Calculated Brickwork ~ for small and residential buildings up to three
storeys high the sizing of load bearing brick walls can be taken from
data given in Section 2C of Approved Document A. The alternative
methods for these and other load bearing brick walls are given in:
BS 5628-1: Code of practice for the use of masonry. Structural use
of unreinforced masonry, and
BS 8103-2: Structural design of low rise buildings. Code of practice
for masonry walls for housing.
The main factors governing the loadbearing capacity of brick walls
and columns are:-
Thickness of wall.
Strength of bricks used.
Type of mortar used.
Slenderness ratio of wall or column.
Eccentricity of applied load.
Thickness of wall ~ this must always be sufficient throughout its
entire body to carry the design loads and induced stresses. Other
design requirements such as thermal and sound insulation
properties must also be taken into account when determining the
actual wall thickness to be used.
Effective Thickness ~ this is the assumed thickness of the wall or
column used for the purpose of calculating its slenderness ratio †
see page 355.
Typical Examples ~
Principles of Calculated Brickwork