Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II

Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Load Path

IBC 1604.4

“Any system or method of construction to be used

shall be based on a rational analysis in
accordance with well-established principles of
mechanics. Such analysis shall result in a system
that provides a complete load path capable of
transferring loads from their point of origin to the
load-resisting elements.”
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Load Path
• How do loads go from their point-of-origin to the
ground?

• As the structural engineer, you must determine a

satisfactory load path, considering:
– Principles of mechanics (i.e. it must work!)
– Architectural plan
– Economy
– Constructability

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Load Path
• In this project, you will essentially serve as the architect and
engineer

• Lucky you…in many building projects, the most difficult

part of establishing a good load path is working within the
architects’ established layout

• So, as we go forward, you should set up your floor plan

considering that you will be the one that has to establish a
load path
– Keep it relatively simple!

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Load Path
• A load path must address two distinct types of load:
– Gravity loads
– Lateral loads

• Thus, we will need two systems

– VFRS (Vertical Force Resisting System)
– LFRS (Lateral Force Resisting System)

• These systems can be completely separate or work

together

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Vertical Force Resisting System

• Several types of systems are possible

• Elements that might be part of the VFRS include:
– Roof, Floors (Slabs), Beams & Girders, Columns,
Walls, Footings

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Lateral Force Resisting System

• Several types of systems are possible
• Elements that might be part of the VFRS include:
– Roof, Floors (Slabs), Beams & Girders, Columns,
Walls, Footings
– Note that these elements are essentially the same…but
they may carry different types of forces
• Note that there must be a lateral force resisting
system in each perpendicular direction (say, N-S
and E-W) !!!

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Elements can be part of the VFRS and LFRS…

• For example,
– a wall may carry vertical loads in bearing
(“Bearing Wall”)

– or, it may carry lateral loads perpendicular

to the wall (“Curtain Wall”)

– or, it may carry lateral loads in the plane

of the wall (“Shear Wall”)

– or, it may carry some combination of these

different load types!

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Importance of Connections

• In any load path, we must consider not just the

elements in the system, but also the connections
between elements

• As we’ve seen before, this is especially important

in high seismic situations, which are less
forgiving!
– Because of this, IBC has several special provisions
related to connections
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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Common Building Systems

(for Concrete & Masonry Structures)
Bearing Wall
System

Moment-Resisting
Frame

Building Frame
System

Dual System
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Common Building Systems

(for Concrete & Masonry Structures)
Bearing Wall
System

Note: These terms are Moment-Resisting

defined on the first page of Frame
IBC Chapter 16 !!!
Building Frame
System

Dual System
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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Common Building Systems

(for Concrete & Masonry Structures)
Bearing Wall
System

Moment-Resisting
Frame

Building Frame
System

Dual System
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Bearing Wall System

• Vertical loads are resisted entirely by bearing
walls
– Loads are transmitted to bearing walls by roof and floor
slabs (and beams if necessary to reduce spans in floor
slab)
• Lateral loads are resisted entirely by the shear
walls
– Loads are transmitted to shear walls by roof and floor
slabs acting as diaphragms (resisting in-plane forces)

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Common Building Systems

(for Concrete & Masonry Structures)
Bearing Wall
System

Moment-Resisting
Frame

Building Frame
System

Dual System
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Moment-Resisting Frame
• Vertical loads are resisted by a space frame,
consisting of beams (or girders) and columns
– Loads are transmitted to beams and columns by roof
and floor slabs
• Lateral loads are resisted entirely by the space
frame
– Frame action requires rigid beam-column joints that are
capable of resisting moments
– Loads are transmitted to the space frame by curtain
walls

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Common Building Systems

(for Concrete & Masonry Structures)
Bearing Wall
System

Moment-Resisting
Frame

Building Frame
System

Dual System
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Building Frame System

• Vertical loads are resisted by a space frame,
consisting of beams (or girders) and columns
– Loads are transmitted to beams and columns by roof
and floor slabs
• Lateral loads are resisted entirely by the shear
walls
– Loads are transmitted to shear walls by roof and floor
slabs acting as diaphragms (resisting in-plane forces)

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Common Building Systems

(for Concrete & Masonry Structures)
Bearing Wall
System

Moment-Resisting
Frame

Building Frame
System

Dual System
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Dual System
• Vertical loads are resisted jointly by a space frame
and bearing walls
• Lateral loads are resisted jointly by a space frame
and shear walls
• Distribution of load is generally based on relative
stiffness
– The stiffer the system, the larger the portion of vertical
load or lateral load that system carries

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Choices for Your Structure

Bearing Wall System or Building Frame System

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Considerations in choosing a system:

• With either system, you will use shear walls for
your lateral force resisting system
• What are your potential shear wall locations?
– What are your wall locations in general?
– Are these walls in locations where you need openings
(doors and windows)?
• Openings make it tougher to design walls for structural forces,
especially for shear walls!
• So use solid walls for shear walls (tiny openings are OK)

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

H2
Shear Wall Layout
H1

– You will need shear walls

in both directions!
– These walls will need to
be two stories tall
– They should be
symmetrically located
– If possible, use more than
one shear wall to reduce
forces Sample Building Plan &
Shear Wall Layout (#1)
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

H2
Shear Wall Layout
H1

– You will need shear walls

in both directions!
– These walls will need to
be two stories tall
– They should be
symmetrically located
– If possible, use more than
one shear wall to reduce
forces Sample Building Plan &
Shear Wall Layout (#2)
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

H2
Shear Wall Layout
H1

– You will need shear walls

in both directions!
– These walls will need to
be two stories tall
– They should be
symmetrically located
– If possible, use more than
one shear wall to reduce
forces Sample Building Plan &
Shear Wall Layout (#3)
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Considerations in choosing a system:

• For your vertical force resisting system, consider
the following…
– What are your potential column locations?
– What are your wall locations?
• Assume all walls will be masonry
– Are these walls in locations where you need openings
(doors and windows)?
• Openings make it tougher to design bearing walls, too…

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

The Chapel/Guest House

(Avoid split levels in your structure!) 25
Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

This wall would have been tough to

design as a bearing wall

This structure was

designed using a
building frame system
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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

This wall could easily have been

designed as a bearing wall

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Even if a structural beam is not

specified, they will pour a beam over
each wall!

