Service Release 7.2 Canada

This version of Shearwalls was issued to provide the following corrections and enhancements to Shearwalls 7. It was released at the end of July, 2009 as Stand-alone Shearwalls 7.2 or as part of Design Office 7, Service Release 2.

Load Generation

Seismic Response Modification Factor (Bug 1904)

The message upon seismic load generation that allows you to change the NBC seismic response modification factor R to the one appropriate for the materials being used has been improved in the following ways:

R_d and R_o

The program now applies the message on changes to both R_d and R_o in NBC 2005 4.1.8.9, rather than just R, as in the NBC 1995.

In Presence of Gypsum

Currently, when gypsum materials are present, the program allows you to override the warning message and use an R_d value greater than 2.0, the value in NBC table 4.1.8.9 for gypsum and wood in combination.

Now the program gives you a choice of automatically selecting the Disable gypsum contribution or changing the R value to one less than or equal to 2.0.

No Gypsum Present

The program now warns you if you have unnecessarily entered a value of 2.0 or less, corresponding to gypsum materials, when there are no such materials in a particular direction. It allows you to change the value to 3.0, the value for wooden shear walls in Table 4.1.8.9

Disable Gypsum Contribution Setting Checked

The program now warns you if you have unnecessarily set the Disable gypsum contribution design setting with an R_d value of 2.0 or less for a particular direction. It offers you the choice of automatically deselecting the setting, or increasing the R_d value to to 3.0, the value for wooden shear walls in Table 4.1.8.9

Analysis in Both Directions

The above messages and actions are taken independently for each force directions, to comply with 4.1.8.9 (3). The program had been making the changes to both directions, even if they applied to only one.

Seismic Load Generation

Building Mass on Flat Roof Overhangs (Bug 1890)

Shearwalls does not create building masses or for those portions of flat roofs that are part of the overhang, resulting in lower seismic loading for those roofs due to the absent building mass and snow load. This problem has been corrected by not allowing structures with flat roofs to have overhangs. To correct existing projects with flat roofs you need to enter the Roof Input dialog and deselect and reselect the flat roof. Doing this sets the overhangs to zero.

Irregularities for Five- and Six Storey Structures (Feature 131)

The program implements the British Columbia Building Code (BCBC) provision 4.1.8.10 (4) for 5- and 6 storey structures, that Irregularities 4 ( In-Plane Offset) and 5 Vertical Discontinuity, are not allowed for these structures when IEF_aS_a(0.2) > 0.35. The program detects this condition and adds the note to this effect under the Seismic Irregularities table. A warning note that appears on the screen also refers you to the APEGBC April 2009 Bulletin for 5-and 6-storey Residential Buildings, section 3.5.2 c)  or www.housing.gov.bc.ca for more information.

Irregularities Notes for Drag Strut and Hold-down Capacity Provisions (Bug 2021)

The note below the Seismic Irregularity table and on-screen warning that appear for Irregularities 3 (Vertical Geometry) and 4 (In-plane Discontinuity) and 5 (Out-of-plane Offset) indicated that seismic design results were not valid because a the capacity of the lower storey within the discontinuity had a lower capacity than the upper storey, contravening NBC 4.1.8.15-2. In fact, this clause says that the elements on the lower storey supporting the upper storey should be designed using the upper storey capacity.

These messages have therefore been changed to indicate only that the drag strut and hold-down forces are calculated using the lower storey capacity when they should be using the higher upper storey capacity. Also, the separate notes have been made for Irregularities 3/5 and 4, indicating that the capacities are storey capacities for 3 and 5 and shear line capacity for 4.

Structural Limits

Structural Wood Panels Required (Bug 1904)

The program now checks that each storey has at least some structural wood panels on each level, if that is not the case, load generation for both wind and seismic loads is aborted. This is to comply with CSA O86 9.5.4 and Table 9.5.4.

OSB Construction Sheathing (Change 52)

The program was internally omitting OSB Construction from the list of wood-based materials, so that it is possible that buildings with these materials and without gypsum wallboard could be incorrectly restricted as if they had gypsum wallboard, which is not allowed in Design Categories E and F and less than 35 feet in Category D.

Load Distribution

Shear Line Force Distribution

Rigid Diaphragm Results in Log File (Bug 1803)

Refer to the section of this list for extensive changes made to the detailed log file output for Rigid Diaphragm distribution.

