Following is a typical shear wall design process that might occur for a new building. Note that the sequence of steps taken in any particular design may vary but the basic process will probably be essentially the same.
Note: This procedure uses the menu commands. The same functions can be accessed using the Model Explorer.
Use the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > View/Revise Preferences command to select the design code. In addition, this command allows review of and changes to other shear wall design preferences. ETABS provides default values for all preferences so this command can be used to review the values and to make changes when necessary.
Run the building analysis using the Analyze menu > Run Analysis command.
Assign the wall pier and wall spandrel labels. Use the Assign menu > Frame > Pier Label, the Assign menu > Shell > Pier Label, the Assign menu > Frame > Spandrel Label, and the Assign menu > Shell > Spandrel Label commands to do this. Note that the labels can be assigned before or after the analysis is run.
The following two commands can be used to tailor the design process to meet specific requirements, although their use is not mandatory to complete a design.
If needed, assign shear wall overwrites by selecting piers and spandrels and using the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > View/Revise Pier Overwrites and the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > View/Revise Spandrel Overwrites commands. Note that ETABS provides default values for all pier and spandrel design overwrites so these commands can be used to review the values and to make changes only when necessary for selected piers and spandrels.
Important note about selecting piers and spandrels: Select a pier or spandrel simply by selecting any line or area object that is part of the pier or spandrel.
If needed, use design load combinations other than the defaults created by ETABS for shear wall design by clicking the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Select Design Combinations command. Note that at least one design combo must have been created using the Define menu > Load Combinations command before the Select Design Combinations command can be used.
Click the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Start Design/Check command to run the shear wall design.
Review the shear wall design results using one of the following methods:
Click the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Display Design Info command to display design information on the model.
Right click on a pier or spandrel while the design results are displayed on it to enter the interactive wall design mode. Note that while the program is in interactive design mode, the overwrites can be changed and the new design results will display immediately. If the program is not currently displaying design results, click the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Interactive Design command and then right click a pier or spandrel to enter the interactive design mode for that element.
Use the Model Explorer > Tables to select design data for on-screen display in tabular format.
Use the File menu > Create Report command to print shear wall design data. If a pier(s) or spandrel(s) is selected before this command is used, data is printed only for the selected elements.
Revise the wall pier and/or spandrel overwrites, rerun the shear wall design, and review the results. Repeat this step as many times as needed.
If needed, create wall pier check sections with user-defined (actual) reinforcing specified for the wall piers using the Section Designer utility. Use the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Define General Pier Sections command to define the sections in Section Designer. Use the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Assign Pier Sections command to assign the sections to the piers; be sure to indicate that the reinforcing is to be checked by checking the Reinforcement to Be Checked check box. Rerun the design and verify that the actual flexural reinforcing provided is adequate.
Assign these check sections to the piers, change the pier mode from Design to Check, and rerun the design. Verify that the actual flexural reinforcing provided is adequate.
If necessary, revise the geometry or reinforcing and rerun the design.
Print or display selected shear wall design results.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Shear wall design is performed as an iterative process. The wall design dimensions and reinforcing can be changed during the design process without rerunning the analysis. However, always be sure that the final design is based on analysis properties (wall dimensions) that are consistent with the design (actual) wall dimensions.