Contents Page

1. Introduction
2. Properties of bricks
2.1 Types of bricks
2.2 Compressive strength
2.3 Absorption
3. Connections
4. Movement in Masonry Walls
5. Wall ties
6. Shear strength and stresses

Page 2

7. Lateral Support

Page 10

Page 2
Page 2
Page 3
Page 3
Page 4
Page 6
Page 10

8. Bonding
8.1 Stretcher Bond

Page 12

8.2 English Bond

Page 13

9. Header Course vs Wall Ties

10. Recommendations
11. Conclusion
12. References
2.

Page 15
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20

1. Introduction
The shape and size of bricks can vary a lot, and similarly the mortars that areused depends
on local material availability, but the basic form of construction for houseshas minor
geographical variations and has changed relatively little over time.A major problem is under
design of the masonry and mortar for certain wall requirements. Extensive care must be
taken for the binding together of different leaves. Many types of bonds have been developed
over centuries with English bond as one of the preferred bonds because of the alternating
header course to enhance strength and binding. Wall ties have also been introduced to
stretcher bond and cavity walls to enhance the strength of two leaves by supporting them to
act together as one single unit. The analysis of a typical masonry wall has to be done with
axial strain, moisture absorption, shrinkage, differential shortening and the different E-values
of different materials taken into account.

2. Properties of bricks
2.1 Types of bricks

Fig 1: Types of masonry units

2.2 Compressive strength

The compressive strength of masonry bricks can be determined accurately. It is found by
crushing 12 bricks individually until they fail or crumble. The pressure that was required to
crush the bricks is noted and the average compressive strength of the brick is stated as
Newton per mm of surface area required to ultimately crush the brick. The crushing
resistance varies from about 3.5 N/mm for soft facing bricks up to 140 N/mm for
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engineering bricks. The bearing strength of a brick wall 215 mm thick is very much greater
than the loads a wall will usually carry.
The average compressive strength of some bricks commonly used is:
Mild (soft) stocks

3.5 N/mm

Hard stocks

17.5 N/mm

Flettons

21 N/mm

Southwater A

70 N/mm

2.3 Absorption
The required thickness of an external brick wall is determined primarily by its ability to
absorb rainwater to the extent that water does not penetrate to the inside face of the wall. In
positions of moderate exposure to wind driven rain a brick wall 215 mm thick may absorb so
much water that it penetrates to the inside face.The current external wall to small buildings
such as houses is built as a cavity wall with a 102.5mm external leaf of brick, a cavity and an
inner leaf of block. The external leaf is sufficiently thick, with the cavity, to prevent
penetration of rain to the inside face and more than thick enough to support the loads it
carries.Many tests have been done to determine the amount of water absorbed by bricks
and also to determine the rate of absorption in order to establish a grading system for the
ability of bricks to resist the penetration of rain. Rain water tends to penetrate a small crack
in the mortar between bricks rather than being absorbed by the bricks itself. Also by soaking
a brick in water is a far from reliable guide to the amount of water they can absorb as air in
the poresmay prevent total absorption. But the amount of water a brick will absorb is a guide
to its density and therefore its strength in resisting crushing.

3. Connections
There are 4 types of connections that are crucial for the structural performance of brick
masonry elements:
1. The extent and quality of bond between bricks and mortar influences the integrity and
shear resistance of brick masonry walls. It is essential for the brickwork to be properly
constructed to allow for the best possible level to develop of bonding. It is also important to
ensure re-pointing of bed and head joints at regular time intervals so as to ensure the
maximum possible surface of contact.
2. The connection between two leaves of brick walls is crucial to the stability and longevity.
Modern masonry construction standards require regularly spaced ties between the leaves of
a cavity wall to ensure monolithic behaviour and redistribution between the walls
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3. The strength and stability of connections at corners and junctions depends on the specific
fabric of corner returns. Such connections ensure the redistribution of lateral forces among
walls.
4. The connection between the walls and the horizontal structures (floors and roof) are
important. This connection highly influences the seismic performance of the building.

