CH-08
INTRODUCTION TO
MASONRY STRUCTURE
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual
units, which are often laid in and bound together by
mortar.
The common materials of masonry construction are
stones, bricks, or precast concrete blocks.
Depending upon the types of buildings units used,
MASONRY can be classified into following categories :
A. Stone masonary.
B. Brick MASONRY.
C. Composite MASONRY.
1. Some Important Terms Used In Masonry :
1. STRETCHER:
A brick, laid with its length horizontal and parallel
with the face of the wall or other masonry member is
called a "Stretcher" and a course, in which, all the bricks
are laid as Stretchers is called a “Stretching course" .
2. HEADER:
A brick laid, so that only its end shows on the face
of a wall is called a "Header" and a course, in which all
the bricks are laid as headers, is known as "Heading
Course" or "Header course“.
3.
BOND:
Bond is the arrangement of bricks or stones in each
course, so as to ensure the greatest possible interlocking
and to avoid the continuity of vertical joints in two
successive courses, both on the face and in the body of a
wall.
4. COURSE:
Each horizontal layer of bricks laid in mortar in a
brick work is called a "course".
5. BRICK BATS :
The pieces of bricks, cut long their length and having
width equivalent to that of a full or half brick are called
"Brick bats“.
6. QUEEN CLOSER:
Queen closer is a brick, which is half as wide as full
brick and is made by cutting a whole brick lengthwise into
two portions.
These are generally used next to the Quoin header
for creating bonds in brickwork.
7. KING
CLOSER:
A brick, whose one diagonal piece is cut off one corner by a
vertical plane passing through the center of one end to the
center of one side.
8. BEVELED CLOSER:
A brick cut longitudinally along a vertical plane,
starting at the middle of one end to the far corner.
One quarter of the brick is cut off in this way.
9. BULLNOSE :
A brick with rounded corners is called a “Bull Nose
Brick”
10. FROG
Froged bricks shall have depressions in one or
more bed faces but their total volume shall not
exceed 20% of gross volume of a brick.
BRICK
MASONARY
Bond is the arrangement of bricks in each course,
so as to ensure the greatest possible interlocking
and to avoid the continuity of vertical joints in two
successive courses, both on the face.
and in the body of a wall.
TYPES OF
BONDS
1) Stretching Bond
2) Heading Bond
3) English Bond
4) Flemish Bond
(i)Double Flemish
Bond
(ii)Single Flemish
Bond
5) Rat Trap Bond
1.STRETCHING
BOND
The bond in which all the bricks are laid as stretchers in
every course is called "Stretching bond”.
2.HEADING
BOND
The bond in which all the
bricks are laid as headers
in every course of a wall is
called "Heading bond".
This bond is commonly
used for constructing
staining of wells, footings
of walls and columns,
corbels, cornices, etc.
3.ENGLISH
BOND
This bond consists of headers and stretchers laid in
alternative courses.
It is strongest of all the bonds.
It provides rough appearance especially for one brick
thick walls.
There are no noticeable continuous vertical joints in
the structure built in this bond.
Much attention is not required in providing this bond.
Progress of work is more.
It is costly because the use of brick bats is not allowed.
4.FLEMISH
BOND
The bond, in which
headers and stretchers
are laid alternately in
the same course, is
called "Flemish bond".
Two types Flemish bond:-
(i) Double Flemish Bond:-
(ii) Single Flemish Bond:-
(i) Double Flemish
Bond:-
The bond in which headers and stretchers are laid
alternately in each course, both in the face and back of
the wall, is called Double Flemish Bond.
(ii) Single Flemish
Bond:-
The bond provided in a
wall with Flemish bond in
facing and English bond in
backing is called "Single
Flemish bond" or "Cross
bond".
This bond combines the
advantages of both English
and Flemish bonds and
simultaneously eliminates
their disadvantages.
Sr
No. English Bonds Flemish bond
1 This bond consists of headers and This bond consists of headers and
stretchers laid in alternative courses. stretchers laid alternatively in each
course.
2 It is strongest of all the bonds. It is less strong for walls having
thickness more than 13 ½ inches.
3 It provides rough appearance especially It provides good appearance for all
for one brick thick walls. thickness of walls.
4 There are no noticeable continuous vertical There are partly continuous vertical
joints in the structure built in this bond. joints in the structure built in this bond.
5 Much attention is not required in Special attention is required in providing
providing this bond. this bond.
6 Progress of work is more. Progress of work is less.
7 It is costly because the use of brick bats It is economical because brick bats are
is not allowed. allowed for forming this bind.
.RAT TRAP BOND
Construction of Rat Trap Bond
1.The bricks are placed in a vertical position so that 110 mm face is
seen from front elevation, instead of the 75mm face (considering brick
of standard size 230 X 110 X 75 mm).
2.As the width of the wall is kept as 230mm, a cavity is created inside
the wall.
3.However, the first and the last layer of the masonry is constructed as
the convention solid masonry.
4.In the sill, lintel and sides of openings are made of solid masonry
(without cavity) for fixing of frames.
5.To strengthen the masonry, vertical and horizontal reinforcement bars
are provided in the cavities.
6.Electrical conduits and plumbing pipes, with prior planning, can be put
inside the cavity for better aesthetics.
Advantages of Rat Trap Bond
The cavities in the masonry act as thermal insulators. Thus, the
interiors remain cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
Rat Trap masonry uses fewer bricks and mortar reducing the
cost of masonry up to 30% when compared with conventional
brick masonry.
The number of bricks used in the construction of rat trap
masonry is 470, whereas, in conventional masonry, it is 550.
