Vertical Reinforcement of Coupled Shear Walls

[theshearstud]

ACI 318_11, Section 11.9.9.4 gives equation 11-30 for required vertical shear reinforcement. In that equation, the term h_w is used. H_w in that section is said to be taken as "overall height of wall". But in Chapter 2_Notation and Definitions, h_w is taken as "..clear height of wall segment or pier". If you have coupled shear walls, should h_w be taken as the pier height, or the overall building height?

 

[theshearstud]

This is understanding that tension in the wall may control....just talking about minimum reinforcement here.

 

[mike20793]

The commentary implies that it is the overall wall height that determines the effectiveness of the horizontal reinforcement to resist shear. ACI 318-08 defines hw as the height of the entire wall from base to top or height of segment considered.. Seems like you should be using the overall height.

 

[KootK]

Similarly, I vote for:

Overall Wall Height / Length of Wall Pier.

Basically, you just look at any contiguous rectangular wall panel and evaluate that panel based on those dimensions.



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.

 

[theshearstud]

Thanks for the insight.