4. Movement in Masonry Walls

Control joints are constructed into a wall to allow movements such as expansion and
contraction of the masonry. Control joints can either be vertical or horizontal joints.
Vertical control joints are 15 - 20mm in width.It accommodates horizontal movements. They
are not normally provided in base brickwork less than 600mm high or on the internal leaves
of clay brick cavity walls of small buildings.
Horizontal control joints controls the differential movement like for example when clay
brickwork is used as cladding or for infill purposes. Horizontal control joints are usually 10
15mm in width.
Differential movements in masonry walls may result from a number of factors:

Permanent changes in the size of the masonry walls

Shrinkage of the structure of reinforced concrete buildings to which masonry walls

are connected

Elastic deformation of load bearing members

Cyclical thermal movements

Failure to consider the above movements during the design process can result in
considerable structuraldamage that can be extremely costly to repair.Buildings that include
masonry elements should be designed to accommodate differentialmovement.The design
procedure is relatively simple with some basic design factors to consider.

Basic Design Factors

All masonry walls and masonry structures should be designed to accommodate for
differential movement. Movements that must be allowed for can be outlined as follows:

Long term vertical and horizontal shrinkage of concrete blocks and calcium silicate
bricks

Long term vertical and horizontal expansion of clay bricks

Long term vertical shortening of load bearing frames and load bearing walls resulting
from such factors as elastic shortening, creep shortening and drying shrinkage

Long term horizontal shortening of reinforced concrete frames and floors form drying
shrinkage

Differential thermal movements. The outside cladding of a building is subjected to a

greater range of temperature than the internal structure it shields and the effects of
this must be considered at the time of design.

When a brick wall is subjected to a rise or fall in temperature, it will expand or contract. The
movement can be calculated with the following equation:

= t L

Where: is the coefficient of thermal expansion (See Table 1)

t is the change in temperature
L is the length of wall

Walling Material

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

() /C

CLAY BRICKWORK
Horizontal

0.000006

Vertical

0.0000084

CALCIUM SILICATE

0.0000012
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CONCRETE

0.0000012

Table 1: Coefficients of Thermal Expansion

Example:
For a unit height of wall built with concrete brickwork with temperature change of
30C:

=( 12 106 ) 30 1000

=0.36 mm /unit height

5. Wall ties
Structural requirements in Masonry Walls is usually achieved with the introduction and
building in of Wall ties, designed to provide lateral stability and strength when used in correct
building practice.Metal wall ties are also used to anchor a wall to floors, roofs or to opposite
walls. The inertia force of the roof- and floor slabs is transferred to the wall through the wall
ties. When a wall is anchoreddirectly to an opposite wall, the metallic ties will pass under the
floor structure. Guidelines must be followed to ensure that the correct minimum amount of
wall ties is used and the distribution thereof in the walls has to be as specified in the referring
SANS codes. The load-deflection characteristics of ties have to be considered upon
assessment for the capability of ties to transmit the required forces. Fig 2 below shows
typical load deflection curves for some commercially available types of wall ties that are
clamped 75mm apart and subjected to axial tension.Butterfly ties are mostly used in
masonry wall construction. But for this assignment, crimp ties will be the main focus.

From a structural point of view, the main function of wall ties is to provide interaction
between the two leaves of a wall in such a degree that more loads can be carried by loadsharing than by the two leaves acting separately. This interaction between the bricks and the
ties enables the leaves of a wall to act as a complete structural unit to resist compressive
and flexural forces.In some cases it also permits some differential longitudinal and vertical
movement between the leaves. Selection of a tie system to function properly in a wall is
further complicated by the vast number of tie types available. SABS 28: 1986 specifies
various types of ties.

