Part 1 – Problem 10: The deliverable states that we should report the maximum axial, bending and shear forces that are undergone by individual members. Does this mean that for each TH we need to check each member in our balsa wood numeric model in SAP2000 and report the maximum? Is this what individual members refer to?

Yes, but only members with the highest axial, bending, and shear forces must be reported. This should be easily obtainable by viewing member force diagrams or output tables from the software. Note that in question 3, we are asking for the highest forces, but in question 5, the highest stresses will also depend on cross-sectional […]

Part 1 – Problem 05: For inter-story drift ratio calculation for SAP users (since I believe ETABS has this already calculated), is there a location of preference to make these calculations? This question could also be reframed as reassurance that the diaphragm is still assumed to be flexible (and therefore not rigid nor semi-rigid as ASCE 7-16’s third drift calculation criterion dictates).

The best approximation may be to select the nodes at/closest to the Center of Gravity. This is one way of calculating the Center of Gravity: