Yes, with caution. Shearwalls has been programmed to follow the codes with respect to code defined “regular” shaped buildings. Certain “irregular” shapes will not provide expected results, and engineering intuition will be required to determine if the results are acceptable for each situation.

An example of an L-Shaped building design in the online video Tutorial 1 (US & CDN). This shape is handled adequately by the software.

Caution must be used in the case of a gap between two walls, where the gap is actually external to the building such as in a U shaped structure. Where the walls are along the same shearline and separated by a gap, diaphragm shearline force/unit length is assumed to continue across the gap (even though there is no diaphragm external to the building at the gap) and drag strut forces are shown. In other words, the software assumes the gap is really an opening such as a window or door and can transfer shear across it. This issue can be worked around by modifying the “Maximum Shearline Offsets” in the Settings, Design tab.

Designers may require shear or moment forces at specific points of interest. For example, for many types of connections, designers are required to check the shear capacity of the member at the connection location. WoodWorks^® Connections provides the effective shear capacity of a wood member at a connection location. Using the Point of Interest function, a designer could determine the corresponding design shear force. This is also very useful to determine what the shear and bending is at a notch or hole.

After running a model, the quickest method to determine if a shearwall has failed the shear resistance design check is to review the Design summary in the Results View. Use the Go To Table button to quickly navigate to the Design Summary.

When in Plan View of a model, walls which have failed the design check(s) will be highlighted in red. Walls will not appear red if there is a failure of the hold-downs along the shearline, however, the Design Summary will display whether or not the hold-downs have adequate capacity.

In the US, where the design roof snow loads are less than 30 psf, they are not required to be included in seismic load calculations. For higher roof snow loads, a percentage of the snow load is used in the calculation for the weight of a structure (20% as per ASCE 7-10 – 12.7.2). In fact, local building authorities may overrule the code and require up to 100% of the roof snow load to be used. In Canada, 25% of the roof snow load is used in the calculation for the weight of the structure.

To include the correct snow load for seismic loads generation, input the total roof snow load and the percentage of roof snow load to be included in the Settings, Default Values tab “Weights for Seismic Load Generation”. Note, that modifying the default values in the Settings menu requires the user to start a “New” file to take effect.

In the “Generate Loads” dialog box, under the “Seismic Loads” column the total roof snow load entered in the Settings Default values will appear with a note under it indicating what percentage of that load will be used to calculate the total roof self-weight for weight calculation purposes. This can be modified as desired.

Remember to base the dead load and snow load on the horizontal projection of the roof. The snow load is considered to extend over the entire projected area of the roof minus the overhangs, as if it were a flat-roof load.

This sort of condition can occur in lofts or in the foyer of a 2 storey structure. Shearwalls assumes that the structure will consist of platform frame construction and the diaphragm is continuous throughout the storey. To handle these situations, it is recommended to create two project files. For example, in the case of a 2 storey structure, with an open foyer that has a 2 storey wall at the front of the structure, one project file would consist of a 2 storey building that could be used to design all the single storey walls in the structure. In the locations where the 2 storey walls occurs, you could specify 1 storey shearwalls for the purpose of attracting loads. Then using the loads from the first project file, a single wall project file could be created as shown in tutorial 1 ( CDN, U.S.) for the walls that span 2 storeys. The results from both project files could be compared to determine the appropriate design.

After running a model, the quickest method to determine if a shearwall has failed the shear resistance design check is to review the Design summary in the Results View. Use the Go To Table button to quickly navigate to the Design Summary.

When in Plan View of a model, walls which have failed the design check(s) will be highlighted in red. Walls will not appear red if there is a failure of the hold-downs along the shearline, however, the Design Summary will display whether or not the hold-downs have adequate capacity.

This sort of condition can occur in lofts or in the foyer of a 2 storey structure. Shearwalls assumes that the structure will consist of platform frame construction and the diaphragm is continuous throughout the storey. To handle these situations, it is recommended to create two project files. For example, in the case of a 2 storey structure, with an open foyer that has a 2 storey wall at the front of the structure, one project file would consist of a 2 storey building that could be used to design all the single storey walls in the structure. In the locations where the 2 storey walls occurs, you could specify 1 storey shearwalls for the purpose of attracting loads. Then using the loads from the first project file, a single wall project file could be created as shown in tutorial 1 ( CDN, U.S.) for the walls that span 2 storeys. The results from both project files could be compared to determine the appropriate design.

Roof blocks have two purposes in the software. They are used to create roof weight(s) that contribute to the total weight of the structure which is used to generate the seismic loads, and based on their shapes, roof blocks are also used to generate lateral wind loads for the purpose of designing the main wind lateral force resisting system. Shearwalls does not automatically generate wind uplift loads. Taking time to draw complex roofs with many hips and valleys that would require 8 or more roof blocks is time consuming and may not be necessary for structural analysis. Instead, the complex roof could be simplified to fewer roof blocks which generically model the shape of the roof. For an example an discussion of a complex roof where this would be applicable.