Fig 2: Axial tension Deflection of wall ties

SIZE
MASS
150mm
0.90kg
200mm
1.20kg
225mm
1.35kg
250mm
1.40kg
280mm
1.60kg
305mm
1.90kg
Table 2: Typical crimp tie sizes available
Table 3 and table 4 can be compared to see the difference between the compression
strengths of butterfly ties and crimp ties respectively:

Label/ Test No

Load (N)

Diameter

Failure Mode of Tie

BC-1

813

3.15 mm

Brick couplet collapse

BC-2

587

3.15 mm

Brick couplet collapse

BC-3

623

3.15 mm

Brick couplet collapse

Mean

674.33

Std Dev

121.43

Characteristic

473.97

Table 3: Butterfly tie compression strength

Label/ Test No

Load (N)

Diameter

Failure Mode of Tie

CC-1

986

3,15 mm

Buckling

CC-2

1123

50 mm

Buckling

CC-3

1235

50 mm

Buckling

Mean

1114.67

Std Dev

124.71

Characteristic

908.89

Table 4: Crimped tie compression strength

Fig 3: Typical section through cavity wall showing tie connection

Fig 4: Typical crimp tie detail

Minimum characteristic strength and stiffness of Wall Ties

1
Classification

Min. characteristic strength, kN

Min. characteristic

Tension

stiffness, kN/mm

Compression

Light duty

0. 25

0. 3

Not applicable

Medium duty

0. 5

0. 6

1. 0

Heavy duty

1. 25

1. 5

2. 5

Extra-heavy duty

2. 5

3. 0

5. 0

Table 5:The min characteristic strength of wall ties

Fig 5: The function of wall ties

6. Shear strength and stresses

Shear strength of masonry is defined as a combination of initial shear strength under zero
compressive load and increase in strength due to compressive stresses perpendicular to
the shear plane. The way a masonry wall will act under a load is comparable to any other
material under the same conditions.It will be subjected to the same basic stresses.
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Fig 6: Stresses in walls

7. Lateral support

Masonry structures will tend to buckle when loads are applied on the wall. This failure is a
function of the slenderness ratio. The slenderness ratio for masonry walls is calculated with
the following equation:

Slenderness Ratio =SR=

SR=

effective height (length)

effective thickness

hef lef
tef

Given that:
SR 20 for walls thinner than 90mm that exceeds two storeys
or
SR 27 for all other cases
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Where walls are too slender, horizontal or vertical later support should be provided to
prevent buckling. Lateral support is provided in many forms such as roofs, floors, piers,
intersection walls etc. See Fig 7 for an illustration of the effect of lateral support.

Fig 7: Lateral support

Table 6 shows which support is relevant for certain heights of a specific wall.

Table 6: Lateral-support forwalls

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8. Bonding
Appearance is a big preference when choosing a type of bond, but the arrangement of the
bricks have to comply for the required strength abilities. If the foundations upon which a
masonry wall is built were to settle irregularly, the masonry wall will split from the top to the
bottom along one or more of the continuous verticaljoints, according to the nature of the
settlement. This will cause the wall to simply act as a number of separate piers, with nothing
to bind them together but the adhesion of the mortar. If a half-brick that is cut longitudinally
(referred to as a closer), be inserted next to the smaller end of the corner brick and
continued through the thickness of the wall in every course, as in Fig. 8, it will be seen that
each brick overlaps the bricks with which it is in contact, thus entirely avoiding the
continuous vertical joints referred to above. In building a brick structure, therefore, care
should be taken to lay each brick so that it will overlap the bricks with which it is in contact
above and below, in such a manner that the whole wall will act as one complete mass. This
process of overlapping is called "Bonding."

Fig8.

8.1 Stretcher bond

The four faces of a brick which may be exposed in fairface brickwork are the two, long,
stretcher faces and the two header faces illustrated in Fig.9. The bed is referred to as the
face on which the brick is laid. Some bricks have an indent or frog formed in one of the bed
faces which purposeis to assist in compressing the wet clay during moulding. This also

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serves as a reservoir of mortar on to which bricks in the course above may more easily be
bedded.

Fig9: Stretcher bond detail

The length of a brick dictates the thickness of a wall. The length of bricks varies in many
cases due to the difference in materials and the conditions in which they are made. Clays
tend to shrink during firing.
The external leaf of a cavity wall is often built of brick for the advantage of the appearance of
brickwork. The most straightforward way of laying bricks in a thin outer leaf of a cavity wall is
with the stretcher face of each brick showing externally.

