Posted: 9/9/2019
Recently, the National Frame Building Association (NFBA) wrote an article in the August 2019 newsletter that is a great resource to designing buildings that are non-diaphragm. This was written by the Chairman of the NFBA Technical and Research Committee, Timothy R Royer, PE.
What is a Non-Diaphragm Building Design?
Most post-frame buildings utilize a roof diaphragm and shear walls (sidewalls and endwalls) to resist lateral wind and seismic loads. The roof diaphragm functions as a horizontal medium through which lateral forces are collected and redistributed to each participating vertical element (wood frame, shear walls). Buildings that have primary wood frames with no lateral rigidity (columns simply supported at top and bottom) depend entirely on the diaphragm-shear-wall system for lateral load resistance and stability. Buildings with very stiff primary frames and relatively flexible diaphragms are less dependent on the diaphragm-shear-wall system. Post-frame buildings that lack shear walls, or buildings with a large length-to-width ratio, and therefore ineffective diaphragms, resist lateral loads wholly within the primary wood frames and are classified as non-diaphragm buildings.
To continue to read this article, click on this link: Non-Diaphragm Post Frame Building Design Guide Overview