Shear Lines and Walls with No Capacity (Features 48, 89)

The ability to now have walls composed entirely of gypsum wallboard combined with the Ignore gypsum … Design Setting, creates the possibility of shear walls and shear lines with no capacity. The program treats these as if they were composed entirely of non-shearwalls, and distributes no load to these walls and lines.

Drag Strut Forces

The following problems were addressed, pertaining to the "Drag strut forces based on shear wall capacity" design setting. This setting was added for version 7.1 of the software. .

Shear Wall Capacity Used for Drag Strut Forces (Bug 1897)

When using applied force in the calculations, the program takes the difference of cumulative shear flow at top and design shear at the bottom of the wall. When using shear wall capacity, the program was using the capacity in place of design shear, thus summing capacities for different walls in the line.

We replaced this approach with one that uses the cumulative shear forces, as before, and then factors them with the ratio of design shear to shear capacity for the wall that contains the drag strut. Note that this ratio is actually the same for all walls on the line, because shear is distributed to wall segments according to wall capacity.

Shear Flow in Drag Strut Force Calculation (Bug 1901)

When shear capacity was used in place of the design shear, the shear flow transmitted from upper diaphragm to top of shea rwall that was used in the drag strut calculations for this setting was always zero. This was creating drag strut forces that were too large, or sometimes to not be created when they should be.

Differing Drag Strut Forces in Opposing Directions (Bug 2016)

The drag strut forces reported in the Drag Strut and Hold-down table were randomly taken from either the east-west or west-east force direction ( similarly for N->S and S->N), so that when forces from these directions differ, only half the force values are reported. The reported forces could be a confusing mixture of forces from each direction that did not correspond to any elevation view diagram. Note that because of hold-down configuration rules, it is often the case that the drags strut forces are different in each direction.

This problem has been corrected by outputting the drag strut value for both force directions for each drag strut location.

Walls with No Capacity (Feature 49,89)

The ability to now have walls composed entirely of gypsum wallboard combined with the Ignore gypsum … Design Setting, creates the possibility of shear walls with no capacity. The program omits these walls in the drag strut force calculations.

Irregularities Notes for Drag Strut Provisions (Bug 2021)

Refer to the section on section on Seismic Load Generation above for an explanation of the Seismic Irregularity notes and warnings that appear for NBC 4.1.8.15-2 pertaining to Irregularities 3, 4, and 5 affecting drag strut force calculations.

Hold-down Forces

Default Hold-down Offset (Change 39)

The “factory” default hold-down offset has been reduced from 150 mm to 75 mm, in recognition that the chord force is actually transferred to the hold-down connection at the centre of the chord, not where the hold-down bolt goes through the floor joist.

Walls with No Capacity (Feature 49,89)

The ability to now have walls composed entirely of gypsum wallboard combined with the Ignore gypsum … Design Setting, creates the possibility of shear walls and with no capacity. The program recognizes these walls and does not create hold-down forces for them.

Irregularities Notes for Hold-down Provisions (Bug 2021)

Refer to the section on section on Seismic Load Generation above for an explanation of the Seismic Irregularity notes and warnings that appear for NBC 4.1.8.15-2 pertaining to Irregularities 3, 4, and 5 affecting hold-down force calculations.

Engineering Design

Shear Wall Materials

Gypsum on Exterior Wall (Feature 89)

It is now possible to have gypsum wallboard on the exterior of the of a perimeter wall. The program does not perform C&C wind design in this case, and issues a warning to that effect in the Design Results output.

No Materials on Exterior Wall (Feature 49)

It is now possible to specify None as the material on the exterior of the of a perimeter wall. The program does not perform C&C wind design in this case, and issues a warning to that effect in the Design Results output

Primary Design Surface (Features 49, 89)

Previously, the exterior surface of a perimeter wall, and the side designated as Side 1 of an interior partition, was designated as the primary design surface in the case that materials were different on either side. You were able to designate some parameters for that surface as unknown, and the program would design for these values.

Now, the side of the wall that has structural (plywood, fibreboard, OSB) materials is designated as the primary side, and the side with gypsum or no materials is the non-designed side. If both sides have structural materials, then the primary side is the exterior of perimeter walls and Side 1 of interior walls, as before.

OSB Construction Sheathing ( Change 52)

The program was internally omitting OSB Construction from the list of wood-based materials, so that the program may in some cases not have accurately imposed the restrictions on material strength due to hold-down/anchorage restrictions in CSA O86 9.4.5.5.

