1. On the Home ribbon, click Model Settings.

2. On the Design Codes page, click Resistance Codes

3. Examine the available Masonry Design codes.

   

   As the region is set to United States (ACI/AISC) the following design code versions are available for both LRFD and ASD methods:

   • MSJC 2013
   • TMS 402/602 2022
   • TMS 402/602 2016
4. Ensure the TMS 402/602 ASD 2022 code is selected.
5. Click OK

The database of available masonry wall grades can be displayed in Materials dialog box as follows:

1. On the Home ribbon, click Materials.

2. On the Material page, select the Masonry material type.

   

   There are three built-in masonry material grades in Tekla Structural Designer for the US regional code.

   One grade is set as the default - each new wall you create initially adopts the default grade. You can change the default to any of displayed grades. You can also add new grades if required.

   Each grade is defined with or without using Tedds.

   • The three built-in grades were defined using Tedds. Masonry walls using these grades can be analyzed and designed in Tekla Structural Designer. The built-in grades should only be used if there is a licensed Tekla Tedds installation available.

   • If you don't have a Tedds license, you will need to define your masonry grades without using Tedds. Masonry walls using such grades can be analyzed in Tekla Structural Designer without a Tedds license, but they cannot be designed.

   Define Masonry Grade using Tedds:

   Provided you have a Tedds license, you can easily add new grades to the database using Tedds by following these instructions.

   When added in this way, the default name is assigned automatically as:

   "[Nominal wall thickness] CMU wall-[f'm] ([Unit strength]/[Mortar type])"

   If a grade is subsequently edited through Tedds, the name is only automatically updated if it has not been previously modified by the user.

   Define Masonry Grade without using Tedds:

   If you don't have a Tedds license, you can still define and analyze masonry walls, but you will need to define your masonry grades without using Tedds. To do this click the Add... button and manually enter the properties in the Add Masonry Grade dialog.

   

3. The walls in this example will use the 8 in CMU wall -2500 psi grade. No grades need to be added and no other changes are required, so click Close to exit.

To define the wall panel data properties before placing the wall, proceed as follows:

1. Activate the St. (Base) 2D view.

   

2. On the Model ribbon, click Walls > Masonry Meshed.

   

3. In the Properties window, select the Grade required.

   

   For this example we can accept the default 8 in CMU wall -2500 psi.

4. Next, select the Grout option required.

   

   For this example we can accept the default Fully grouted.

   Note that the grout choice affects the subsequent choice of isotropic/orthotropic properties as follows:

   • Fully grouted - this is the initial default. With this option the wall defaults to having orthotropic properties disabled. It can also be set to orthotropic if required, by selecting the Orthotropic option under Analysis & Design control. If the Orthotropic option is selected, three calculation methods are then offered.

     

   • Partially grouted - after selecting this option you should then also specify the grout spacing. With this option the wall is forced to have orthotropic properties, with the calculation method defaulting to Apply section adjustment factors. The other two calculation methods are also available for selection.
   • Ungrouted - with this option the wall is forced to have orthotropic properties, with the calculation method defaulting to Apply section adjustment factors. The other two calculation methods are also available for selection.
   Note: To find out more about the three calculation methods, see: Orthotropic walls
5. Under Analysis & design control, select Orthotropic and set the orthotropic calculation method as Apply section adjustment factors.

   

   When the Apply section adjustment factors option is used, the wall density and orthotropic factors, where necessary, are automatically calculated during the analysis process in Tekla Structural Designer, using Tedds.

6. Choose whether to Apply modification factors and then if applied, specify if the wall is Assumed cracked or not.

   

   For this example leave Apply modification factors selected, and leave the Assume cracked setting as "Yes".

7. Next, review the Reinforcement.

   

   At this stage we will accept the default reinforcement properties without making any changes.

8. Ensure the other Masonry wall properties are set as required.

Two masonry walls currently exist in the model, we shall now add a third between grid points B/2 and C/2.

