Shear walls are walls specifically designed to resist lateral loads, transferring the load from the wall above to the wall below and, ultimately, out through the foundation. This is a critical role in ...

Diaphragms vary considerably in load-carrying capacity, depending on whether they are “blocked” or “unblocked.” Blocking consists of lightweight framing, usually 2x4s, spanning between the joists or ...

However, for the purpose of this preliminary calculation, it is assumed that the damaged elements have lost 100% of their lateral load-resisting capacity to obtain a conservative estimate of the ...