08/15/2011
APA Engineer Presents Webinar on Force Transfer around Openings
WoodWorks online seminar on "Full-scale Shear Wall Tests for Force Transfer around Openings" draws 201 attendees.
APA Manager of Product Evaluation Thomas D. Skaggs, Ph.D., P.E., presented a WoodWorks online educational seminar on July 21, 2011 titled Full-scale Shear Wall Tests for Force Transfer around Openings. Skaggs reported on a joint research project initiated in 2009 by APA, the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), and the University of British Columbia to examine design methods for shear walls with code-allowable openings. The study explored the internal forces generated during full-scale shear wall testing and evaluated the effects of size of openings, size of full-height piers, and various construction techniques.
An archived copy of the July 21, 2011 presentation can be viewed online. The study findings are also presented in Joint Research Report: Evaluation of Force Transfer Around Openings, Form M410, a free report now available for download from APA.
The webinar drew 201 attendees. Feedback from the audience was positive: every respondent to a post-webinar evaluation survey rated the quality of the presentation as good or better. One attendee wrote that the information was “extremely helpful and beneficial.” Another wrote that “most webinars are not dialed into the real issues, but you were on this one.”
WoodWorks, a nonresidential market growth program of the Wood Products Council, coordinates online training seminars, Wood Solution Fairs, trade shows and other educational programs that promote wood design to architects, engineers and others in the trade.
