February 1998
This document acts as a guide for shear wall design. It includes an overview of shear wall design as well as information about shear wall design data and testing. This guide provides information on walls constructed with plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) on the exterior wall surface, with or without gypsum wall board (GWB) on the interior wall surface; GWB on both surfaces; steel sheathing on one side; or steel X-bracing on one side.
The section on shear wall design data provides information on nominal strengths for the design of shear walls with cold-formed steel framing. Some of these values have been approved by national codes, while others are proposed for inclusion. The section on shear wall tests describes the results of both standard static tests and cyclic tests that can more rationally address shear wall design in high seismic regions.
Prepared for:
American Iron and Steel Institute
23 pages