Maximum Gypsum Wallboard Contribution (Feature 131)

The program now includes an improved implementation of CSA O86 Table 9.5.4 which specifies the maximum gypsum contribution on any level of the structure, in each direction.

Check for Total Capacity vs. Force

The program checks on each level and in each direction, that the total capacity of all walls on that level is at least as great as the total force. In this case, at least some of the shear walls will have failed, and the program does not go on to check for minimum wood capacity or maximum gypsum capacity as indicated in the following sections.

Check for Minimum Wood Capacity

After shear wall design, the program checks that there is sufficient capacity from wood panels in the designed shear walls to satisfy the requirements of CSA O86 Table 9.5.4 if all force were to be distributed to those wood panels. It does so independently on each level and for each force direction, for both wind and seismic design.

If the wood capacity is not at least 100% minus the allowable GWB percentage, the program regards this as a design failure and indicates so via a message box on the screen, and via failure notes under the Shear Design table and the new Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table, and via “FAILED” showing on the walls of that level on elevation view.

Refer also to the section on Output below for a full description of the Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table.

Check for Maximum Gypsum Capacity

After shear wall design, the program checks if the percentage of total shear force taken by gypsum wallboard exceeds the maximum in CSA O86 Table 9.5.4. In determining the shear force taken by GWB, it assumes that the force into composite wood/gypsum shear walls is distributed proportionally to material capacity. It does so independently on each level and for each force direction, for both wind and seismic design.

If there is greater than the maximum allowable gypsum contribution, the program offers you the choice of ignoring gypsum wallboard contribution in design and redesigning, or proceeding with the design anyway. For seismic design, it also offers you the opportunity to regenerate loads on the structure with the revised response modification R value appropriate to all-wood systems.

If you choose not to redesign, the program presents a warning under the Shear Design table and the new Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table indicating that you must ensure that sufficient shear force is distributed to wooden panels to avoid excess gypsum contribution.

Refer also to the section on Output below for a full description of the Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table.

Ignore Gypsum Wallboard in Design

If you have selected the “Ignore gypsum wallboard design setting for either or both of wind and seismic design, the program does not do the above mentioned Check for Minimum Wood Capacity or Check for Maximum Gypsum Capacity for that design case, instead putting a note explaining this in place of the Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table. ‘

Storeys Greater than 3.6m

On all storeys greater than 3.6m in height, the gypsum contribution to shear resistance is automatically ignored in load distribution and design to comply with to Table 9.5.4 Note 2.. This applies to both wind and seismic design. This is done regardless of the design setting that disables gypsum contribution for all levels. The program indicates in the notes to the Shear Results table and the Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table that GWB has been ignored for this reason.

Five- and Six-storey Structures

For five- and six-storey structures, all gypsum contribution to shear resistance is automatically ignored in load distribution and design, on all levels of the structure, because CSA O86 Table 9.5.4 does not yet include 5- and 6- storey structures. The program indicates in the notes to the Shear Results table and in a note that appears in place of the Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table that GWB has been ignored for this reason.

Note that there are proposed changes to the BC Building Code that allow gypsum wallboard on 5- and 6- storey structures, and these will be implemented in the software at a future date. Refer to BC Building Code Branch at: and APEGBC Guidelines at

Previous Implementation

Please note that this implementation replaces a previous one that was in Shearwalls 2002, but was dropped for version 7.0 because it was deemed inadequate. The previous implementation divided the sum of the capacity of the gypsum wall board panels on a building level by the sum of the capacity of all walls the level, and compared with the limits in 9.5.4. This implementation did not take into account directionality and therefore did not include the Jhd factor in the total capacity.

In this implementation, the program merely sent a message to the screen indicating that there was excessive gypsum capacity. As it was not possible in this version to have walls composed solely of gypsum wallboard, this message rarely appeared.

Shear Design

Service Condition Factor K_sf for Shear Design (Change 22)

The moisture condition K_sf Factor is now applied to the shear design, according to CSA O86 9.4.2. The in-service and fabrication service conditions as input in the Design Settings are applied according to CSA O86 Table 10.2.1.5 for nails.

Optimization of Design (arising from Feature 131)

Certain steps were taken to speed up the shear design routine by eliminating redundant calculations.

OSB Construction Sheathing ( Change 52)

The program was internally omitting OSB Construction from the list of wood-based materials, so that the program may in some cases have determined that the shear wall had zero capacity if it had only OSB Construction materials and “Ignore gypsum” was set in the Design Settings. It may also have misapplied height-to-width ratio restrictions in this case.

