Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

This example will take you systematically through the creation of a tilt-up wall. This example will be
more effective if you practice the illustrated skills as they are presented.
The structure to be entered is an example 1 of a single-floor tilt-up wall with openings subject to a
seismic pressure load perpendicular to the wall (out-of-plane load) and an axial dead load (in-plane
load) over the fist level with an eccentricity. See illustration below:

Example of a tilt-up wall with openings

Starting a new structure

Select the New option in the RE button to create a new footing.

If an opened model exists, the module will ask you if you wish to save your previous model.
Once the new file is open, proceed to the entering of data in the left window, following the order that
is shown below.

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IBC 2000, Structural Seismic Design Manual, Design Example 6 – Tilt-Up Building with Openings.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Entering units
Select the option Units system. This action will display the following drop down menu.

Select the English units system

Entering analysis method

This example will be analyzed by two methods: Simplified and FEM. As the first method, we will use
the Simplified.

Select the Analysis method option and choose the Simplified method.

Entering geometry data

Then go to the option Geometry. This and the other files will drop-drown for user’s comfort.

Enter wall dimensions as shown in the figure above.

In this case, the tilt-up wall height will be 28 ft, the parapet will have 4 ft of height and wall width
will be 25 ft. As you will see, the entered data are generated immediately in the illustration.
Next, enter the wall thickness.

Enter the Thickness value. The example will not consider a bottom of panel, so enter zero.
Note - All values you have entered will correspond to the default units. If you want to enter data in
other units of the same system, type the value followed by the unit you want to use and press Enter,
as shown below.

Click in the cell to highlight the value.

Types the values followed by its unit and press Enter.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

To assign the restraints at the base of the wall, select the Fixity at foundation level option and choose
pinned or fixed according the wall restraints.

Select the Fixity at foundation level option and choose Pinned. The restraints at the base can be
defined as Fixed or Pinned for the simplified analysis.
The Level restraints can be defined as Pinned or none considering the combination of the degrees of
freedom of the levels and the restraints at the base, select the Pinned option.
Then, select the Materials/Material option. At this time you will have available a menu with all kind
of ready to use materials, for this case only reinforced concrete, so use RC/C 3-60.

Select the Materials/Material option and choose the RC/C 3-60, finally press OK.
The next step is to enter the Openings; select this option and you will find a spreadsheet to enter the
required data to define one or several openings in the wall at the same time. Double click in the cell
called Level reference corner and select the option Lower left; then assign to cell X offset a value of
3 ft, 0 ft for Y offset, 12 ft for Width and 14 ft for Height.

Double click in the option Openings and enter the values shown in the figure above.
The second opening could be entered in the same way in the next row of the spreadsheet, but there is
another tool that can be used to create openings. Here we will show you a practical tool to enter
openings at any position.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Press the Assign equal openings to several levels button to assign equal openings to particular
levels
Note - Remember that you can edit the cells of the spreadsheet any time that you want or undo the
changes

(In order to undo an action, right click in the spreadsheet and select the Undo command from
the menu displayed).
Immediately, you will see a dialog window. Enter all data shown in the figure. For this example,
choosing YES or NO in the option All levels with equal openings will give you the same result,
because the example has only one level.

Edit the values by default in the dialog and press OK.

Note - If you select NO in the option All levels with equal openings, you should choose the levels in
which you want to assign openings with the same position and dimensions.

Review the opening data and press OK to close the opening spreadsheet.

Entering loads
The module presents different kinds of loads that may be applied to the wall, such as:
Vertical loads
Self weight

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Concentrated
Distributed
Lateral in-plane loads
Concentrated
Distributed
Seismic weight
Lateral out-of-plane loads
Pressure load
Seismic weight
Global forces
Coordinates
Magnitudes
In this example, a vertical distributed load equal to 0.69 kip/ft with an eccentricity of 8.25 in will be
applied, and a out out-of-plane seismic weight equivalent to 0.4 the wall weight.
Select Loads/Vertical loads/Distributed; press the drop-down menu to see a spreadsheet where you
can introduce loads typing the values or through a dialog window by pressing the button as
follows:

Select the Loads/Vertical loads/Distributed option and press the Assign distributed loads option .

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Select the option Eccentric and choose YES to define a load with eccentricity and enter the values
shown in the figure. Finally press OK.
Note - If you select the option NO for All levels with equal loads, you should choose the levels in
which you want to assign loads with the same magnitude and eccentricity. In this case, selecting YES
or NO will give the same results, because there is only one defined level.

Review the load data generated and press OK.

Immediately you will see the entered load graphically

Additionally, self weight will be considered for the analysis.

Select the Loads/Vertical loads/Self weight, choose the load case and press OK.
Next, the seismic load case will be created. In order to define the new load conditions go to the Load

management group in the Home tab and press the Add and edit load conditions command .
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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

The following dialog window is displayed:

Enter the new load condition and its category and press OK.
Next, select the option Loads/Lateral loads out of plane/Seismic weight enter 0.4 and assign the
EQop seismic load condition.

