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Shear Wall Design (Wood/Concrete)

Unit Shear · Chord Force · Hold-Down · APA Nailing

When to use: Design a wood structural panel shear wall resisting lateral force. Enter the applied lateral shear V at the top of the wall, the wall length b, and height h. The tool computes the unit shear v, overturning moment, boundary chord / hold-down force, and checks the panel against the selected APA/SDPWS nailing schedule and the h:b ≤ 3.5:1 aspect-ratio limit for blocked shear walls.

Wall & Lateral Demand
at top
lb
ft
ft
Key Formulas
v = V/b (plf)
M = V·h (overturning)
T = M/b = V·h/b (chord force)
DCR = v / v_allowable
Aspect h:b ≤ 3.5:1 (blocked)
Unit Shear
500.0
plf
✓ PASS — Shear Capacity OK
v 500.0 plf vs allowable 510 plf · DCR 0.98
Results
Unit shear v500.0 plf
Allowable v510 plf
DCR0.98
Overturning M36000 lb·ft
Chord / Hold-down T4500 lb
Aspect ratio h/b1.13
Aspect limit (≤3.5)✓ OK
References
AWC SDPWS-2021 — wood shear walls
APA E30 — panel nailing schedules
IBC §2305 — lateral force-resisting