1. To place a new wall, in the St. (Base) 2D view, pick point 1 as grid point B/2

   

2. Then pick point 2 as grid point C/2

   

   The wall is created between the points picked.

   

3. Press Esc to end the wall creation command.

As Apply modification factors and Assumed cracked were selected in the wall properties, you should check that the factors meet your requirements.

To review these factors:

1. On the Analyze ribbon, click Settings.

2. On the Modification Factors page, select the Masonry > Building Analysis sub-page.

   

   Modification factors can be applied to the Elastic Modulus, E, Shear Modulus, G and wall thickness, t. Separate values can be specified for building analysis and modal analysis.

3. The walls in this example will use the Masonry Wall Cracked factors shown above. No changes are required, so click Cancel.

You may need to create openings in masonry walls, so we will now demonstrate how this can be done.

1. In the Project Workspace Structure window, right click on Frames > FRM 2 and select Open view

2. On the Model ribbon, click Opening

3. To create an opening, pick the reference point where grid B meets the base level grid.

   

4. To pick the first corner, press [F2], enter Offset X as 5' and Offset Y as 1', then click on the wall.

   

5. To pick the second corner, press [F2], enter Offset X as 4' and Offset Y as 12' then click on the wall again.

   

   The wall opening is created between the points picked.

   

6. Press Esc to end the add wall opening command.

The design cases exported from a masonry wall panel to the Tedds calculation are at fixed locations (two at the top of the wall, two in the mid-fifth, and two at the bottom) and ignore the effects of openings.

Wall patches can be easily placed to design for localized forces around openings.

Each patch contains a specified number of horizontal result lines. Each result line collects the cross section forces at its location.

When a patch is checked it also exports two design cases for each result line that it contains to the Tedds calculation.

In this example, in order to demonstrate the principle, we shall place a couple of patches, one to the left and one to the right of the opening. By accepting the defaults each patch will contain 5 result lines.

1. Activate the FRM 2 2D view.

2. In the Tedds group on the Design ribbon, click Wall Patch

3. Accept the default patch creation properties.

   

   With Create Mode set to "Quick" and Result Lines is set to 3, result lines will be automatically created at the top, middle and bottom of the patch as well as points of interest (such as the top and bottom of wall openings).

4. To locate the first patch, hover the cursor to the right of the wall opening.

   

5. Click to create the patch.
   Note:

   When a patch is created the grout and reinforcement information all default to “as panel”, matching the grout and reinforcement spacing of the panel. For narrow wall patches, where the wall patch width is smaller than the wall panel reinforcement spacing, the wall patch should specify smaller reinforcement spacing to ensure the design will execute.

   Because we are in a 2D view the result lines associated with the patch are visible. (Result lines are never displayed in 3D views.)

   

   5 result lines have been created:

   • One at the top of the opening
   • One at the bottom of the opening
   • One at the top of the patch
   • One at the mid height of the patch
   • One at the bottom of the patch

6. To locate the second patch, hover the cursor to the left of the wall opening.

   

7. Click to create the patch.

   The second patch is created, which again contains 5 result lines.

   

8. Press [Esc] to end the command.
9. Select one of the patches, and review the patch properties.

   

   Note that by default when a patch is created the As Panel grout and reinforcement properties are selected.

   "As Panel" setting:

   When the As Panel grout and reinforcement properties are selected:

   • If the design fails at some patch locations then you adjust the wall properties (more grouting and/or more reinforcement) to achieve a pass.

   • Grout spacing must be changed in Tekla Structural Designer - reinforcement may be changed from Tekla Structural Designer or during interactive design in Tedds

     • If you change the reinforcement in Tedds while the property is set to As Panel this will update the parent panel and all other patches that are set to As Panel

   Where the overall design of the panel is not meeting design requirements it may be preferable to strengthen locally - you simply uncheck the required As Panel setting and then define grouting and/or reinforcement that will be specific to that patch area.