Select the Loads/Lateral out-of-plane loads/Seismic weight, assign the seismic load condition and
enter the coefficient value: 0.4.
Concentrated loads can be entered through a dialog by pressing the Assign concentrated loads button
of its corresponding spreadsheet.
The distance to which these loads are located can be assigned as a magnitude, or in percentage of the
total wall length, according to user’s requirements.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Dialog window to enter concentrated loads.

Generating load combinations

The program provides the different load combinations for each code, accounting for both service and
strength combinations. The user will be able to generate these combinations automatically or define
them manually.
In the example, we will introduce manually one service and one design combination, such as:
Service load combination: DL+EQop
Strength design load combination: 1.4DL+EQop

Press Add and edit load condition command in the Load conditions group on the Home tab, and
enter the following data in the displayed dialog box:

Edit the existing service load combination by default and press OK.
In the same way, repeat the procedure and enter the design combination.

Edit the existing design load combination and press OK.

To automatically generate load combinations, follow the following steps:
1.- Press the Generate load combinations command in the Load management group on the Home
tab. The dialog to generate the load combinations will appear.

2.- Select the file for the generation, as it is shown in the following figure.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Select the load combination for the appropriate code, in this case ASCE 7-05 service load
combos.rag. Finally press Generate.
Note – Old files that generate load combinations (files with .tug extension) can be retrieved.
Immediately, the user will have the load combinations according to the code, in this case ASCE 7-05.
In the dialog box that is displayed press OK.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Keep the combos checked and press OK.

A message with the number of generated load combinations will appear. Press OK.
All generated load combinations will be visible at the top of the spreadsheet.
Do the same procedure for the factored load combinations. Therefore use the ASCE 7-05 factored
load combos.rag to generate the factored load combinations.

Entering design data

The Tilt Up module only designs according to ACI 318-05 standards.
In the design data, the elements to be designed should be introduced first. For this example the
elements will be designed as tilt up walls and shear walls.

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Select Design data/Elements to design, check the Tilt-up walls and Shear walls options and press
OK.
Next, select the number of reinforcement layers. For this example two layers will be utilized.

Select the Design data/Reinforcement layers option and choose two layers of reinforcement.

Select the Design data/Design criterion by option and choose the bar size as the design criterion.

Select the bar sizes which you want to be used in the design. Check the bar size #5.
Note - The user could select one or more bar sizes to be considering in the design. It will test one by
one in an ascendant order until obtain an optimum result.

Keep the Additional opening reinforcement values by default.

All data and values entered until this moment including Configuration values, will be saved with the
model.

Entering Configuration values

After entering all general data, the user should verify if all values by default of the Configuration
dialog are correct for the model and the design requirements.

Press the Advanced command located in the Options group on the Home tab to display the
Advanced options dialog.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

The example will consider the influence of reveals in the wall design. Thus:

Check the Consider reveals option and enter 0.75 in for the Reveal size. Leave the other settings in
the General folder as the defaults and press OK.
Sometimes, it is necessary to consider the effect of the opening as pressure at the sides of themselves.
In the reference example, this effect is not considered.

Option to distribute pressure load to openings sides.

During the configuration is also possible to select the inertia to calculate the design moment. In the
reference example the cracked inertia was considered.

Select the cracked inertia to calculate the design moment.

To have a better idea of the values of spacing between bars that will be obtained from the design,
change the value of Round bar spacing to 0.5 in.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Enter 0.5 in for the Round bar spacing to option and press OK.
Note - If you want that these values stay as values by default, check the Set these values as default
option.

Seeing results graphically

Once you have finished entering the data, you are ready to see the analysis and design results.
It is recommended that the user compare the results with the example: “Example 7 TU Simplified
method.TUP” that comes with the program. After analyzing the wall, check the data input that was
previously explained. If there are differences in the results, please verify the input data with the
example.
To see the strength diagrams, in the case of Simplified Method:

In order to see the stress diagrams, select the Diagrams tab.

Immediately the user will see in the screen bending and axial diagrams for the current load condition.
If you want to see the results for another load condition:

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Select the Condition command in the Load Conditions group on the Diagrams tab and choose the
load combination of which you want the see the results.
These diagrams can be exported to a CAD program pressing the RE button and selecting the Export

to DXF option. . Then open the file from a CAD program and you will obtain the saved
diagrams.
Also the user has the ability to select the strip from which he wants to see the results. In this case:

Select the strip number that you want to verify. For this example select the strip number 3
Besides you could select the diagrams you want to be displayed in the screen by clicking in the
names of the diagrams (red font) at the upper top part of the screen:

Select some of the stress diagram that you want to verify.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Out-of-
plane shears forces and out-of-plane moments forces in the strip number 3.

Detailing the wall

Once the analysis and design of the wall have been run, the design can be reviewed in the detailing
screen.

