{"id":33759,"date":"2026-04-27T13:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T13:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/protasoftware.com\/technical-manuals\/structural-modelling\/define-wall-column-span-loads\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T12:37:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T12:37:44","slug":"define-wall-column-span-loads","status":"publish","type":"wiki","link":"https:\/\/protasoftware.com\/wiki\/define-wall-column-span-loads\/","title":{"rendered":"Define Wall Column Span Loads"},"content":{"rendered":"

User-defined varying distributed lateral loads can be applied to the individual column and wall member.  The span load applied maybe used to simulate :<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Soil Pressure on basement wall<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Hydrostatic load<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. As an alternative to defining wind load (other than the default method of application to the floor diaphragm) <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n
    <\/p>\n
    The currently specified  Load Combinations<\/span><\/a> must include lateral load cases if you intend to apply column\/wall span loads. <\/div>\n

    <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    Horizontal load combination (example, Soil Pressure \u201cP\u201d) must be ticked before assigning lateral load to the walls.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \n
    Alternatively, create a new lateral load case and define it’s parameters in the Load Case Editor. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
        <\/ol>\n
      1. To create the load case (refer to snapshot below).                                                                                                                   \n
        <\/div>\n

        <\/li>\n

      2. To create the load combination manually, please refer to snapshot below.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \n
        \n
        <\/p>\n
        If you have basement floors, then Go to Edit Storey to choose the number of rigid basement to ensure correct analysis for seismic and wind load case if present. <\/div>\n

        <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

        <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n

        To Define Lateral Loads on Columns<\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. Users can define the lateral loads within the Load Editor<\/i><\/b> under the Loading<\/i><\/b> tab<\/li>\n
        2. In the Load Editor<\/i><\/b>, select the type of Frame Loads that is used to define the column loads.<\/li>\n
        3. In the example below, we shall select Partial Uniform Load<\/i><\/b>.                                                                                     <\/li>\n
        4. Under the Load Properties<\/i><\/b>, define the label for the frame load. <\/li>\n
        5. Then, select the direction where the load is acting from. In this example, we shall select the Global Y direction. <\/li>\n
        6. Users can select the measurement and insertion type, whether in in the form of Percentage or Distance. In this example, we shall use Percent where 0% is at the top of the column and 100% is at the bottom of the column.<\/li>\n
        7. Define the magnitude of force exerted on the column. A positive value of the magnitude will act along the direction of the Global Y axis while a negative magnitude will act against the direction of the Global Y axis.<\/li>\n
        8. After defining the magnitude, click Update<\/i><\/b> and select the column or wall that you wish to impose the the set loads on. You can consequently click multiple columns that you wish to assign the load on.<\/li>\n
        9. Close the form by pressing \u201cOK\u201d button.
          The entered values will be assigned to column\/wall. To check whether there is a load defined on a column\/wall, hover on the element with the mouse. The \u201cColumn Tooltip Window\u201d will include the span load information as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n

          Check Lateral Loads on Walls in Analytical Model<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
          \n
          To check the direction and value of the Colum lateral load assigned, run the Building Analysis. After Building Analysis is done, go to <\/span>Post-Analysis<\/span><\/b> > <\/span>Model and Analysis Result <\/span><\/b>Display to check the load direction & load value. Edit the load value and direction if necessary.<\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
          <\/div>\n
          <\/div>\n
          \n

          To Define Lateral Loads on Walls<\/h2>\n
          To define lateral loads for column\/wall members:<\/span><\/div>\n
            \n
          1. Select single or multiple column\/wall members you want to assign the span loads to.<\/li>\n
          2. Select the \u201cEdit Loads \u201d option located in the shortcut (right-click menu).<\/li>\n
          3. The \u201cEdit Loads\u201d tab will be loaded.
            <\/li>\n
          4. Click the Load Case cell and use the drop-down button to select the lateral load case in which to place the load.
            <\/li>\n
          5. Pick load types and input dimensions and magnitude in Load Properties. For more details of each load type, kindly refer to Load Editor<\/a>.<\/span>
            <\/span><\/li>\n
          6. Click Update.
            The entered load values will be applied to column\/wall. The \u201cColumn Tooltip Window\u201d will include the span load information as well.
            <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Check Lateral Loads on Walls in Analytical Model.
            <\/h3>\n
            \n
            To check the direction and value of the lateral load assigned, run Building Analysis. After Building Analysis is done, go to <\/span>Post-Analysis<\/span> > <\/span>Model and Analysis Result <\/span>Display to check the load direction & load value. Edit the load value and direction if necessary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
            <\/div>\n
            <\/p>\n
            Frame Load Diagram would not show on FE Shell Model in Post Analysis.<\/div>\n

