Welcome to Shearwalls

WoodWorks® Shearwalls is a software application intended for structural engineers performing lateral wind and seismic design of wood structures that are six or fewer stories in height.

Shearwalls' interactive graphical interface allows you to quickly specify building blocks, walls, openings, roofs, hold-down connectors, loads, and forces.

Shearwalls has automatic routines for

• exterior and upper story wall creation,
• joining of building blocks
• shear line generation
• floor area and building mass calculations
• roof layout
• wind and seismic load generation
• rigid and flexible diaphragm load distribution to shear lines
• distribution of forces within a shear line to wall segments
• deflection analysis and story drift
• equalization of deflections on a shear line
• hold-down and compression forces at segment ends
• hold-down design and design for compression forces
• shear wall design
• determining worst-case wind/seismic and worst-case rigid/flexible diaphragm designs
• grouping of walls with the same design
• drag strut force calculations
• force transfer around openings and force-transfer pier and strap forces

Shearwalls presents its design results in a sequence of organized and easy-to-read tables, and as shear wall diagrams in Elevation view.

Please refer to the resources described in Help Documentation for operating instructions and program capabilities and limitations. Other resources are described in Technical Support and Training.

Shearwalls Versions and Design Codes and Standards

Shearwalls Version 13.1 conforms to the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) and the 2018 National Design Specification (NDS). It incorporates the ASCE 7-16 load generation and seismic design procedures, and the AWC Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic (SDPWS 2021) shear wall design provisions.

Shearwalls 12.3 and Shearwalls 11.2 are also available for those users in jurisdictions that have not yet adopted IBC 2021 or who wish to check designs made with the older design codes and standards. Shearwalls 2019 conforms to IBC 2018, NDS 2018, SDPWS 2015, and ASCE 7-16. Shearwalls 11.2 conforms to IBC 2015, NDS 2015, SDPWS 2015, and ASCE 7-10.

This On-line Help has been fully updated to incorporate the changes for SPDWS 2021 implemented in Version 13 and further program improvements with Version 13.1. Unless otherwise noted, the references in this Help are to NDS 2018, ASCE 7-16 and SDPWS 2021.

WoodWorks should not be used or relied upon for any general or specific application without competent professional examination and verification of its accuracy, suitability and applicability by a licensed professional engineer, designer, or architect.

Every effort has been made to ensure the information and procedures in the program are as complete and as accurate as possible. The Canadian Wood Council, the American Wood Council, and Acronym Software Inc., do not, however, assume any responsibility for errors or omissions in the software nor for engineering designs or plans prepared from it.