SELECTING SOFTWARE

FOR MASONRY DESIGN

THE RIGHT CHOICE CAN

National Concrete Masonry Association

IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND

MASONRYS AFFORDABILITY
By Maribeth Bradfield
n construction, as in virtually every industry,
computers have become ubiquitous. Where
masonry buildings were once designed using
empirical rules-of-thumb and drafting pens, the
process is now highly automated. Design software
for masonry allows rapid design and detailing, saving time and also providing more economical buildings, since alternative designs can be evaluated
quickly. Masonry structural elements can now be
optimized, resulting in a more refined and, hence,
less costly solution.
Structural design software, in particular, has
seen significant advances. Traditionally, these programs have focused on component designthe
independent analysis of a single structural element, such as a wall, beam, pilaster, or lintel.
While these programs continue to play an important role, in that they allow components to be
designed without performing a full building analysis, some newer software packages take a more
comprehensive approach.
Although masonry still lacks a completely integrated structural design program, such as those
available for steel and concrete, some programs go
beyond single components, allowing the analysis
and design of an entire structure. An example of this
systems-design approach is the National Concrete
Masonry Associations program Design of Commercial Masonry Buildings, which is used to design concrete masonry warehouse-type structures. Other
comprehensive structural packages integrate with
CAD systems to further streamline the design
process.
Looking forward, design software is moving
toward data integration among packages developed

NCMAs Pavior Plus helps with layout and visualization and

can be exported for incorporation into CAD drawings.

by each design discipline. The ultimate goal of this

effort is to allow communication and data sharing
among the diverse software used for project architecture, engineering, estimating, scheduling, and
even interior design. Providing this compatibility
among the various software packages will significantly reduce design and development time. In addition, inconsistencies, conflicting component locations, and errors in information transfer will be
reduced or eliminated, as will the time spent crosschecking results from different programs.
This compatibility is the goal of several groups,
including the International Alliance for Interoperability
(IAI) and Stanford Universitys Center for Integrated
Facility Engineering. In the meantime, some software
developers are forging direct links. For example,
ArchiCAD now includes links to the WinEst estimating program to provide a seamless transition from
design drawings to cost estimates.
Building visualization software is also developing
rapidly. Where once owners and designers relied
on a series of renderings and scale models to help
envision a completed project, CAD and visualization programs are now used to display a threedimensional image of the building, viewable from
any angle, at any hour of the daywith appropriate sunlight and shadows. Interior and exterior

materials, including different colors and textures,

can be quickly applied and revised, providing an
amazingly accurate likeness of the building, long
before ground is broken.
The following sections provide brief overviews
of the capabilities of various masonry design software packages. Where applicable, appropriate
building codes are referenced (see the box below
for more information on these codes). Prices listed

are retail, although some organizations offer discounted prices to members or qualifying design
professionals.

Structural design of buildings

Daystar Software Inc.

Component-design programs for masonry include

ARCH, CMD97, Masonry, MASONRY, Masonry LSD
95, and Masonry Wall Design. Comprehensive design
software includes Design of Commercial Masonry
Buildings and ETABS.
ARCH allows analysis of unreinforced brick masonry segmental, semicircular, and jack arches. The program runs on the
MS-DOS platform (Brick Industry Association, $25).
CMD97 is used to design
reinforced masonry (either
concrete or clay) beams, piers,
columns, shear walls, slender
walls, and wall frames in
accordance with either the
1994 or the 1997 UBC. Shear
walls can be nonsymmetrical,
and slender walls can have
fixed-free or fixed-pinned support conditions (Concrete
Masonry Association of California & Nevada, $175).
Masonry provides analysis
and design of reinforced concrete masonry walls, using any
of the U.S model building codes
(UBC, National, Standard, or
RetainWall is used to design traditional reinforced cantilevered retaining walls built
MSJC). The software uses wall
with masonry units.

MASONRY DESIGN CODES

he design criteria for
masonry varies with the
governing building code.
Before purchasing software,
ensure that the program is
applicable to the project
you intend to use it for.
Currently, most building codes in the United
States are based on one of
three model codes:
National Building Code,
Standard Building Code, or
Uniform Building Code. The
Building Code Requirements
for Masonry Structures (the
MSJC Code) is the most
widely used basis for
masonry design, and is
included by reference in

the National and Standard

Building Codes. The MSJC
has chapters for allowable
stress design and empirical design but does not
include strength design
provisions. The UBC does
not adopt the MSJC Code
by reference but rather
includes its own allowable
stress design and strength
design provisions for
masonry.
With the publication of
the International Building
Code (IBC) this year, the
MSJC Code is now referenced for all areas of the
United States. The IBC references the MSJC Code for

ASD and includes its own

strength design provisions
based on the UBC and the
National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Programs
documents.
The codes referenced in
this article are:
1. MSJC: Building Code
Requirements for Masonry
Structures, ACI 530/ASCE
5/TMS 402. Developed by
the Masonry Standards
Joint Committee (call 303939-9700).
2. CSA S 304.1: Masonry
Design for Buildings (Limit
States Design), CSA S 304.1,
published by the Canadian
Standards Association.

