is, would I be able to eliminate the steel frame and be able to use just bond beams at the top of the wall and mid-height to provide enough stability for the wall? I.E. for in-plane loads, design the wall as a two story shear wall with the bond beams acting as the chords to distribute the shear force into the wall, and for out-of-plane loads, consider the bond beams as simple supports for the walls.
I hope I explained myself clear enough. However, if you have any questions or need more clarification feel free to ask. Any and all suggestions will be welcomed. I am a little green when it comes to designing w/ masonry.
Thank you for your time,
Mike
I am currently designing CMU partition walls (non-load bearing) that are 16' high, for an existing building in Puerto Rico. The architect has proposed a steel support frame for behind the walls to provide bracing at mid-height and the top of the walls, see attached image. The length of the long wall is 30' and the short wall length is 6'. The only loads that I anticipate for these walls are their own selfweight, a live load of 5 psf and their seismic loads (SDC = D). Due to the walls being installed in an existing building, I would like to reduce the amount of loads induced on the existing structure as much as I can. Therefore, I would like to avoid attaching the walls to the roof and to consider the connection at the bottom of the wall as pinned. I am planning on using either 8" or 10" block.
My question is, would I be able to eliminate the steel frame and be able to use just bond beams at the top of the wall and mid-height to provide enough stability for the wall? I.E. for in-plane loads, design the wall as a two story shear wall with the bond beams acting as the chords to distribute the shear force into the wall, and for out-of-plane loads, consider the bond beams as simple supports for the walls.
I hope I explained myself clear enough. However, if you have any questions or need more clarification feel free to ask. Any and all suggestions will be welcomed. I am a little green when it comes to designing w/ masonry.
Thank you for your time,
Mike
