Question about Enercalc Masonry Wall Design

[pob11646]

In the Masonry Wall design portion of Enercalc v5.8, what does the parapet height refer to? The definition provided in Enercalc Help is, "This portion of the wall extends above the Clear Span Height and will apply a concentrated moment due to wind or seismic loads to the top of the wall. Vertical load due to the parapet weight is also included."

What is the parapet wall? Is it part of the masonry wall, and must it be constructed of masonry?

What if I have an ordinary metal stud wall above my masonry wall? Is that counted as a parapet wall? Thanks for all your advice.

 

[GregLocock]

(a) this is probably the wrong forum

(b) I have never designed a building

(c) I have never seen your software

but

(d) I found the description sufficient

Yes, your stud wall is a parapet wall, it generates wind loads. It will also generate fairly small self weight loads.




Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Interesting that there isn't an Enercalc forum. I'm kinda surprised.

A quick perusal of the Enercalc website shows that version 5.8 isn't supported anymore. Even so, I'd contact their support address. Michael can be somewhat slow to respond (or so I hear), but he knows his programs in and out.... After all, he wrote virtually all of it.

Another option might be the Enercalc Knowledge Base or On-Line Community. I'm not a user of this software, so I have never used either of these resources. But, they seem the most obvious place to turn to.

 

[Rayengr]

The parapet wall is the portion of the wall above the roof line. Depending on the height of the building and the locality, it is required for fall protection. Its also used to hide rooftop mechanical equipment from being seen from the ground.
If the wall is masonry, I'd suggest the parapet also be masonry. It is designed as a cantilever element with the wall. If you change to another material, metal stud as you suggest, you will have to add bracing behind the stud wall as it is very difficult to design a stud wall connection to resist the moments produced by wind loads.
Enercalc 5.8 is the older version, the newer version out today is 6.0 and has quite a few refinements, easier to use as well.