Select the Detailing tab.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

This tab displays a spreadsheet with all reinforcement data of the design. The user can edit, change
or delete the reinforcement in any strip according to his requirements. After modifying the

reinforcement, check the design with the Check command in the Quick access toolbar.

The traffic light in the status bar can be used to check the results of design.
This spreadsheet has three tabs: Vertical Horizontal and Additional Reinforcement. The commands
in the Generate reinforcement group allow introduce the reinforcement manually
Currently in strip number 3, the content of the Quantity cell is 4 bars #5 for strip number 3. In order
to verify the result the reinforcement of this strip will be changed from 4 to 5 bars. To do this, select
the row in the spreadsheet with the reinforcement data of the strip number 3.
Note - During the design, the program performs an optimization of reinforcement, given as a result
the minimum steel area to satisfy the requirements of each strip according to the design parameters
introduced in the data screen by the user.

Click on Group 2 to select all content of the row and press Del to delete the data.

Next, press the Generate continuous vertical reinforcement button to enter to a dialog window
and insert a continuous reinforcement for this strip.

Drop-down the menu of the Strip option and press the Unselect all button to deselect all strips.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Select the strip number 3 and press OK.

Select bar #5 from the Bar option.

Drop-down the menu of the Bar data entry option and select By quantity.

Select Quantity, enter 5 and press OK.

As the user can see this tool allows enter continuous reinforcement for one or several strips at once
without worrying of the bar lengths.

Note - If the user wants to enter discontinuous reinforcement (vertical bars), (horizontal
bars), it will be necessary to enter additional data, such as: distances: 1 and 2 for new bars, measured
from a level or axis.
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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Review the new bar generated.

Each time any reinforcement data in the spreadsheet has changed, the traffic light will be disabled.

So, to obtain results that incorporate the changes, press the Check command in the Quick
access toolbar to verify if these changes fulfill all strength requirements and code limitations.
Note - If the user wants to return to the initial results of automatic design, press the Optimize

command in the Quick access toolbar or in the Process group on the Home tab.
Another way to change the reinforcement of strip number 3 is editing its cell of Quantity.

Double click on the cell Quantity, change the value to 5 and press Enter.

Finally, press the Check command in the Quick access toolbar to verify if these changes fulfill
all strength requirements and code limitations.

Seeing the report

The whole data and result sets can be seen in the report:

Press the Report command in the Process group on the Home tab.
In the report you can see 3 parts:
General information as: global status, geometry, materials, number of levels, openings, load
conditions and loads.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

General information
Data and results of the tilt up walls design per segment such as: status, analyzed segment division,
geometry of the segments, vertical reinforcement, vertical strengths, combined axial bending,
interaction diagrams P vs M for the critical segments, axial compression, axial tension, shear and
deflection.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Segments to be designed as tilt up walls.

Data and results of the shear walls design per segment such as: status, analyzed segment division,
geometry of the segments, reinforcement, combined axial bending, interaction diagrams P vs M for
the critical segments, axial compression, axial tension, and shear.

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Segments to be designed as shear walls.

Results of stability such as: status, global stability, computing of destabilizing and resisting forces
and check of overturning.

Results of stability

The user can print the report by pressing the Print command in the Print group in the report
window.

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Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

Design: Status “OK” and “N.G.”

The report presents a general status for the wall. There are two possible options:
“OK” when all strips fulfill all bending moment and shear code verifications.

“N.G.” when one or more strips fail one or more code verifications.

Each strip has also a status that will display warnings in the case of errors in the design.

Analyzing with FEM

The same example will be analyzed using FEM (Finite Element Method) to compare results of
analyzing and design to the Simplified method.

Drop-down the menu of the option Analysis method and select FEM.
Do the same procedure explained previously, but change Pinned to Compression only springs in the
option Fixity at foundation level. This is a more accurate option to simulate the conditions at the base
of the wall.

Select Compression only springs for the fixity at foundation level option.
If you have done the new example over the first one, the reinforcement will remain saved unless you
have modified some data of geometry or material, and you have deleted the current reinforcement, so

you should perform an optimum design by pressing the Optimize command , located in the
Process group on the Home tab and in the Quick access toolbar, to do an automatic design and obtain
a new reinforcement; otherwise the program will only verify the current reinforcement.
Note .-

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 Example 7: Tilt-Up Wall

The user should take in mind the use of Compression only springs will assume in the analysis an
iterative non-linear method, which in some cases will not converge. In this case the use will be
obligated to modify Bottom panel or reduce the load magnitude of the load condition which not
converges.
Reinforcement obtained with the Simplified analysis method is a little bit different of the obtained
with FEM, as it is shown below:

Rebar obtained by FEM.

These variations essentially are due to the distribution of internal stresses in the wall. During the
simplified analysis the determination of the moments is done in strips in which the weight of the wall
is distributed and concentrated stresses are obtained. During the FEM method, a more homogeneous
distribution of the stresses is obtained that causes these differences at the time of detailing.

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