curved load bearing masonry walls
curved load bearing masonry walls
(OP)
I am looking at plans for new construction of a residential facility with a large waiting room. The exterior walls are load bearing masonry with a radius of 22 feet. The issue is there is a 9 foot window in the center of the wall. The Arch's detail show a bond beam at the top of the opening. I believe that the window will be radial to match the wall radius. My question is: can a curved lintel be constructed using bond beams? I thought about using a curved steel beam, but am unsure of the cost. As always any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.






RE: curved load bearing masonry walls
RE: curved load bearing masonry walls
RE: curved load bearing masonry walls
The radius is not that tight, but the challenge is to determine what the real loads are on the beam and masonry wall of unknown height are. If you have enough masonry above, it is not a big problem because of arch action.
Once you try to make "simplifying" assumptions, you make the analysis more conservative and easier, but open to many different problems, but that is just the nature of structural engineering.
The architect could have a say on the length of the units (8" or 16") depending on the ultimate wall finish. I would assume he is comfortable with 16" long segments and not 8" segments. The 8" segment length is usually acceptable for most exposed masonry walls.
RE: curved load bearing masonry walls
RE: curved load bearing masonry walls