            <\/span><\/div>\n

            \n
            <\/p>\n
            In order to view the diagram of lateral loads on walls in Analytical Model, users are advised to set the corresponding walls as "Mid-Pier Model". After confirming the loading value and direction are correct, then change the Wall Analysis Model from \u201cMid-Pier Model\u201d to \u201cFE Shell Model\u201d (if desired).<\/div>\n

            <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

            \n
            Alternatively, user can view the values of pressures on FE Shell Walls due to lateral loads in Analytical Model. (refer to the steps in the below diagram)<\/i><\/div>\n
            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
             <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/div>\n
            \n
            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
            \n
            \n

            Defining Soil Loads on Walls 
            <\/h2>\n
            In the Load editor, users have the option to define soil loads onto the walls. The soil load  option will generate the soil pressures automatically in accordance with the depth of the wall. <\/div>\n
            <\/div>\n
            To define soil load onto wall panels:<\/div>\n
              \n
            1. Select the wall which the soil load will be assigned to.<\/li>\n
            2. Select the load the load case for soil loads (Px or Py) and then click on the soil load icon.<\/li>\n
            3. The user is then prompted to select the wall surface which the soil load will be defined on.                         <\/li>\n
            4. The "Add Soil Load" box will pop up where the user shall define their Soil Model, Soil Profile <\/b><\/i>and Surcharge.<\/b><\/i> <\/li>\n
            5. The design code settings are under the Settings<\/i><\/b> tab where users can manually define their factors.                                                                                                                                            <\/li>\n
            6. After defining the parameters for the soil loads, the results can be viewed under the Results tab <\/b><\/i>and can print their report under Print Report.<\/b><\/i><\/li>\n
            7. Once finished, click <\/b>OK<\/b><\/i> to close the "Add Soil Load"<\/i> and click OK to confirm the soil load defined on the wall and close the Load Editor. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
              \n

              Check Soil Loads on Walls in Analytical Model
              <\/h3>\n
              \n
              To check the direction and value of the lateral load assigned, run Building Analysis. After Building Analysis is done, go to <\/span><\/span>Post-Analysis<\/span><\/span> > <\/span><\/span>Model and Analysis Result <\/span><\/span>Display to check the load direction & load value. Edit the load value and direction if necessary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
              <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
              <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              User-defined varying distributed lateral loads can be applied to the individual column and wall member.  The span load applied maybe used to simulate : Soil…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_whitepaper_youtube_videos":"","_whitepaper_youtube_url":"","_whitepaper_youtube_thumbnail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"whitepaper_topic":[],"whitepaper_product":[],"whitepaper_type":[],"class_list":["post-33759","wiki","type-wiki","status-publish","hentry","category-structural-modelling"],"yoast_head":"\nDefine Wall Column Span Loads - Prota Software<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"User-defined varying distributed lateral loads can be applied to the individual column and wall member.  The span load applied maybe used to simulate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/protasoftware.com\/wiki\/define-wall-column-span-loads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prota Software\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"User-defined varying distributed lateral loads can be applied to the individual column and wall member.  The span load applied maybe used to simulate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/protasoftware.com\/wiki\/define-wall-column-span-loads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prota Software\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T12:37:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/protasoftware.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/prota-doc-661d35288adbb25058cbb1dc12a18dc0.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Prota Software\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/protasoftware.com\\\/wiki\\\/define-wall-column-span-loads\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/protasoftware.com\\\/wiki\\\/define-wall-column-span-loads\\\/\",\"name\":\"Define Wall Column Span Loads - 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