To modify a wall segment to be specified as non-shear, the Design in group feature must be turned off. Below are the 4 steps to complete.

1. Split exterior wall into multiple segments by tracing over the wall.
2. Click on the wall segment you would like to designate as non-shear.
3. Uncheck the “Design in group” box in the walls view.
4. While still in walls view, modify the wall segment type to “non-shearwall”.

A standard wall can be saved with the “design in group” feature already disabled.

For low-rise wind loads the software calculates load cases for wind acting on any corner of the building. Once wind loads are generated, arrows will appear in the plan view on the windward corners of the building representing the unfactored wind loads for the load case displayed. Review the legend at the bottom of the plan view screen. Other load cases may be viewed using the Show button. The wind loads can be displayed for the main wind force resisting system (MWFRS) about either the North – South or East – West directions. By default, the software will first display the West to East, South to North wind direction, but this can be modified to which ever combination. Critical force direction can be displayed after the analysis is run. Wind loads can be displayed for both wind load cases A or B. Shearwalls automatically uses the worst case wind loads when completing the design of the shearwalls.

The All Heights procedure is readily applicable to a wide range of building geometries. The software can handle almost any configuration following this procedure as wind loads are calculated on each wall and roof surface independently. Once wind loads are generated, arrows will appear in the plan view around the building representing the unfactored wind loads for the load case displayed. Review the legend at the bottom of the plan view screen. Other load cases may be viewed using the Show button. The wind loads can be displayed for the main wind force resisting system (MWFRS) about either the North – South or East – West directions. By default the software will first display the West to East, South to North wind direction, but this can be modified to which ever combination. Shearwalls generates both case 1 and case 2 wind loads simultaneously, and uses the heaviest of these loads as the minimum load case. Case 1, Case 2 and minimum load can be displayed in plan view. Shearwalls automatically uses the worst case wind loads when completing the design of the shearwalls in the model.

For the Canadian edition of shearwalls, it is possible to generate wind loads following Figure I-7/8 (Low rise method) or Figure I-15 (unnamed all heights method).

In WoodWorks^® Shearwalls, when you click the “Generate Loads on selected levels” button on the “Generate Loads” form, a log file detailing the load calculations is created. The log file will automatically become available at the top of the Shearwalls menu. The log file is also automatically saved under the same name of the project file (with extension .log) in the same folder. Before the analysis is run, the log file includes information on how both the wind and seismic loads were generated. A summary of the site specific wind and seismic parameters, list of equations and resulting calculations are provided. If seismic loads have been generated, once the analysis of the model is run, the log file will update to include the torsional analysis results for the seismic loads.

Structure blocks are used to quickly establish the exterior perimeter of the structure. Multiple structure blocks are meant to be utilized when there are portions of a structure which vary in height (ie. Two storey house attached to a one storey garage). It is not necessary to draw the structure blocks to match the roof shape as it is possible to draw as many roof blocks as desired once in roof block view.
Using multiple structure blocks is not necessary and can over complicate a model. It may be possible to achieve the correct shape of the structure once in walls view by splitting and shifting exterior walls. Split walls by tracing another wall on top of an existing one, then move the wall by clicking on the segment, then holding the shift key to move the wall segment.
The method for splitting and moving walls is shown in US Shearwalls tutorial 2  and in CDN Shearwalls tutorial 2. Tutorial 11 in the user guide provides further discussion and demonstration of when and how to utilize structure blocks.

Click Settings/Design, under local building code capacity modification, it is possible to adjust the plywood sheathing shear strengths. The default values are 1.0, but can be modified to conform to local conditions. For example, Los Angeles Building Code mandates or at one time mandated a 75% reduction in shear capacities for seismic design. If the factor is still in effect, users should save or enter “0.75”as their default local building code modification factor for seismic loads. Similarly, there are counties in the Southeast USA that require a reduction in shear strength for high wind loads. Users in these areas should check their local building codes and apply the factor if the locally mandated shear strength differ from those published in the IBC or SDPWS.

WoodWorks® Shearwalls allows users to specify the maximum plan or elevation offset for walls to be considered on the same shearline. These settings are found under Maximum Shearline Offset in the Settings, Design tab. The maximum plan offset is dependent on the specified plan offset and elevation joist depth. By default, Maximum Plan Offset in the plan is set as 0.5 ft (0.15m) and the Elevation offset is set as 1 joist depth, to account for errors while drawing walls. The above values are recommended to provide tolerance for the automatic shearline generation routine. However, the software allows the user to change the default values at their discretion For example, the CWC Engineering Guide for Wood Frame Construction, which provides guidance on the design of light-frame wood structures which meet the requirements of a Part 9 prescriptively design structures, allows for a maximum shearwall plan offset of 4 joist depths, up to a maximum of 1.2 m ( 2014 Engineering Guide for Wood Frame Construction Part B Figure 10.1.5). Similarly, in the US, the Wood Frame Construction Manual allows shearwall plan offsets up to 4 feet ( WFCM 2015 Clause 2.1.3.3.c.). The maximum shearline offset feature can be utilized to match similar requirements when modelling a structure.