Tutorial 8 Masonry Wall

Project Description:
In this example a masonry shear wall will be analyzed for lateral loading due to diaphragm action. The wall will be modeled by a mesh of plate elements. FEATURES: Generate Standard Rectangular Mesh Load Case Combo. Results Report

Setting Up the Project:

When you start up VA, you are presented with the VisualAnalysis Startup Wizard. The wizard presents you with a number of options. We want to start fresh with a new project, so choose the Start a New project radio button and click Finish.

VisualAnalysis Startup Wizard

VisualAnalysis Tutorial 8: Masonry Wall

Tutorial Examples 1

After finishing the startup wizard, you are brought to the Structure Type dialog. Choose Plane Frame from the list of available structure types and click Next. You are brought to the Structure Title Information dialog. Enter Masonry Wall for the title. Choose U.S. ft-lb from the Units drop down box and click Next to move on to the next dialog. In the Automatic Generation dialog choose the No, Id prefer to create my model from scratch radio button and click Finish. An empty 2D frame model is created for you.

Modeling the Structure:

Select Model | Generate Standard and from the dialog select Quadrilateral mesh under the Plates heading.

Specify the mesh type as Rectangular and click Next. Enter a length, L, of 50 ft and a width, W, of 20ft. The origin can remain at the default of (0,0). Click Next and you will be prompted for the number of elements in each direction. Enter 25 elements along the length and 10 elements along the width. Lastly, make the wall 8 in thick and specify the material as 3000 psi concrete. Note: You could add a masonry material to the database. Materials are added by choosing the <Add New> option from the Source drop down under Material in the Modilfy tab of the Project Manager when a member or plate element is selected.

Editing the Generated Model:

The mesh we generated must now be edited to model the windows and door. Simply delete the plate elements and nodes where the openings are to be placed. Support the wall by making all of the bottom nodes pins. Note: If you are modeling a shear wall with plate elements, and openings are of different geometries than what is easily adjusted for with square plate elements, you can adjust plate sizes by simply selecting and moving a node to grid points with your cursor. This will also change the shape of the plate.

2 Tutorial Examples

VisualAnalysis Tutorial 8: Masonry Wall

Loading the Structure:

If they were not created automatically, create a Wind +X loads service case as well as a Dead loads service case and include the structure self-weight in the Dead loads case. Create an equation case combining the service cases as 1.2D + 1.6W. The location of the diaphragm is at the bottom of the parapet wall. The total diaphragm load is 24,700 lbs, therefore, apply a 950 lb nodal load at each node that is on the level of the diaphragm in the Wind +X loads service case.

Analysis and Results:

Now that we have our model created and loaded, we should check it for errors before setting the analysis options and actually analyzing. Select Analyze | Check Model for Errors to make sure there are no problems. With a good model, we should set our analysis options. Go to Analyze | Analysis Options and make sure the Calculate dynamic mode shapes option is unchecked. Change the Static Analysis setting to Perform 1st order analysis only if it isnt already set this way. Now select Analyze | Analyze Now or click the lightning bolt button on the toolbar. Try messing around with which results type is plotted using the Results drop-down box under plates in the Filter tab of the Project Manager in the result view.

Tau-XY for equation case 1.2D+1.6W.

Notice that both overturning and shear can be checked using this model. Additional vertical loads could be added to account for joists connecting into the wall. Try splitting each plate into four smaller plates. Notice the increased accuracy of the model.

VisualAnalysis Tutorial 8: Masonry Wall

Tutorial Examples 3

Note: When the mesh is refined, you should edit the nodal loads applying 484.3 lb per node at the 16 ft level. You should also make sure all of the nodes at the base are pinned. This will give more accurate results.

We would like to determine the total shear force through the section A-A shown.

Select the plates that go through this section then create a report of Plate Local Stresses.

4 Tutorial Examples

VisualAnalysis Tutorial 8: Masonry Wall

Using the following equation you can determine the shear force in a plate element and then sum these forces. This will give the total shear through the section in question. For this example we will use the stresses at the plate's centroid location.

V = xy * A
where

V = Shear Force

xy = Shear stress (From VA output above)

A = Cross-sectional plate area
= (plate width)*(wall thickness) = 12 in * 8 in = 96 in2 Plate # P96.1.2 P96.2.2 P106.1.2 P106.2.2

xy

(psi)

A (in2) 96 96 96 96

V (lb) 3859.20 2829.12 2332.80 1915.20 Vtotal = 10,936.32 lbs

40.20 29.47 24.30 19.95

VisualAnalysis Tutorial 8: Masonry Wall

Tutorial Examples 5