3. UBC: Uniform Building

Code, published by the
International Conference
of Building Officials (call
562-699-0541).
4. National Building Code,
published by Building Officials and Code Administrators International Inc. (call
708-799-2300).
5. Standard Building
Code, published by the
Southern Building Code
Congress, International
Inc. (call 205-591-1853).
6. ACI 318: Building
Code Requirements for
Structural Concrete, American Concrete Institute
(call 248-848-3700).

geometry and load inputs to determine shear, axial,

moment, and combined stresses, as well as required
reinforcement. Input and output can be either graphical or numerical (Daystar Software, $295).
MASONRY currently has modules for lintel and
single-wythe wall design. Modules for beams and
pilasters are under development. In addition, NCMA
is updating their SHWALL and SLWALL programs for
inclusion in MASONRY (SHWALL and SLWALL analyze shear and slender walls, respectively, using a
strength design approach). The lintel module
designs concrete masonry or precast concrete lintels using allowable stress design (ASD) or strength
design. Calculations are based on the 1995 MSJC for
ASD, the 1994 UBC for strength design, and the 1995
ACI 318 for precast lintels. The single-wythe wall
design module determines a preliminary wall section for reinforced or unreinforced concrete masonry walls subject to out-of-plane bending and axial
loads and can generate interaction diagrams to visually compare wall capacity with design loads. Walls
are designed in accordance with the ASD method of
the 1999 MSJC Code (National Concrete Masonry
Association, $150).
Masonry LSD 95 has modules for designing elements with concrete or clay masonry, including
beams, loadbearing walls, columns, shear walls,
pilasters, and slender walls. Calculations are based
on CSA S 304.1 (Canadian Masonry Contractors
Association, $195).
Masonry Wall Design is applicable to reinforced
and unreinforced concrete or clay masonry walls,
using either ASD or strength design. Cantilevered
walls can be analyzed, as well as those supported
at top and bottom. The program produces interaction diagrams for combined axial load and bending. Design is based on the 1995 MSJC Code for
ASD, and the UBC for strength design (Eagle Point
Software, $395).
Design of Commercial Masonry Buildings takes a
comprehensive approach to the structural design of
warehouse-type buildings, including consideration
of openings, pilasters, and control joints in all four
walls. The current version is DOS-based, and can be
used to design in accordance with the 1992 MSJC
Code. An updated Windows-based version, allowing
design by either the 1995 or 1999 MSJC Code, is currently under development (National Concrete
Masonry Association, $300).
ETABS offers both static and dynamic analysis of
multistory buildings. The software can interactively
analyze and determine wall forces and moments for
any combination of three-dimensional frame (steel
or concrete) and concrete masonry shear wall system. Output also includes a variety of graphical
results in-cluding force diagrams and de-flected

shapes. Masonry analyses are based on strength

design provisions of the 1994 UBC (Computers &
Structures, Inc., $3,000).

Building visualization
Visualization software allows the owner and
designer to see the completed building, down to
the masonry bond pattern. These programs are
either generic, in that various masonry products
are applied to pre-existing model buildings within
the program (as for BoralVision and Masonry
Designer), or are integrated into a fully functioning
CAD program (as for ArchiCAD, SoftPlan, and 3-D
Studio Viz).
BoralVision allows the user to apply Boral Bricks
brick colors and patterns to various residential and
commercial exteriors. By submitting a blueprint,
photo, or artists rendering, Boral Bricks will create
a custom interactive file for a nominal fee (Boral
Bricks, free).
ArchiCAD 6.5 is a fully functioning CAD program,
which also includes visualization modules for stone,
brick, and concrete block. Graphisoft recently
announced an alliance partnership with the Cultured
Stone Corporation, which incorporates Cultured
Stones brick and stone textures, shapes, and colors into ArchiCAD (Graphisoft US, $4,295).
Virtual Mason and Masonry Designer are programs that allow designers to see very accurate
color choices of brick, block, and glazed CMUs
from a number of different manufacturers, which
can append their colors, shapes, and textures to
the software. Masonry Designer will apply the
designers choices to a CAD rendering of a building
to give a clear picture of how the building will actually look (Accurate Image Marketing, free).
SoftPlan is a CAD design and architectural visualization software for residential and light-commercial buildings. Concrete masonry, brick, and stone
exteriors are included in the package (SoftPlan Systems, Inc., $2,785).
3-D Studio VIZ R3 offers 3-D CAD modeling and
visualization plus interoperability with AutoCADbased applications. The program includes an asset
browser, that allows the user to drag and drop
images from a manufacturers web site directly
onto the project drawings (Authorized AutoDesk
dealers, $1,995).

