Structural Vignette

[alydvor]

This is my trial at the Structural Vignette. I know most people just use the column approach, but I think utilizing both systems would be beneficial.

Not quite sure what people are saying when they suggest there are "many rules " that apply to using bearing walls in a solution. Could someone explain, please?

Thanks so much.

[danegel]

Hi,

I had a similar issue to yours. The beam in your southwest wall of the common space is redundant and not needed since it is not holding anything up. The wall is holding its on weight, however, if that was a load bearing wall (holding up the column above) it would be justified. Can someone comment on this statement?

thanks

[aa_banned]

The beam in the southwest wall of the common space is NOT redundant and IS needed since it is holding up the door header/lintel. The door is 7'-0" high.

In real exam or real life, if you are not sure, it is better to be redundant than missing a member, which can be fatal.

[iei515]

The beam in the southwest wall of the common space is NOT redundant and IS needed since it is holding up the door header/lintel. The door is 7'-0" high.

In real exam or real life, if you are not sure, it is better to be redundant than missing a member, which can be fatal.

The beam is not redundant? Now I am confused and testing in 2 days. can someone else comment on this- Mike-SE? Coach?

[Grymatta]

If you're using a steel system, that SW beam is not needed.

I highly recommend you stick with the steel column and beam system rather than a combination of bearing walls and steel for your vignette. Less factors to worry about. Remember, the vignette isn't about design or creativity. You just want to pass the vignette, you do not get extra points for creativity.

[jhesterm]

When using a steel beam and column system (which you should always do unless you are forced to do otherwise), That SW beam is reduntant because beam you have on the upper story is all that is needed to support the weight of the roof joists and deck and transfer that load into the column. Because you do not have your clearstory wall on the South face you aren't holding up anything else so that beam is redundant. Now, IF in the test it said your clearstory was to extend the whole of the SOUTH wall, then you WOULD need that beam in order to support the clearstory. Since the clearstory is located on the north wall in this example, the beams you have already added to support the weight of the joists and decking at the north end of level 1 is are sufficient to support the clearstory as well. I hope this helps with you understanding.

YELLOW + GREY = BEAM ALWAYS! And speaking of, you will need a beam in that line where your second level is coming down and meeting that covered entry. Apparently they now "require" a beam in that space without telling anyone they are actually requiring it regardless of whether or not your joists are running parallel or perpendicular.

[Mike-SE]

The beam in the southwest wall of the common space is NOT redundant and IS needed since it is holding up the door header/lintel. The door is 7'-0" high.

In real exam or real life, if you are not sure, it is better to be redundant than missing a member, which can be fatal.

The beam is not redundant? Now I am confused and testing in 2 days. can someone else comment on this- Mike-SE? Coach?

I disagree with aa_banned. The vignette is about the roof framing. Assuming you are using an all steel frame, the upper roof is support on beams that span between columns, columns extend to the floor, the wall does not support any roof loads. This is the same condition as the window wall on the west side of the common area. Look at the NCARB and you do not see a beam on the west wall of the common area.

The vignette specifies that lintels are required in only loadbearing walls. Again, assuming an all steel solution, there are not bearing walls and therefore no lintels are required anywhere.
From the NCARB guide: "Lintels are requried to be shown in bearing walls only (bad grammar on their part) Other lintels shall not be shown (emphasis added).

If you go back to the NCARB guide you see a lintel in the questioned location. Why? The candidate used ALL bearing walls for the low roof, the bearing walls support the columns from the high roof.

The program explicitly states that the joists may support ONLY roof loads. When you place a joist in a two story wall you interrupt the wall and you must add a beam to support the wall above the joist. Why did I say beam and not lintel? Because it is a non-loadbearing wall and therefore you shall not show a lintel in that wall (re-read the paragraph).
Lastly, if you place a beam on the low roof plan, it is at the level of the low roof and spans column to column. The building code requires a minimum 7'-6" clear height for occupied spaces, so the low roof and the beams supporting the low roof must be above 7'-6". The lintel for the door in the wall must be at 7'-0 so a beam placed on the low roof level cannot act as a lintel for the opening.
Redundant is a word that should not be used when reviewing the vignette. It is not redundant, it is not required and placing it on the plan may be an error. Leaving it out may be an error, but it is not a fatal error (I know because I passed the exam and remember where I placed and did not place beams.)
Final recommendation is leave it out. BUT, and all that have been through the tests will emphasize this, decide what YOU will do before you enter the exam room, you do not have time during the exam to try and remember what Coach, AA_ or I said, you need to draw and get out of there for a beer. So, decide!