   For further information, see: Wall patches

For structures containing masonry walls, loads can be applied and load combinations defined in the standard manner. In this example the load combinations have already been generated.

1. To view the load combinations: on the Load ribbon, click Combination.

   

2. No changes are required, so click Cancel

Masonry walls can only be designed provided a suitable set of analysis results exist.

To generate some results:

In models with masonry walls that are assigned Tedds defined grades, there is an additional step in the early stages of the analysis process. Here, the program checks to see if there is a requirement to update the density or orthotropic factor values of any of the masonry walls in the model, and subsequently updates them if so.

The material density value, obtained in this way, is an average value per length that takes into consideration the geometry of the wall section, and is of particular interest with the existence of non-uniform grouting and voids in the wall section. This newly calculated value then overrides the one originally input in the materials database.

The orthotropic analysis properties, obtained in this way relative to the vertical and horizontal directions in the plane of the wall, are adjusted for average section properties as recommended by NCMA TEK 14-01B - Section Properties of Concrete Masonry Walls. The adjustment to Ey (Young's modulus in the Y direction, along the height of the wall) assumes the wall is acting primarily to resist in-plane loads.

The forces to be included in the design envelopes for masonry walls can come from any of the analysis types available for design, and is limited by the selections in Design > Options > Analysis.

You can rapidly check all the masonry wall panels in the model using the initial default reinforcement properties or define your own starting point for all walls as follows:

1. On the Design ribbon, click Check In Tedds.

   This runs the necessary Tedds calculations in the background using the latest analysis results.

2. To review the status for all walls:
   1. Activate the Structure 3D view.
   2. Switch the view regime to Review View
   3. Ensure that Status is selected in the Design group on the Review ribbon.

   The initial status of each wall panel using the default reinforcement is shown below.

   

3. Hover the cursor over wall W2, (the wall running along grid C), so that W2 is highlighted in the tooltip, as below.

   

   The panel thickness and masonry material are shown in the tooltip, along with the check status and ratio - the wall fails.

   The ratio displayed for a wall is the maximum ratio from the check of all panel(s) and patches associated with the wall. (In this case, W2 consists of a single panel and has no patches associated with it.)

4. Use the down cursor key in the tooltip so that W2-1 is now highlighted.

   

   In addition to the previous data, the tooltip now displays the panel size and also the grout and reinforcement data specific to the individual panel.

5. Hover the cursor over wall W3, (the wall running along grid 2) so that wall patch WP 1 is highlighted (use the down cursor key in the tooltip if required).

   

   The tooltip now displays the patch size; the grout and reinforcement data specific to the patch (which in this case are the same as the panel); and the patch status and ratio.

   Tip:

   All of the above tooltip information can be summarized in a Design Summary table. We strongly recommend that you open the summary and then keep it displayed throughout the entire masonry design process.

6. To display the design summary:

   1. On the Review ribbon, click Tabular Data
   2. On the Review Data ribbon, ensure Design Summary is selected in list in the View Type group and then click Masonry in the Material Type group.

      

      The Design Summary opens in a new Review Data window.

      

   3. Right click on the Review Data tab and select New Horizontal Tab Group .

      

      By arranging the windows in this way, the summary can remain visible while you proceed with the design process.

      

      It is clear from the summary that wall panel W2-1 is failing and also the patches WP 1 and WP 2 in wall panel W3-1.

The default reinforcement for W2 and W3 is insufficient and will need to be updated in the Properties window, after which the failing walls can then be individually rechecked.

1. Select W2 by double clicking it in the Design Summary.

   

   A blue arrow indicates the currently selected panel (W2-1) and its properties are displayed in the Properties window

   

   While W1 is passing we will update its reinforcement anyway to keep it consistent with W2. This will also give us the opportunity to demonstrate the simultaneous checking of a selection of wall panels, as opposed to checking individual panels one at a time.

2. In the Structure 3D view, while holding down the Ctrl key, left click on wall W1 and then W2.

   The Properties window should now indicate that two masonry wall spans are selected.