Walls constructed using rat trap masonry can be used as load-
bearing as well as a thick partition wall.
Rat-trap bond when kept exposed, creates aesthetically
pleasing wall surface and the cost of plastering and painting
may also be avoided.
Advantages of Rat Trap Bond
As this type of masonry has 30% of cavities, the dead load of
the structure is reduced which in turn reduces the structure
supporting members such as column and footing.
In case of more structural safety, reinforcement bars can be
inserted through the cavity until the foundation.
Many buildings that were constructed decades ago have
proved that this type of walling technology is durable and the
maintenance costs are low.
Disadvantages of Rat Trap Bond
Due to the formation of cavities in the masonry, the building does
not provide good sound insulations.
Skilled labor is required to construct this type of masonry.
Frequent cleaning of external surface required if not plastered.
Special care and attention to be given while designing and
constructing rat trap bond masonry.
Hollow Block and Compressed Earth Block
1.HOLLOW BLOCK
• CONCRETE BLOCK: Concrete Blocks are cast masonry
units that can be made with different types of aggregate
sand, crushed stone and gravel, but material such as
volcanic cinders, expanded slag and especially treated
shale or clay may also be used.
There are various kinds of concrete blocks which may be
used for different kinds of masonry construction, a choice
can be made based on texture availability or types or
shapes in a particular area, local codes or insulation
factors.
Fig. Hollow (Concrete) Blocks
CLAY BLOCKS:
• Hollow clay blocks are made up of selective
clay or diatomaceous (fossilized) earth which is
dried and burnt. The clay blocks are used to
build foundations, walls and other structural
members. In this block, thermal insulation is
very good.
2. COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCK (CEB)
• The compressed earth block is the modern descendant of the
molded earth block, more commonly known as the adobe
block. The idea of compacting earth to improve the quality and
performance of molded earth blocks.
Advantages:
i. The production of the material using mechanical presses
varying in design and operation marks a real improvement over
traditional methods of producing earth blocks.
ii. Compressed earth block production is generally linked to the
setting up of quality control procedure which can meet
requirements for building products standard norms.
Masonry as Infill Walls
Masonry infill walls are used as the interior
partitions and as exterior walls to form a part
of the building envelope in multi-stored
buildings.
Masonry infill is often used to fill the void
between the vertical and horizontal resisting
elements. An infill wall enhances considerably
the strength of structures.
According to Nepal National Building Code
(NBC 109:1994)
Clause 15.1 Infill Panels and Non-Structural Walls
a) In-fill panel walls in a building shall be designed
to ensure that they act together with the frame
in full composite action.
b) The seismic load at each level shall be
distributed to the individual wall in proportion to
the product of each wall's thickness and length.
This product is representative of the diagonal
strut are and thus of the wall's shear stiffness.
c) Any frame is to be designed to resist all the
gravity loads without any assistance from the
infill walls as these walls may either fail or be
very severely damaged in a large earthquake.
d) The centre of rigidity of the infill walls (except
face wall) shall be as near as possible to the
centre of rigidity of the complete system of walls.
e) An infill wall shall be so designed that it sustains
minimum damage during any deflection of the
supporting structure during an earthquake and
shall be designed to resist all action resulting
from in-plane and face loads.
f) The minimum thickness of an infill wall shall be the same as that
of partition walls, and its openings should be as small as possible
and cover not more than 10 % of the panel area. The preferable
location of an opening in a wall is outside the central two-thirds
of the sides and away from the corners. If the opening must be
near the centre of the wall, it shall be provided reinforced
concrete beam 75 mm thick, the other dimension to be equal to
thickness of wall and reinforced with two 12 mm diameter Fe
415 grade bars longitudinally and 8 mm diameter Fe415 grade
bar link ties.
g) Partition walls shall have a minimum thickness of 115mm and
shall have horizontal reinforcement (one 6 mm diameter bar in
each face) in every sixth course of block work.
h) If the infill wall is constructed in a Category I or II building, the thickness
of infill wall shall not be less than 230 mm.
Reinforced and Un-reinforced Masonry
A. MASONRY: UNREINFORCED
An unreinforced masonry building (UMB) is a type of building where load
bearing walls, non-load bearing walls and other structures such as
chimney are made up of bricks, adobe, tile or other masonry materials
that is not braced by reinforcing beams.URM structures are vulnerable to
collapse in an earthquake.
Characteristics
•The walls are weak in resisting horizontal
forces.
•There is lacking of ductility and toughness.
•The walls are heavy(they have high mass
leading to high inertial forces)
•Diaphragms are excessively flexible (insufficient
lateral support for the walls).
B. MASONRY: REINFORCED
Reinforced masonry structures are those in
which reinforcement bars (“rebars”),
Reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been
incorporated to strengthen the
structure\Reinforcing extends the characteristics
like ductility, toughness and energy absorption
of masonry structures that is very necessary in
structures subjected to dynamic forces of
earthquake. Reinforcing steel also resist shear
and tensile force generated by the dynamic
load.
Fig. Masonry Reinforced
{A rebar (short for reinforcing bar), also known as
reinforcing steel, reinforcement steel, rod, or a deformed
bar, is a common steel bar, and is commonly used as a
tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced
masonry structures holding the concrete in compression.
It is usually formed from carbon steel, and is given ridges
for better mechanical anchoring into the concrete.}
Horizontal bands with vertical reinforcements at corners
and junctions of walls are provided to integrate the
structure and steels are provided around the openings to
prevent the diagonal cracks that tend to radiate from the
corners of openings.
