Tilt-Up Wall Design Provisions: Proper Application

With over a half a billion square feet of space constructed annually, tilt-up concrete construction is a common building type in engineering offices across the nation. This economical style of construction is uniquely identified by the very slender concrete walls cast horizontally and tilted into place. This web-seminar presentation revisits the historical development of the original slender wall design recommendations in the late 1970s, and how the current slender wall design provisions in ACI match with concepts developed over 30 years ago. While these original concepts were based on empirical data from full-scale tests conducted in the early 1980s, only within the last ten years have we really begun to fully understand the behavior of these thin concrete members when subjected to combined axial load and large horizontal forces. The intent of the current code provisions will be discussed, some insight into their proper application will be provided, and examples of misapplications and gray-areas will be highlighted.