Diaphragm Basics - The Analysis of Irregular Shaped Structures - page 43

F i g u r e 2.17 Typical strut sections—parallel to shear wall.
detail requires the diaphragm shear to be transferred into the wall top plate through the
bottom chord of the truss. High shears normally associated with interior shear walls
often require light gauge shear clips for the transfer of the shear into the shear wall.
These clips usually require several “common” type of nails confined within a small
space, typically 4 to 5 in long. Care must be taken to avoid splitting the bottom chord of
the truss when the clip spacing is close or popping off the gang-nail plate of the truss
when the clip is nailed to the truss at a gang-nail plate location, as shown in the lower
right detail of Fig. 2.16, detail A. On one specific project, the design required a very
narrow, high-load interior shear wall to be designed, similar to the wall shown at the
lower right of Fig. 2.16. The truss fell directly over the wall, with the wall located in the
center third of the truss span, where the highest bottom chord tensile stress occurred.
The ends of the wall fell halfway between the bottom chord joints. The connection for
the transfer of the collector force to the wall called for “Simpson A35 clips” at 8″ o.c. on
each side of the truss chord, staggered (4″ o.c. net spacing). The collector force was not
called out on the framing plan or in the framing key notes, for the truss manufacturer.
A review of the engineering calculations for the trusses revealed that the transfer of the
collector forces through the truss and the effects of the high concentration of connection