Openings

After creating walls place openings representing doors and windows in the walls by selecting the Openings action in the main tool bar and dragging the mouse across the section of the wall where you want the opening, then adjusting the length, height, and elevation of the bottom of the opening.

Create any openings that you want to be copied to upper levels before extending walls upwards.

Openings can be later selected for editing by clicking on the opening in the drawing or selecting the opening number in sequence on the wall from the Opening input form.

Design Significance

Openings are used to create full-height shear wall segments between the openings and specify locations for hold-downs. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the openings affect the calculation of the perforated shear wall factor Co and the distribution of shear force to piers, straps, and blocking in force-transfer walls.They are also used to estimate the enclosure category of the building.

Note that the weight of the wall for seismic building mass calculations includes the area of the opening, as typically there is a door or a window at the opening.

Floor Openings

Floor openings cannot be entered in Shearwalls at the present time; it is assumed that a diaphragm extends over the entire plan area of a level. To simulate a floor opening for the purpose of seismic load generation, in Load Input view, enter a negative area building mass over the length of the opening, with the tributary width being the opening width.