INTELS AND ARCHES necessary to support a wall over an opening, While constructing walls, it is necessary ‘to provide openings for doors, windows, cupboards and wardrobes, etc. The structural members used to bridge these openings are lintels and arches. A lintel is a structural member that acts as a beam and transfers the foad over it by flexural action to the supporting wall. An arch is an invariably curved member that transfers the load over it mainly through thrust and friction between its units. RCC arches of very large span are used for bridges. In this chapter, we will discuss arches used in buildings, Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Understand the purpose of using lintels and arches in buildings Distinguish between lintels and arches Explain the stability requirements of arches Describe the various types of arches Explain the construction of arches 9.1 LINTELS Lintels are provided over openings so that the frames of doors and windows are not unduly loaded. The width of a lintel is the same as that of wall. Lintels transfer the load by flexural action to the side walls. The end bearing for lintels should be greater than the following: l intels and arches are essential components of walls. They are provided wherever ¢ 100mm © Depth of lintel © 1/12 the span 4.1.1 Types of Lintels / ; According to the materials used, lintels may be classified into the following types: Wood or timber lintel . on ' These are the oldest of lintels used. Nowadays, they are only in hilly regions, where timber is easily ible ‘Timber lintel may be a single piece or assembled by joining 2-3 Pieces, Sometimes, they are strengthened by steel plates at the top and bottom. Such lintels are town oo Tc lintels. Hard and sound timber should be used for making lintels. Timber lintels have some disadvantages: © They are liable to decay. © They are liable to be destroyed by fire. * They are comparatively weak. . They are costly.162 Building Construction Stone lintels ji ilable. As stones are A : are easily avatlal : Weak in Stone beams are used as lintels, wherever stones BY” a oir depth is kept about 1/108 of tension, stone Tintels can be used only for smaller SP ghape adds to the construction cos, i to the required size a! P the span. Dressing the stones to t! eq ie ee Tintels are not popular. They arg Moreover, stones cannot resist vibrations. used to span small openings in low-cost housing, usually in regions where slate is available abundantly. Brick lintels ‘Well bunt good bricks are laid on edges to form lintels (Figure 9.1). Brick lintel needs temporary form work at the time of construction. The lintel is to be cured for 1-2 weeks before the form work can be removed. The thickness of the brick lintel should be‘in multiples of the number of brick courses. Brick lintels are useful to span small openings only. Opening Figure 9.1 Brick lintel Steel lintels Steel angles or rolled steel I-sections may be used as lintels. They were used for large openings before concrete was invented. If more than one section is used, tube separators are used to maintain spacing between them. If the sections are exposed to the atmosphere, they require regular painting. They may be encased in concrete to avoid maintenance lem. Figure 9.2 shows the details of a steel lintel, or rolled steel joist (RSJ). bic aa t RSJlintel Concrete ember : (@) Elevation ment “units (b) Cross-section Multiple Figure 9.2 Stee} lintelLintelsand Arches 163 2 Cet Tish ons io haha of openings and usually run over the entire length resistance to earthquake also, is in a framed structure. Such lintels provide excellent 3. Lintels with chajfe projections: Chajja projections are connected 10 lintels, These projections protect doors and window frames fro1 i i i ea m the direct action of the sun and rain. Shearreinforcement Main reinforcement Figure 9.3 A typical RCC cut-lintel 9.2 ARCHES An arch is a structure constructed with wedge-shaped bricks or stones joined together with mortar. The load tends to make the bricks compact (compressive load). Thus, the load gets transferred to abutments (supports) as a thrust. Figure 9.4 shows a typical arch, and its various Parts are explained below. Extrados 5 t Springing line ,-] | Skewback ‘NS // Voussoirs *s— Span 5 hy, , —— pe at Centre Figure 9.4 Parts of an arch