What's new at ClearCalcs? (August 2023)

This month, we are introducing the release of Restrained (Basement) Retaining Wall, an update to the Wood Shear Wall Calculator that includes support for multi-story buildings and more.

Let's dive right into it.

Table of Contents:

• Restrained (Basement) Retaining Wall now available to IBC 2021, ACI 318-19
• Multi-Story Shear Wall enabled in Wood Shear Wall Calculator to AWC SDPWS 2021 and NDS 2018
• Sloped beams automatically considered in timber beam design to Australian Standard AS 1720.1:2010

Retaining Wall

Restrained (Basement) Retaining Wall now available to IBC 2021, ACI 318-19

Meet our latest calculator: Restrained Basement Retaining Wall Calculator.

The calculator quickly analyzes and calculates designs for restrained retaining walls, which are typically used as basement walls.

Built to comply with the International Building Code (IBC) 2021, the calculator assumes the absence of shear keys, no inclination of soil behind the structure, and excludes wind or earthquake loads.

With an easy-to-use interface for you to input the retaining wall, soil, and stem wall properties, you will instantly obtain the sliding and lateral forces, moment, and shear capacity of your restrained retaining wall's stem and footing in minutes.

Watch the calculator in action.

The calculator also checks for negative moments in the stem wall, making it really simple to help you select the appropriate reinforcement placement for your basement retaining wall.

This is the Beta version of the Restrained Retaining Wall Calculator. We will continue to receive feedback for improvements, and the calculator will undergo external verification by a third-party engineering firm before being fully launched.

Available on: The Beta version is currently available for all users to test and share feedback. The calculator will be offered as part of the Pro plan at launch.

Wood Shear Wall

Multi-Story Shear Wall enabled in Wood Shear Wall Calculator to AWC SDPWS 2021 and NDS 2018

By popular demand, we've now enabled the design of multi-story shear walls with the Wood Shear Wall calculator.

You'll see that the location of the opening is set as identical on each floor by default. This indicates the panel ratio, which informs you whether the shear wall panel is engaged to distribute the loads and, therefore, whether you need chords designed for the shear wall.

Watch the calculator in action.

This new feature allows you to apply seismic or wind loads to each story separately. The calculator will either combine the same type of load or apply them individually. This also includes dynamically linking your multi-story shear walls to multiple diaphragm analyses for end-to-end shear wall design.

Available on: Wood Shear Wall Calculator is available for the Pro plan and above.

Timber Beam

Sloped beams automatically considered in timber beam design to Australian Standard AS 1720.1:2010

If you're designing timber beams in Australia, the presets for rafter and hip/valley (roof beams) now automatically consider the beam pitch when calculating the member length and forces.

Watch the calculator in action.

You'll see an option to select whether you need a simple slope for your rafter or two different slopes for your hip/valley design.

After that, you only need to input the horizontal length of the beam and the roof pitch to calculate your total length and forces. In the case of hip/valley, this means you can input two different incline angles based on your design.

The calculator will then automatically calculate the loads and analyze the axial forces based on the beam incline. For hip/valley, this includes automatically calculating the triangular load as a result of the tributary area around the hip beam.

Resources

We've released new documentation for the Steel Beam Calculator to AISC 360-16. Read the documentation:

• Worked example of steel beam design to AISC 360-16.
• Interpreting and optimizing results for steel beam design to AISC 360-16.

Take Action

Improve your structural workflow and accelerate your productivity by joining live events and meet others power users in the ClearCalcs community.

Calculating Snow Loads Per IBC 2021

Wednesday, August 30th, 1 pm (ET)

Diaphragm Analysis and Lateral Load Linking for Shear Wall Design

Wednesday, September 27th, 1 pm (ET)

Introduction to the Girder-Slab® System and Design Tool V3.4

Wednesday, October 11th, 1 pm (ET)

Check out our upcoming webinars or watch previous webinars at your own pace!

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That's all for this month. If you have any feature requests, you can send them to help@clearcalcs.com. Enjoy!