Retaining and foundation walls

Masonry retaining walls are either constructed of
traditional mortared masonry or are dry-stacked.
Design software is available for mortared concrete
masonry cantilevered retaining walls and for segmental retaining walls (SRWs).
SRWs are constructed using modular dry-stacked

CONTACTING SOFTWARE VENDORS

Accurate Image
Marketing, Bloomington,
Minn. (800-536-4583; fax
612.884.0664).
Allan Block Corp.,
Edina, Minn. (800-899-5309;
fax 612.835.0013),
www.allanblock.com.
Anchor Wall, Minnetonka,
Minn. (800-473-4452; fax
612.938.4114), www.anchorwall.com.
AutoDesk, San Rafael,
Calif. (800-538-6401; fax
415.507.4938), www.autodesk.
com.
Boral Brick, Roswell, Ga.

(800-288-6831; fax 770.

645.2888)
www.boralbricks.com.
Brick Industry Association,
Reston, Va. (703-620-0010; fax
703.620.3928), www.bia.org.
Canadian Masonry
Contractors Association,
Mississauga, Ontario (905-5646622; fax 905.564.5744).
Computers & Structures,
Inc., Berkeley, Calif. (510-8452177; fax 510.845.4096),
www.csi berkeley.com.
Concrete Masonry Association of California & Nevada,
Citrus Heights, Calif. (916-722-

concrete blocks, and often

include soil reinforcement.
Because a variety of SRW units
are available, each with a different size and shape, design
criteria were, until recently,
proprietary to each product.
Although several SRW licensors
distribute design software specific for their product (see
below), a generic design software package is now available.
SRWALL provides a standardized design approach for either
conventional (relies only on gravity) or soil-reinforced SRWs.
Using as input the properties and
loads for soil, SRW units, and
geosynthetic soil reinforcement
(if used), the program returns
external, internal, and facing-stability safety factors; reinforcement type, length, and elevation;
and intermediate calculations.
For input on specific SRW unit
dimensions, weight, and shear
capacity, many SRW licensors
supply data files for their products, which can be read directly
into SRWALL (National Concrete
Masonry Association, $190).
Product-specific SRW design
software is available from Allan
Block (ABWalls), Anchor Wall
(Anchorwall v2.5), Pacific Precast Products (Omega), Risi
Stone (RISIWALL 4.0), and Tensar Earth Technologies

1700; fax 916.722.1819),

www.cmacn.org.
Daystar Software, Inc.,
Kansas City, Mo. (816-7414310; fax 816.741.4607),
www.daystarsoftware.com.
Eagle Point Software,
Dubuque, IA, 800-678-6565,
fax 319-556-5321, www.eaglepoint.com.
Graphisoft US, San Francisco, Calif. (800-344-3468; fax
415.703.9770), www.graphisoft
com.
National Concrete Masonry
Association, Herndon, Va. (703713-1900, fax 703.713.1910),

(MesaPro), typically at no
charge.
Software for designing
mortared CMU cantilevered
retaining walls includes QuikWall
(Eagle Point Software, $295) and
RetainWall (Daystar Software,
$295). Both can be used for either
reinforced concrete masonry or
poured concrete walls, In addition, both MASONRY and Masonry Wall Design, described under
Structural Design of Buildings
can be used to analyze cantilevered CMU retaining walls.

www.ncma.org.
Pacific Precast Products
Ltd., Coquitlam, British
Columbia (604-939-7999; fax
604.939.4147).
Risi Stone, Thornhill,
Ontario (905-882-5898; fax
905.882.4556).
SoftPlan Systems, Inc.,
Brentwood, Tenn. (800-2480164), www.softplan.com.
Tensar Earth Technologies, Inc., Atlanta, Ga. (800836-7271; fax 404.250.9185),
www.tensacorp.com.

Concrete Masonry Association,

$150).
SpectraPave assists in the
analysis of reinforced and unreinforced flexible pavements and
design of the subbase course
thickness and pavement system.
Designs are applicable to roadways, parking lots, spread footings, ports, and container yards
(Tensar Earth Technologies,
free).
Maribeth Bradfield, P.E., is a consulting
engineer based in Arlington, Va.

Pavers
Interlocking concrete pavement design software determines
the required sub-base thickness
and design details for various
pavement applications.
Pavior Plus can be used to
design structural pavement
bases, produce layout drawings,
and visualize finished patterns.
Although applicable to roadway
design, it is intended for lighter
pavements, such as local streets,
parking lots, and pedestrian
areas. (It cannot be used to
design port loading areas or airport pavements.) The resulting
design information is incorporated into a CAD-importable detail.
The software also includes standard CAD details for interlocking
concrete pavements (National

Publication #M00C035
Copyright 2000, The Aberdeen Group
a division of Hanley-Wood, Inc.
All rights reserved