8.2 English Bond

The following rules applyfor good bonding in walls built with English bond:
1. Bricks of the same size and shape have to be used throughout the whole wall.
2. A uniform arrangement of the brickwork should be kept throughout the wall.
3. Small portions of bricks should be used as little as possible.
4. The interior walls should be built with the bricks being laid as headers.
5. The lap should not be more than 58mm.

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6. Vertical joints in courses should be vertically aligned over one another.

The facing bricks in an English bond wall are laid in alternate courses of headers and
stretchers. Queen-closers are inserted next to the quoin-headers to ensure that the bricks
will overlap properly. It does not matter whether the corners of English bond walls should
represent stopped ends because the external angle that are formed by the junction of two
walls appearance of face will be precisely the same all round.

English bond is the strongest bond because it avoids continuous vertical joints in most cases
and should be recommended for general use because of its strength advantages. The use of
it on the ground can allow the penetration of damp through the numerous transverse joints
and its appearance may not present as good as Flemish bond brick walls. But the problem
with the damp can easily occur in any type of bond and is preventable through many
techniques and products on the market and with regards to the appearance of the wall there
is no reason why strength should be sacrificed for such a preference.

Fig. 10: Header and Flemish bond.

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Fig. 11: English bond.

9. Header Course vs Wall Ties

A 230mm thick wall, 2m high and with 0.8kN axial load that is carried by the wall. this
investigation was done to determine which bond would be stronger. Header course bonding
or wall tie bonding.

Fig A: Wall detail for calculations

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Fig
B:

Illustration of wall bending with and without wall ties

Calculations:
Bending moment:

BM =Wk Pf

h2
2

0.8 1.4

2
2

2.24 kNm

Wall with header course bonding. (No wall ties)

15

Wall with wall ties

16

This investigation was done to determine which bond would be stronger. Header course
bonding or wall tie bonding.
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It was determined that the moment of resistance for the wall with the ties is greater than that
of the wall bonded with header course. Therefore wall ties should be preferred above header
course construction.
Table 7 provides codes and guidelines for the spacing of wall ties and headers course bricks
in a double leaf wall.

Table 7: Spacing of Wall Ties and Headers in double leaf walls

10. Recommendations

It is clearly seen that the wall with the wall ties is stronger than the wall without any wall ties.
The wall ties transfer loads better than header course and when used correctly, can increase
the strength of the wall. Therefore it is recommended that wall ties should be considered
when large loads have to be carried by a wall when the load is not applied with zero
eccentricity and the wall is prone to buckling.

11. Conclusion

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Bonding between bricks and mortar is crucial to the unity of a wall but different factors play
an important role for enhancing the strength and stability of two leaves that need to work
together as a unit. Different bond-types have different strength and stability properties as
well as aesthetic value. English bond is a preferred bond type because of its ability to
enhance strength and binding but still does not provide the same enhanced properties as
wall ties. Wall ties can be introduced to stretcher bond and cavity walls to enhance the
strength. Both types of walls do not allow for header course construction and therefore wall
ties makes for a sound bonding tool. Crimped Ties have a greater resistance to buckling
under compressive loads than header course brickwork and therefore wall ties should rather
be considered during design and construction.

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12. References

http://civilconstructiontips.blogspot.com/2011/06/stretcher-bond-walls.html
http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/earthquakes/MasonryBrick/PlainBrickMasonry.htm
http://theconstructor.org/structural-engg/walls-types-features-and-design-concept/819/
http://www.brunswicksales.com.au/masonry-flexible-anchors.html
SANS 10164-1

NHBRC (NATIONAL HOME BUILDERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL)

SABS 28:1986

AUSTRALIAN CODE (AS 2699- 1984)

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STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA . 1984. WALL TIES FOR MASONRY

CONSTRUCTION. AS 2699. AUSTRALIA .

Dina, D. UNREINFORCED BRICK MASONRY CONSTRUCTION, University of Bath, United

Kingdom
Watermeyer, R.B. Crofts, F.S. & Lane, J.W. THE STRUCTURAL USE OF MASONRY. SABS
0164 Parts 1 & 2. SAICE Lecture Course. 26 August 1992.
Parrot, G. REINFORCED CONCRETE & MASONRY DESIGN III. Study guide I. University of
South Africa.

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