Non load bearing shear wall

[structuralex]

I am designing a one-way suspended concrete slab supported by exterior blockwork walls. The two interior blockwork walls are parallel to the slab span (perpendicular to the exterior walls) and I want to use them as shear walls but not vertical load bearing walls. I need some ideas on how to connect the slab to the blockwork wall to only transfer lateral loads and not vertical loads.

 

[MrHershey]

First thought is joint with compressible fill (or air) above the block wall with angles anchored to underside of concrete (either to embed plates or post-installed anchors) with post-installed anchors in vertical slots to the interior walls.

 

[MikeHalloran]

See "Panhard rod".


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[bookowski]

If this is multiple stories how do you pass the resultant lateral tension and compression through the floor in a vertical slip connection?

 

[msquared48]

Well... you can transfer the shear... no problem.

For the overturning, take it to the low slab and transfer it out at each story through transfer beams to adjacent columns. Should work...

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[structuralex]

MarkHirschi - have you used this kind of arrangement before?

 

[MrHershey]

Have not personally detailed a non-load bearing shear wall, no.

As bookowski mentioned, this would only work on its own for single stories. Would need to include something else to take care of the tension/compression couple for multiple floors. Could do the transfer beams idea. If it's a long wall could also carry only end steel and block continuous. Leave the gap in the central portion of the wall. If you build wall after structural dead loads have been applied, you'd only have to worry about wall supporting live load and superimposed dead. And I'd still design slab to be able to take 100% of everything. So it'd be a semi-load bearing wall that will pick up some load due to the continuity but isn't necessary for the structural integrity of the building because slab has been designed and detailed to take everything.

 

[JLNJ]

If you tie the walls into the load-bearing walls, making a sort of a T-section, you probably can get a mechanism to carry the veritcal couple.

It does seem like a convoluted manner in which to resolve the lateral forces.