Designing a Gravity Wall

1.Assuming you’re not using Wall Wizard, click the Insert button.

2.In the Choose Add Method dialog click Gravity Wall.

3.The screen will automatically display the Calc Info tab. Here, you must select the desired Building Code and Unit system, and you may enter data in the Wall Specific Information fields if desired (Job Title, Job Number, etc.) The Wall Specific Information is used to populate the title block when printing.

4.The General tab collects information about the wall geometry and the soil.

5.The Loads tab collects information about the vertical and lateral loads acting on the wall. (Be sure to use both the Loads and the Seismic sub-tabs when appropriate.)

6.The Stem tab collects geometry and reinforcing information pertinent to the stem. Enter wall weight (usually masonry rubble, about 145 pcf), then the dimensions defining the front batter distance, the top thickness and the back batter distance. You then design the stem starting at the bottom, where the moments and shears are highest. By default, the starting “Design Height” is zero. Note that the “Design Height” is the height above the footing where you want to check the design. You can check the wall at two heights above the base. At each height you select, the program will automatically compute the thickness for stress determinations, and compute the section modulus at that height.

7.The Footing tab is used to define the footing (including the key if one is used), to specify the associated reinforcing, and to make some design decisions regarding how the program will handle the calculations for sliding checks.

8.At any time during the process of entering the wall design data you can view the right screen tabs to see a Results summary, and a tabulation of Resisting and Overturning Moments, and Tilt calculation.

9.Once sufficient geometry and loading data have been entered, the Construction tab will display a schematic drawing, and the Wall Loading tab will display color-coded loading diagrams. The Diagrams tab displays diagrams of the applied and resisting shears and moments in the stem.

10.When you’re done, click Save to save your Project File with the latest design.