Steel Frame to Masonry Shear Wall Connection 1

[ladisirt]

I am working on a community/family life center and we are using a structural steel framing system with infill CMU shear walls. The roof system consists of long span steel joists on steel beams, which is being done for speed of erection. The problem lies in the transfer of the shear load from beam & column frames to the masonry.

In the past we've welded an angle to the bottom flange of the beam and bolted into the side of a bond beam at the top of the wall. The thought of studding the bottom of the beam was brought up at my office, but concerns about getting the bond beam fully grouted were brought up. Studding the columns also seemed uneconomical. We often have architects requesting steel framing with infill masonry and no steel braces. Is there an ecomonical way to connect the two materials?

 

[UcfSE]

Is the cmu going up before or after the steel? Do you have to isolate the cmu infill from the deflection of the steel beam, i.e. is the infill also load bearing to take the load when the steel beam deflects and sits on it?

Would it be reasonable to have a continuous plate of embeds into the cmu that are then welded or bolted to the beam flange? I think the bolted angle is a pretty good idea personally.

 

[ladisirt]

The masonry will be designed as load bearing, mostly out of nessessity. The wall is in plane with the steel framing, so isolating the wall from the beam deflection will likely be more difficult than allowing the beam to bear on the wall.

Embeds welded to the bottom of the flange was our initial thought, but there are concerns about getting the bond beam fully grouted. Similiar concerns are involved with the bolting angle, due to the massive gravity loads that would have to be transmitted eccentrically through the side of the bond beam. It all comes back to getting the bonde beam fully grouted. Has anyone used this technique, and were there constructibility concerns?

 

[DaveAtkins]

I would leave a gap below the beam, and use bent plates off the bottom flange, with a vertical slotted hole in the vertical leg of each bent plate, and with an adhesive anchor into the bond beam at the top of the CMU wall, at each bent plate.

DaveAtkins

 

[MeggieM]

YOu may be able to make referencs from the report' connection between steel frame and other materials'

Meggie