|
|
|
|
|
Standard wood shear walls are designed using Chapter 11 of CSA O86. Each wall segment between openings or between an opening and the end of the wall is considered a separate shear wall, and where an O86 provision refers to a "shear wall", unless openings are mentioned, it is applied to the wall segment. Segments that are too narrow to resist shear force according to O86 11.4.1.2 are not included.
When designing for unknown materials, the program uses the critical segment on the wall in terms of force on the segment versus segment capacity. The materials are then applied to all segments on the wall.
The factored resistances of wood structural panels or gypsum wallboard applied to opposite sides of the wall are added, as per 11.4.3.2.
Shearwalls compares the resistance of each shear wall to the force on that wall distributed. This ensures that the program complies with 11.4.2.1 regarding dissimilar materials along the shearline, although it is conservative with respect to the approach of summing the capacities of walls along a line and comparing it to the total shear wall force as implied by 11.4.2.1. However, the O86 approach is predicated on the assumption of distribution of forces along the line to be based on shear wall capacity, but Shearwalls also allows force distribution based on deflection, for which it is not valid. Refer to Shear Force Distribution Methods and Design Force in Walls and Segments for more details.