Component and Cladding (C&C) Wind Design

Design for Exterior Shear Walls with No C&C Resistance (Change 36)

As it is now possible for there to be no materials, or non-structural (gypsum) materials on the exterior walls, the program recognizes this situation and outputs a warning in the C&C Design Table. Refer to the Output section of this list for more details.

Input and Program Operation

Informational Dialog Boxes

Design Codes in About Box (Change 41)

The program now indicates the design codes and standards implemented in the program: CSA O86, including 2003 Update and 2005 Supplement, and NBC 2005.

Welcome Dialog Via Help Menu (Change 51)

The Welcome box can now be accessed from the Help menu, so that you do not have to restart the program to access the information in this box.

Building Codes Box (Feature 131)

• A Building Codes dialog box has been added, accessed via a button in Welcome dialog. This dialog
• Repeats the information in the Welcome dialog regarding design codes implemented by the program
• Indicates that Shearwalls does not take into account shear wall deflection or wood shrinkage, nor does it detect certain irregularities
• Indicates which Mid-rise provisions for 5- and 6-storey structures are included and which are not.
• Directs you to for more information about Mid-rise structures.

  Structure Input

  Wall Height Check upon Return to Structure View (Bug 1787)

The program did not perform the check on allowable wall height input in Structure input form, if you had returned to that form from a later view in the sequence. Therefore, it was possible to accidentally enter a zero height wall, which would cause the program to crash. Now the program checks that a legitimate wall height is input whenever the Structure view is exited.

Five- and Six Storey Structures (Feature 131)

Upon adding fifth building level, the program issues an on-screen message informing that only some of the provisions for 5-and 6-storey structures in the British Columbia Building Code are implemented in the program, directing you to the Building Codes box, accessed from the Welcome dialog, to find out which are implemented. The message also refers you to the BC Building Code Branch at and Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) Guidelines at

Wall Input View

Wall Surface Input Mechanism (Change 32, Feature 49)

• The drop list for selecting Wall Surface in the Wall Input view has been replaced by two tabs called Interior side and Exterior side ( Side 1 and Side 2 for interior partitions). These tabs contain all the input fields that previously were visible when Exterior and Interior were chosen from the drop list.
• The choice Both sides same has been replaced by a checkbox that causes the input to be compressed into one tab called Both sides. As before, the materials that are displayed are the ones that were on the exterior side (or Side 1) before the box is checked.
• The choice Exterior only has been removed, as it can be achieved by specifying None for the interior side of the wall.

  Wall Material Choices

• Previously, the material choices for interior walls were the same as those for exterior walls, and assumed that one surface would not have gypsum materials. Now, the program provides the entire list of choices for both sides of interior walls, to allow for the common situation of gypsum on both sides. (Bug 1891)
• The sheathing materials None and GWB Type X (gypsum wallboard) are now available on the exterior surfaces of exterior walls. Previously these surfaces had to have wooden sheathing (Feature 89)
• The choice None has been added for the exterior side, to allow for no structural materials on the outside of a structure with structural materials on the inside surface. The program does not include the selection None if None is selected on the other side of the wall, in other words, shearwalls must have sheathing on at least one side. (Feature 49)

  Side with Unknowns (Features 49, 89)

Previously, the exterior side of perimeter walls and Side 1 of interior partitions could have unknown parameters for sheathing thickness, nail size, and nail spacing. Now, the side of the wall that has structural (plywood and OSB) materials can have unknowns, and the side with gypsum or no materials does not have them. If both sides have structural materials, then the program reverts to its previous behaviour.

Nomenclature Changes and Reorganisation

• The label Wall segment referring to the geometry of a selected shear wall has been changed to Shear Wall, as the data refer to the entire shear wall, not an individual segment between openings.(Change 34)
• The sheathing material name Gypsum X has been changed to GWB Type X. The abbreviated form that appears in output reports is GWB. (Change 16)
• The label Relative rigidity has been changed to Relative rigidity per unit length. (Change 20)
• The Design Group(s) text field indicating what design groups have been created for the selected wall has been moved from near the top to the bottom of the input form. (Change 35)

  Multiple Wall Selection Problems

The following problems have been corrected:

• Both Sides Same (Bug 1994) - In the wall input dialog, after more than one wall is selected, and then "Both Sides the Same" is selected, the individual walls are often not designated as "both sides the same" when selected, and some of the fields have the original value in them, that is, were not properly updated for all of the walls selected.
• Gypsum Wallboard (Bug 1993) - After selecting more than one wall, and selecting Gypsum X ( now GWB Type X) on the interior wall surface in the wall input dialog, the fastener type appeared as a blank. If left blank, he selected GWB materials are not included in the design capacity of the wall. However, selecting a fastener type allowed for design..