   

3. Edit the vertical reinforcement to increase the number of bar layers at each position in both walls from 1 to 2.

   

4. As both walls are currently selected, you can right click in the Structure 3D view and choose Check using Tekla Tedds> Selection in order to re-check them both using the new reinforcement configuration.

   

   

   After a few seconds the utilization ratios are recalculated for both walls and W2 which was previously failing should now be passing.

   

   The only issues left to resolve are the two patch designs.

   When a patch design fails you have two options:

   • Increase panel reinforcement and recheck the panel - when the panel is checked all associated patches are also checked.

   • Switch off the As panel setting in the patch properties and provide increased local strength, then just recheck the patches.

   • When a panel is checked all associated patches, with As panel on or off, are also checked

   We will adopt the first of these options and increase the panel reinforcement, while leaving the As panel setting selected.

   In a real world model you might prefer to interactively investigate the design as described in the later section Interactive patch design. This approach would allow you to rapidly investigate different alternatives while instantly seeing their effect on the calculations.

5. Select W3 by double clicking it in the Design Summary, (making sure to double click the panel row, not the patch rows).

6. In the Properties window increase the vertical Reinforcement layers from 1 to 2 and the Reinforcement size from 5 to 7.

   

7. Right click on W3 in the Structure 3D view and choose Check using Tekla Tedds> W3-1.

   W3-1 and its associated patches are rechecked for the new reinforcement configuration. The utilizations and status are updated in the Design Summary accordingly.

   

Detailed Tekla Tedds calculations for masonry walls do not exist within Tekla Structural Designer itself, instead they are available by exporting to Tekla Tedds. You can export an individual wall or a selection.

1. Select all of the masonry walls in the Structure 3D view.
2. Right click and select Export to Tekla Tedds > Selection

   Tedds opens and the wall calculations are displayed. Separate calculations are created for the panel and each of the associated result lines.

   

3. After examining the output, close the Tedds application.

So far we have arrived at a solution that works by specifying reinforcement and running Check using Tekla Tedds to perform the calculations in the background.

In some situations you may prefer the more interactive workflow provided by running Design using Tekla Tedds. Because the Tedds interface is displayed, you immediately see the impact on the calculations as the design parameters are adjusted.

To demonstrate this approach we will start by interactively designing W2.

We will now attempt to optimize the design by interactively designing the patches.

From the Design Summary it can be seen that for the patches associated with W3-1, the most critical utilization occurs for WP 1, so it will be the one chosen for investigation.

1. Select WP 1 by double clicking it in the Design Summary.

   

2. In the Structure 3D view, hover the cursor over the patch, (it should already be highlighted in the Select Entity tooltip as shown below).

   

3. Right click and select Design using Tekla Tedds > WP 1

   

   The Tedds masonry wall section design calculation opens.

   

4. Click the Design case list.

   

   Patches have multiple design cases established from the enveloped load combination results. Individual cases are created for the max and min axial load at the left and right of each result line associated with the patch.

   Note: If you don't see the design cases as shown above, this may be because you don't have the latest service pack installed. In the 2025 Service Pack 3, to improve the speed of calculation the number design cases for each result line in a patch was reduced from four to two, (Max axial and Min axial).
5. Click Construction...

   

6. Edit the vertical reinforcement, by increasing the bar spacing from 8 to 16 in.

   

   The overall design status is unchanged.

   

7. As the patch is still passing with the increased bar spacing, click OK.

   

8. Click Finish.

   At this point the updated spacing is applied back to the panel and also to the other patch WP 2 associated with the panel, so that a uniform data set is achieved. The panel and its associated patches are then checked in the background.

   

   The Design Summary is updated with the new results.

   

   Unfortunately, the increased spacing has resulted in a fail for the other patch, so our attempt to further optimize the design has been unsuccessful.

   However, as we already know that an 8in spacing is acceptable, we can simply interactively redesign either of the patches to reset the spacing and return to a passing design.