Reinforced brick masonry
Reinforced brick masonry
(OP)
I am looking at a free standing garden wall, the wall ranges from about 8'-10' in height. The wall will be sitting on concrete curb which in turn is on a concrete slab so the wall will be easy to anchor.
The architect is showing a 3 wythe brick masonry wall. I am not familiar with reinforcing brick masonry. I've looked at the BIA technical notes and it seems to be fairly common. I've run some initial calcs per ACI 530 and the wall seems to be easily designable (under lateral loads).
I'm not familiar with doing this and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or can point me to some reference material. What is the best way of reinforcing the wall
- should I use hollow brick for the center wythe thus giving me a 'd' of 1/2 x t of wall?
- Some people have mentioned leaving out vertical pockets in the center wythe for the reinforcing, is this a good method?
- Can the vert bars (#3) be placed in the mortar joints thus giving me a 'd' of 2/3rd t of wall? In this method I would have to have bars on both sides - staggered I guess.
- Anything that I should be checking/thinking about in advance?
thanks
The architect is showing a 3 wythe brick masonry wall. I am not familiar with reinforcing brick masonry. I've looked at the BIA technical notes and it seems to be fairly common. I've run some initial calcs per ACI 530 and the wall seems to be easily designable (under lateral loads).
I'm not familiar with doing this and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or can point me to some reference material. What is the best way of reinforcing the wall
- should I use hollow brick for the center wythe thus giving me a 'd' of 1/2 x t of wall?
- Some people have mentioned leaving out vertical pockets in the center wythe for the reinforcing, is this a good method?
- Can the vert bars (#3) be placed in the mortar joints thus giving me a 'd' of 2/3rd t of wall? In this method I would have to have bars on both sides - staggered I guess.
- Anything that I should be checking/thinking about in advance?
thanks






RE: Reinforced brick masonry
Click on the Technical Notes tab at the top and you will find a list of BIA pdf documents - some of which are on reinforced brick.
Usually, the center wythe of brick is left out and grout/rebar is used within this center section to create a reinforced brick wall system. Lateral ties are required as well.
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
Are there any design guides on this? I'm not completely comfortable with the concept that the outer wythes act compositely with the inner - how is shear transfered across the collar joint? With the grout and the tied?
I'm sure this is common, I just want to make sure I'm not missing something. I also have several parapets with the same condition.
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
Yes. This is a common way to do it.
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
For an 8'to 10' high free-standing wall, the problem is anchorage to an adequate foundation and flexural resistance.
Apparently, it is necessary to have brick on both sides of the wall. If not, an CMU would be more structurally efficient, since the vertical steel can be placed closer to the face of a 12" thick bonded wall(8" + 4").
I assume there are no vertical columns of pilasters.
There are many feet of privacy wall that have become sidewalks because of lack of a proper connection to the foundation or inadequate wall flexural strength.
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
I'm not worried about the base, I have a 10" structural slab on a 12" foundation wall, there's plenty of structure there to deal with the overturning. I'm just not too comfortable working with brick.
So you are saying to leave out the inner wythe completely, reinforce this region vertically, and tie the entire wall every so many x courses correct? In this configuration is it permissible to use standard design procedures per aci 530?
How about the hollow brick that has holes for reinforcing/grout? Is this useful/helpful?
Thanks
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
There are some 6" wide brick with cores (for a 12" wall) that may be grouted to provide a wider reinforced section, but the exterior appearance choices are limited.
How long is the wall between any corners are stiffening? 6' high privacy walls are common, but the extra 2' to 4' make a big difference when it comes to lateral loads.
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
It's about 18' to 20' between return walls for stiffening. It's a rear yard in manhattan so realistically it will not see much wind load. I am still using the full wind load, I'm just saying that there is a bit of cushion there to sleep at night.
Are there any rules about how often to provide ties? When I draw this it feels like the outer wythe and that center reinforced potion want to separate and not act compositely. Is there a check or rule for how often the wall should be tied?
RE: Reinforced brick masonry
I have seen 15 to 30 story loadbearing buildings built with bonded, grouted 6" clay tile.
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
RE: Reinforced brick masonry