Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

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Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada Posts: 836 Good Answers: 38

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Re: shear wall 05/11/2008 9:28 AM

1. Shear walls may be used in single storey buildings or high rises. Shear walls are intended to resist lateral forces such as wind. Other methods include rigid frames, braced frames and shear walls combined with rigid frames.
2. There is no exact location for a shear wall, but some arrangements are better than others. It is desirable but not always possible to have shear walls on the exterior walls because they offer good torsional resistance for the building as a whole. Usually the architectural requirements will have a bearing on the location of shear walls. A wall which is largely windows is not a good candidate for a shear wall.
   
3. Shear walls are connected to horizontal diaphragms such as floors and roof. How to connect depends on the type of shear wall, i.e. wood stud with drywall or plywood, reinforced concrete, concrete block or steel plate. The connections must be adequate to resist shear forces resulting from applied lateral loads.

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