  Standard Walls

  Crash on Standard Wall Cancel (Bug 1889)

When editing a Standard Wall, then pressing Cancel, Shearwalls would crash. This happened only for existing projects that are reopened, not for new files. This has been fixed.

Standard Wall Name Label (Change 40)

The label "Name" was mistakenly removed from the Standard Wall input form for version 7.1. It has been restored.

Standard Wall Dropdown Box Length (Change 14)

The dropdown box for Standard walls has been lengthened, so that you do not think that only one standard wall can be created because that is all that is shown without scrolling.

Selection of Standard Walls for C&C Design (Change 37)

As it is now possible to have non-structural materials on exterior surfaces, and because all walls should be available for seismic design, the program no longer issues a message and prevents you from selecting a standard wall for the exterior of the building that cannot withstand wind C&C loads.

Loads

Partial Wall Load Input (Bug 1911)

When adding a line load in the load Input dialog when “Selected Wall” is set as the “Apply to..” selection, then changing the locations such that they are less than the full extent of the wall, the load was still being added to the full length of the selected wall. This has been corrected such that the load has the reduced extent entered.

Settings

Moisture Conditions (Change 22)

• In the Design Settings, the group heading Nail Withdrawal Conditions has been renamed to Moisture conditions for Ksf, as they are now applied to shear design as well as C&C design.
• The choices in the Fabrication box have been changed from "Wet", "Dry" to "Unseasoned", "Seasoned" to correspond with CSA O86 terminology. The In-service choices have not changed.

  Hold-down Force Setting Persistence (Change 24)

The Design setting Holddown forces based on shear wall capacity was not saved when the project file was saved, so it would be reset to the default value, Holddown forces based on Applied loads when projects were re-opened.

Design Settings in Data Bar (Change 30)

The "Design…" button on the Data bar has been renamed to "Settings…", to avoid confusion with the Design button in the toolbar which causes a design to be run.

Immediate Effect of Default Settings (Changes 25, 26)

In the Default Settings page:

• The explanation has been revised to indicate that only Roof geometry settings depend on exiting Structure View.
• An asterisk has been added the Holddown offset to indicate that it has immediate effect.

  Note in Design Settings (Change 21)

The word “However” and the design code name “NBC” has been added to the note at the bottom of the Design Settings box indicating seismic discontinuity exception to the use of Applied Force for hold-down and drag strut calculations.

Output

General Output Changes

Legends and Notes (Change 9)

• The Design Results have been updated so that the notes under the tables are in plain face to distinguish them from the legends, which are in italic.
• Those notes that are considered warnings that indicate design failure are now output in red and are the last notes printed.
• A heading of 'Legend:' now precedes the legends and the program now consistently places the heading "Notes" before notes.

  Text-based (.wsr) Output Files (Bug 1886)

The program no longer outputs Shearwalls text-based results files (.wsr), as they have not been maintained since the enhanced output was introduced for Shearwalls 2004 USA.

The extension .wsr has been removed from the filename on the header of the printed file output, which in fact can be output as .rtf or .pdf.

Design Settings

Moisture Conditions (Change 22)

In the Design Settings, the group heading "Nail Withdrawal Conditions " has been renamed to "Service Conditions", as they are now applied to shear design as well as C&C design.

The items under Fabrication have been changed from "Wet", "Dry" to "Unseasoned", "Seasoned" to correspond with CSA O86 terminology.

Material and Structural Data

Species Factor J_sp Output for Gypsum Surfaces (Bug 1992)

In the Materials by Wall Group output table, the species factor Jsp shown for an interior Gypsum X surface is that of the external (non-gypsum) surface, however, J_sp does not apply to gypsum wall surfaces according to CSA O86 9.5.1. For gypsum materials, which can now appear on either surface, that the J_sp value does not exist is now indicated by a “-“.

Gypsum Wallboard Notes (Bug 1904, Feature 131)

The following notes are now output under the Materials by Wall Group for gypsum wallboard materials.

When gypsum is present, a note has been placed under the Materials table indicating that a balanced distribution of gypsum is needed to comply with CSA O86 9.5.4 (2).

