Example of Strength Design of a Single-Wythe Panel Wall Using Hollow Units, Face-Shell Bedding Only

ding only (mortar on the face shells of the units only). The panel wall will be designed as unreinforced masonry. The design follows the following steps, using a nominal thickness of 8 in.

The panel could be designed as a two-way panel. Nevertheless, because of its aspect ratio, the vertical strips will carry practically all the load. Therefore, design it as a one-way panel, consisting of a series of vertically spanning, simply supported strips.

The critical stresses will occur on the bed joint, which is the horizontal plane through the masonry where the section modulus is minimum. All length dimensions are in inches. The dimensions of this critical crosssection are shown in Fig. 5.6.

The calculated flexural tensile stress, 37.9 lb/in.2, exceeds the modulus of rupture normal to bed joints for hollow units and Type N PCL mortar (48 lb/in.2), reduced by the strength-reduction factor of 0.6 (28.8 lb/in.2). If the mortar is changed to Type S modulus of rupture 63 lb/in.2, the design will be satisfactory.

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