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

This is the typical forming system for

pouring a concrete floor slab. It uses
wood boards placed tightly together 29
 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Vertical Force Resisting System Issues

• Whether you use a building frame system or
bearing wall system, you will have a floor slab to
design
(if you have a two story structure…which you now should
assume is the case)

• So let’s take a look at a few issues related to

that…

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

• We presumably know how to do the following from

Structural Design:
– Design a simply-supported rectangular beam of
unknown cross-section size
– Design a simply-supported rectangular beam of known
cross-section size
– Design a T-beam for positive or negative moment
– Design a doubly reinforced beam (beam with
compression reinforcement)
– Design a beam for shear
– Design a simply supported one way slab

• What about continuous beams or one-way slabs???

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Design of Continuous Beams and Slabs

Gap
• You know how to 

design cross-sections for

positive or negative 
moment
• Reinforcement follows Two Simple Spans
the moment diagram
• Why continuous spans? 

– Moments
– Deflections 

Continuous over Center Support

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Design Moments (Uniform Dist. Loading)

• Simple Spans
– wL2/8
• Continuous Spans
– Analysis far more complicated
– What type of fixity do we actually have?
– Must consider effects of patterned loading

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Design Moments – Continuous Spans

• We have a few analysis options

– Elastic Analysis (preferably STAAD)
– Approximate Frame Analysis
– ACI Approximate Moment Coefficients
(ACI 8.3)

• See McCormac text Chapter 13

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Slab Thickness Considerations

• What governs the thickness of a slab?

– Flexural Strength
– Shear
– Deflections
• Usually, deflections will govern the thickness
requirements for a one-way slab
– Size slab based on deflection requirements
– Check shear
– Design reinforcement for flexure
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Slab Thickness Considerations

• Review McCormac text, Ch. 5

(serviceability) and Ch. 3 (one-way slabs)
• Review notes from Structural Design,
lectures on one-way slab design and
serviceability
• ACI Sec. 9.5.2.1

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Slab Thickness Considerations

(such that we do not need to compute deflections)
• For simply-supported beams, total beam depth ‘h’
must be at least L/16
– A 16 ft. long simply supported beam must be at least 12
in. deep.
• For simply-supported one-way slabs, total slab
thickness ‘h’ must be at least L/20
– A 10 ft. long simply supported one-way slab must be at
least 6 in. deep.
• You will have to look up other values!!!
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Slab Thickness Considerations

• Something to keep in mind….

– Your material properties!
– These tables are based on normal strength
concrete
– You may wish to consider creative ways to
adjust tables for your low concrete strength
• Hint: Think about what the key concrete material
property related to deflections is…

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Possibilities

• Now we can begin to develop a framing

plan for our structure
– Typical practice on site is a 5 in. thick slab
– We have a methodology to determine how far a
slab of a given thickness can span
– Do our material properties have any effect?
• Consider the Chapel as an example…

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Note: columns
automatically
placed at each Ln = 10.5 ft.
wall end or
corner

Ln = 14.5 ft.

Ln = 12.0 ft.
Ln = 27.0 ft.
Think we’ll need some additional framing members???
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts
• Let’s use a simple
example for our
discussion…
• Column spacing
– 30 ft. on center
• Think about relating
it to your design as
we discuss…

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• We can first assume

that we’ll have major
girders running in
one direction in our
one-way system

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• If we span between
girders with our slab,
then we have a load
path, but if the spans
are too long…

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• We will need to
shorten up the span
with additional
beams

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• But we need to
support the load from
these new beams, so
we will need
additional supporting
members

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• Now we have a
viable plan…
• Let’s think back
through our load path
now to identify our
“heirarchy” of
members

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• One-Way Slab
(continuous)
• Beams
– Interior (T-beams)
– Exterior (L-beams)
• Girders
– Interior (T-beams)
– Exterior (L-beams)

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts
• Note that by running the
one-way slab in this EW
direction, we are actually
making the EW running
beams our major girders
• The NS running beams
simply transfer the load
out to these girders (or
directly to a column)

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• Now let’s go back

through with a
slightly different
load path

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• We again assume
that we’ll have major
girders running in
one direction in our
one-way system

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• This time, let’s think

about shortening up
the slab span by
running beams into
our girders.
• Our one-way slab
will transfer our load
to the beams.

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts

• With this approach,

we have already
established our
“heirarchy”
• The only difference
is in the “direction”
of our load path
– 90 degree rotation

Plan
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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts - Conclusions

• Either load path will work

• In this case, they are identical
• With a rectangular bay (instead of a square)
bay, there will be a difference
• Tradeoff is usually in number of supporting
members vs. span of supporting members

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Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Two Load Path Options

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts
• Note that in this example, we used a building
frame system, but the same principles apply for a
bearing wall system:

• How far apart are the walls?

• Can the one-way slab span the distance between

those walls, or do we need intermediate framing
members (beams) to shorten up the spans?

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 Villanova University CEE 4606 - Capstone II
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Engineering

Framing Concepts - Considerations

• For your structure:

– Look for a “natural” load path that suits your
floor plan
– Identify which column lines are best suited to
having major framing members (i.e. girders), or
which walls are best suited to be the main
bearing walls

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