Watch an easy overview of APA – The Engineered Wood Association’s free design tool, the FTAO Calculator, in this free, 60-minute recorded webinar, Shear Wall Analysis Made Easy: Force Transfer Around Openings Calculator.

APA field engineer Alese Ashuckian, P.E., LEED AP, guides viewers through the design implementation of FTAO shear walls with a focus on asymmetric piers and multiple openings. Design examples are also discussed throughout the presentation.

Wood structural panel sheathed shear walls and diaphragms are the primary lateral-load-resisting elements in wood-frame construction. As wood-frame construction continues to evolve, designers in many parts of the U.S. are optimizing solutions that require the understanding of force transfer between elements in the lateral load-resisting system.

“What professional designers are really interested in with the APA FTAO Calculator is the methodology and output,” says Ashuckian. “In complex designs that involve shear walls with multiple openings, designers want to be confident about the ability of a building’s walls to transfer forces around openings while allowing for the design flexibility of larger window openings.”

The free webinar, Shear Wall Analysis Made Easy: Force Transfer Around Openings Calculator, is now available on the APA website at www.apawood.org/shear-wall-analysis. Questions and answers from the live presentation of the webinar are also available on the APA website. The course has been approved by AIA and ICC for 1 HSW/LU and 0.10 CEU, respectively.