Imperial Joist Depth in Storey Information Table (Bug 2019)

When Imperial is the unit system, the joist depths in the were given as 25.4 times the depth in inches, that is, converted to millimetres, but the label still read inches. The program now outputs values in inches.

Shear Design Table

Gypsum Wallboard Limitation Warnings and Notes (Feature 131)

The program now indicates under the Shear Design table if there are failures or concerns arising from CSA O86 9.5.4 and Table 9.5.4. It does so separately for the wind design and shear design tables, as follows:

• There is a red failure message if on any level in any direction there is insufficient capacity from wood panels to resist the remaining storey force after the maximum gypsum contribution from Table 9.5.4 is taken away.
• There is a red warning message if the percentage of storey shear resisted by gypsum is greater than the maximum allowed by Table 9.5.4.
• If at least one storey is greater than 3.6 m, a note indicates that the gypsum wallboard contribution to shear resistance is ignored for all walls on that storey.
• When the structure has more than four storeys, a note indicates that the gypsum wallboard contribution to shear resistance is ignored for all walls in the structure for that reason.
• When gypsum wallboard is present, a note indicates a balanced distribution of gypsum is needed to comply with CSA O86 9.5.4 (2).
• If some shear wall sides have zero capacity because you have disabled the gypsum contribution in the design settings, a note indicates this.

Refer to the section on Maximum Gypsum Wallboard Contribution in the Engineering Design Changes in this list for more information.

Service Factor K_sf in Legend (Change 23)

The legend in the Shear Design table now gives the service factor K_sf that is now used in design followed by a description (e.g. dry seasoned).. Previously it said "Ksf= 1(dry)” at all times..

Components and Cladding Table

Components and Cladding Table Legend (Change 17,18)

Legend under Component and Cladding (C&C) table in Design Results has been elaborated on further. It now gives Commentary numbers and figures from the NBC Structural commentaries, and explains the combination of interior and exterior pressure co-efficients for each method. It also refers to table I-8 instead of I-7 from the 1995 NBC.

Exterior Shear Walls with No C&C Resistance (Change 36)

As it is now possible for there to be no materials, or non-structural (gypsum) materials on the exterior walls, for such a shear line, a double asterisk (**) is output as the response ratio in the C&C results table, indicating the following beneath the table: **WARNING - No exterior sheathing material or sheathing has no C&C capacity.

Drag Strut and Hold-down Table

Drag Strut Forces in Opposing Directions

The drag strut forces reported in the Drag Strut and Hold-down table are randomly taken from either the east-west or west-east direction ( similarly for N->S and S->N), so that when forces from these directions differ, only half the force values are reported. The has two columns headed with arrows were used to show the direction the drag struts forces themselves were pointing, not the force direction on the shear line. They are now used to show the drag strut force for loading in each direction for each drag strut location.

Seismic Information and Seismic Irregularities Table

Header in the Seismic Information Table (Bug 1907)

In version 7.1 of the software only, the Column header 'Length of SFRS, E-W N-S ' was not output in the Seismic Information table. It has been restored.

Irregularities Notes for Drag Strut and Hold-down Capacity Provisions (Bug 2021)

Changes were made to the notes regarding the NBC 4.1.8.15-2 provision for Irregularities 4, 5, and 6. Refer to the section on Seismic Load Generation for more information.

Gypsum Wallboard Table (Feature 131)

Separate tables are now output for each design case (rigid, flexible, wind, seismic) giving the relevant data to implement the restrictions on gypsum wallboard contribution in CSA O8 Table 9.5.4

No Table Output

In the following circumstances, no table is output and an explanatory note appears instead:

• For five- and six storey structures, because Table 9.5.4 does not yet include these structures.
• If you have chosen to ignore gypsum wallboard contribution to design shear wall resistance in the Design Settings.

  Table Data

The table outputs the following data for each storey and each direction of force:

• Storey number
• Maximum GWB Percentage – Maximum gypsum wallboard contribution allowed from Table 9.5.4, or if the storey is greater than 3.6m in height, zero.
• GWB Capacity – Total capacity of all gypsum wallboard on storey, regardless of distribution of forces to the wall segments
• Wood Capacity – Total capacity of all plywood and OSB panels on shear line, regardless of distribution of forces to the wall segments.
• Total Force – Sum of all factored shear line forces on that level in that direction
• Wood Capacity % - The total wood capacity on the line as a percentage of the total forcec applied to the line. This value indicates whether sufficient wood panels are available to resist the , The program considers it a failure if this value is less than 100% minus the allowable gypsum contribution. In that case a
• Force Resisted by GWB – The percentage of shear force that is actually resisted by GWB panels on the shear line, assuming that force into composite walls is distributed according to relative capacity of the wood and gypsum sides.
• % Force Resisted by GWB – This is the force resisted by GWB as a percentage of the total factored shear line force. If this value is greater than the maximum allowed by Table 9.5.4, the program issues a warning that you must redistribute the excess gypsum force to the wooden shear walls.

  Legend

A legend appears at the bottom of the table explaining the above data.

Insufficient Total Resistance Failure

If there is insufficient total resistance on a particular storey and direction to resist the total force, then two exclamation marks (!!) appear in the % gypsum column in place of the data, and a red failure note starting with !! appears below the table. In this case, at least some of the walls on the shear line will have failed, and there is little point in checking the % gypsum contribution.

Insufficient Wood Capacity Failure

If there is insufficient capacity from wood panels available to resist the remaining storey force after the maximum gypsum contribution from Table 9.5.4 is taken away, then one exclamation mark (!) appears beside the Wood Capacity % data for that storey and direction. A red failure note starting with ! appears below the table.

Excessive Gypsum Wallboard Contribution Warning

A note appears saying that the If the percentage of storey shear resisted by gypsum wallboard on a particular storey and direction is greater than the maximum allowed by Table 9.5.4, then indicating that you must modify the design to ensure sufficient shear force is redistributed to wooden panels to avoid excess gypsum contribution.

Notes

• If at least one storey is greater than 3.6 m, a note indicates that the gypsum wallboard contribution to shear resistance is ignored for all walls on that storey.
• A note is always output indicating that a balanced distribution of gypsum wallboard is needed to comply with CSA O86 9.5.4 (2).

  Elevation View

  Gypsum Wallboard Failure (Feature 131)

If for any level shown in elevation view in the selected direction there is insufficient is sufficient capacity from wood panels to resist the remaining storey force after the maximum gypsum contribution from Table 9.5.4 is taken away, the program

• Indicates with in large bold letters “FAILED” on all shear walls on the line for the failing levels
• Prints separate failure notes for the cases that just one level or several levels are displayed.

Note that the program does not in elevation view indicate the warning for excessive gypsum resistance to shear force that appears in the Gypsum Wallboard Percentage table and in the Shear results table. This is because this situation depends on distribution of shear force, and the line selected may not be one in which force is distributed to gypsum wallboard.

Rigid Diaphragm Analysis in Log File (Bug 1803)

The Rigid Diaphragm Analysis section of Log File has been modified in the following ways:

Explanatory Line for Rigidity Selection

A line has been added at the top of the section that indicates the Shear Wall Rigidity selection in the Design Settings, and to explain what rigidity units are employed with each selection. For “Shear wall capacity”, force units are used (kN, lbs or kps), for “Equal rigidities” (per unit length), length units are used (m or ft), and if it is “Manual input of relative rigidity”, then they are treated as dimensionless numbers.

Symbols and Equations

A consistent set of symbols has been introduced, and equations given for all symbols, so that the source of all output data can be traced. Where applicable, design code references also added. Note that in many cases a symbol is used before the place in the output that the symbol is defined by its own equation.

Units

• Unit Indicators

The Indicator of length and force units has been removed from the header, and instead, the units are placed on all individual items in the report. The formatting of the units has changed slightly, in that the units are placed in brackets after the label for an item, rather than after the last value output for that item

• Force Units Employed

Previously, only kN were used, even when imperial units were selected in the Format Settings. Now for the Imperial units selection in the Format Settings, either lbs, kips, or kN are used according to the Force format setting. Note that other portions of the log file continue to be output in metric units even when for the imperial format setting selection.

Formatting

• The output is now consistent in its use of hyphens (-) and colons (:).
• The length of the dashed line has been shortened, and all output is constrained to remain within that line, so that it prints on one page in Notepad with a 9 font.
• For to the initial section of data that is output for the X-direction and the Y-direction on the same line, the previously ragged data has been placed in two columns, for the X-direction and Y-direction, with the letters x and y appended to the symbols, e.g. Jx and Jy for Torsional Rigidity J. These symbols are later referred to in the separate results for the E-W and N-S directions, making it clear which is used for which direction of force.

  Center of Rigidity

The word “of” has been added to “Center of Rigidity”, which can now be m or ft, along with symbol Cr and equation.

Building Dimension D

A line for building dimension D, perpendicular to the force direction, has been added, as this is used in the eccentricity calculation. .

Accidental eccentricity

• The output “Acc Eccentricity” has been removed for wind design, which does not impose an additional accidental eccentricity. For seismic design, it is now on its own line, with “acc” fully spelled out, equation and units shown, symbol ea.
• A note has been added to the end of this section of output indicating the design code reference for eccentricity.

  Total Rigidity

• The symbol Kt, equation, and units employed have been added to the Total Rigidity line
• Previously the program was indicating that this value was in metres for all selections of the “Shear Wall Rigidity” Design Setting, however the value for the “Rigidity based on capacity” setting was in fact in kN, as it was the sum of all shear wall capacities. The program now indicates it is kN, lbs, or kips for that setting, depending on what unit system is in use.
• Length units continue to be used for the “Equal rigidity” (per unit length)” setting, as this value is just the sum of shear wall lengths.
• For the “Manual input” setting, this value is the shear wall length multiplied by the relative rigidity input in wall view, so no unit is used.

  Torsional Rigidity

• Torsional rigidity has been placed on its own line. The symbol J, equation, and units employed have been added to the Torsional Rigidity label.
• Previously the program was indicating that this value was in m^3 for all selections of the “Shear Wall Rigidity” Design Setting, however the value for the “Rigidity based on capacity” setting was in fact in kN-m^2. The program now indicates it is kN-m^2., lbs-ft^2, or kips-ft^2 for that setting, depending on what unit system is in use
• The value for the “Equal rigidity” (per unit length)” setting uses shear wall length to approximate rigidity, so the output is in m^3 or ft3.
• For the “Manual input” setting, the rigidity component is the shear wall length multiplied by the relative rigidity input in wall view, so no unit is used.
• If the value to be output exceeds 1,000,000, then it is expressed in scientific notation, with 4 decimal places shown. Otherwise, it is shown to one decimal place for metric output and none for imperial.

  Concentrated Load

Symbol F added.

Center of Load

Symbol Cl added

Torsional Eccentricity

For all torsional load cases (seismic [and all-heights wind]), a line has been added giving the torsional eccentricity et = Cl-Cr (center of load minus center of rigidity).

Torsions

• Torsions are now output on their own line, with symbol T and units (lbs-ft, kips-ft, or kN-m). They are no longer output in scientific notation.
• Separate equations have been added for each load case showing whether a torsional eccentricity due of Cl – Cr, an accidental eccentricity, or both, are used. If it is a non-torsional load case (low rise wind), torsions T = 0 are shown along with an explanation giving design code reference.

  Shear Line Forces

A section has been added giving the equations used for the torsional, direct, and total shear line forces shown in the shear line table below.

Shear Line Table

• In the heading, the torsional load cases used to read “+10 Dnx -10Dnx” These were missing a % sign, but the line has been reformatted and these symbols removed. It now shows torsional shear line forces as Fti-, Fti+, and the resultant Fti, with the definition of the Fti’s in terms of Dnx shown in the equations above. Note that the resultant Fti column has also been shifted in the table.
• A column has been added for the distance li from the Center of Rigidity Cr to the shear line, as that is needed in the calculations of shear line forces.
• The table headings have been reworded slightly and now include the symbol for each item
• The unit shown for Rigidity was previously always “m”, even though though for the “Rigidity based on capacity” Design Setting “Rigidity based on capacity” the value was in fact kN. Now the value shown is kN, lbs or kips for that design setting, m or ft for the “Equal rigidities” ( per unit length) setting, and no unit for the “Manual input” setting.

  Output in Absence of Wind or Seismic Loading (Change 15)

In the Rigid Diaphragm Analysis section of the Log File, some information for wind or for seismic analysis was being output even when there were no loads of that type on the structure. The title for that design type and the lines pertaining to rigidity and eccentricity were output, but not the shearline table below. This occurred only when the Shear walls rigidity setting selection is not “'Use shear walls capacity …”. The program now omits all wind analysis when there are no wind loads, and similarly for seismic loads.

Repetition of Rigid Diaphragm Log File Output (Bug 1878)

The rigid diaphragm section of the log file results were often repeated twice, one for each iteration of the design process. Only the final iteration is now output.

Installation

Windows Metafile Example (Bug 1966)

The windows metafile, 'example.wmf' that is referenced in the Shearwalls Tutorial of the User Guide has been restored to the installation. It had been removed unnecessarily along with some obsolete sample project files.