Applications and advantages of masonry construction
Masonry is a material that can withstand great compression forces that it can withstand tensile forces. It is for this reason that its use has declined in recent years because it can mostly be used in low rise and medium rise buildings. Most people prefer to use concrete in high rise buildings because it can withstand greater tensile forces. Masonry is however mostly used in the repairing of both low rise and high rise buildings. To take care of the tensile forces people have used reinforced masonry, the reinforcement mostly used is steel. Masonry is used for both the construction of housing and non-housing units.
The first advantage of using masonry for retaining walls is that can be used for a lot of functions. Masonry can be used for sound insulation, thermal insulation, structural and division of space just to mention but a few. Masonry materials may sometimes be replaced with damp proof courses and other materials. The second advantage is that masonry lasts for a long time without or little maintenance. If the materials are properly selected, masonry can offer services for many years. Masonry will remain looking good for many years’ even decades. Masonry has the advantage of looking good because it comes many colours and textures. Masonry can also be built in
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The codes give the partial factors of safety, forces are multiplied by these factors and strengths are divided by the factors. The codes in both Eurocode 6 and BS 5628 are based on the limit state design. The partial factors of safety allow for uncertainties when accounting for material strengths and determining loads. Some countries use the permissible stress method, the factors of safety here do not account for uncertainties. The eccentricity and slenderness ratio are also important variables, they are used to determine the capacity reduction
Calculations were performed to determine the effectiveness of the design of the platform. Allowing for a safety factor of 1.5 times the design weight of 10kg and considering the bridge must not be overdesigned; plans were made for the bridge to fail at 25kg, 2.5 times that of the design weight. According to the calculations, the bridge would hold a load of over 15kg and experience failure at 20kg in the members. These calculations were later disproven in the testing, breaking 8kg earlier than expected, due to unforseen errors. An analysis of the bridge design and calculations has been included at the end of this report.
Materials included in common house construction included straw, wood, stone, sand, lime, and clay. Straw would often be used for the construction of roofs. Adobe bricks, very common in the construction of houses in the Aztec empire, would be made from water, sand, clay, and a material such as straw. The name translates to "dried brick" in Spanish. Floors might be dirt, stone, or plastered.
Another important aspect of cinder-blocks is the ease of use and the convenient nature of them, notes Jim Louse, author the book, I wish I knew how I Got Here: An Autobiographical Account of How I Became an Author, a Scholar, and a Beekeeper. In his book he lays out the practical applications of the cement blocks: “First and foremost, these (cinder) blocks can easily be stored as part of a larger structure. Imagine this; whole houses and even neighborhoods created out of these blocks. People’s houses will literally become their money.” This gives homeowners incentives to keep their houses in a clean condition. If their house’s walls are made out of these blocks, and these blocks represent their money - they have an incentive to keep the walls of their
In both cases the weight of the structure is held and transferred to the foundation by the interior structure. The implications for a wolf-wary pig should be obvious. A solid masonry home (where the weight is supported by bricks) will generally be stronger and better able to resist huffing and puffing than its brick veneer counterpart (where the weight of the home, including the weight of the bricks is supported by the wood frame). On the other hand, this level of structural security does come with some trade-offs, including much poorer insulation and higher constructing costs.
At first glance of the masonry of the wall, the composite structure shows that some parts are not attributes to the reconstruction during the sixteenth century but can be attributed to another series of repairs made by Mamluke, Ayyubid or other earlier Islamic rulers. Meanwhile, lower sections such as the base sections, give evidence of construction committed by Roman or Byzantine builders. Reading through Hamilton’s excavation report, a person can correspond each different style and set of masonry to reconstruct the sequence of the wall’s construction. According to Hamilton’s report, there were two distinct styles of surface treatment that predominated over all others, and there was a third important class of masonry represented by three individual stones. The earliest detected type of masonry was Style A which is represented by three individual stones. Style A was found below courses 11 and 12 of the curtain. As Hamilton’s team excavated the area, they found remnants of an area they had limited information about.
If you go to Rome today you can see many ancient ruins that are still there because Romans used a ‘secret’ ingredient to stand their buildings. An example would be the Colosseum. In Rome, you can see that most of the Colosseum are still there, that’s because the Romans used cement when they made it. This proves that cement is strong and should be used in all
First, concrete durable. Concrete is something that will outlive other products up to three times over (“What Makes…”). In addition to durability, concrete is efficient. Concrete can be made with byproducts from power plants, and other aspects of manufacturing. Concrete is primarily made up limestone, the most abundant material on Earth. Above all of this concrete can be recycled. Concrete can be crushed and recycled into another structure or product, reducing the need to mine the limestone for production. Concrete also allows water to pass through which reduces the chance of flash flooding, erosion, and water table depletion as compared to other materials. This is a major check in the sustainability of concrete; the conservation of soil, landscape and ecosystems. Concrete is a very green option when it comes to building
Introduce a casual, dry-stacked retaining wall into a hillside to prevent erosion and create an additional planting area. Any flat stacking stone works well for a retaining wall application. Dry stacking provides natural drainage through the openings between the stones, eliminating the need for a French drain system. Dry stacked walls should be no more than 4 feet high.
The aim of this paper is to research and study the structural behavior of clay brick masonry and analyse the damages on the UniSA Law building. This will lead to an understanding of what factors led to the failures and propose an approach of how it can be fixed.
To use this equation, the internal force in each member must first be determined, by doing a structural analysis, and the strength of each member. Then, these numbers were used to calculate a unique factor of safety for every member in the structure. In short, known values of internal force and strength were used to calculate unknown factors of
There are several reasons why retaining walls are used. In some cases the retaining walls are used for keeping sloped areas from sliding away from structures, for erosion purposes and for decoration purposes. These are just a few of the reasons they are built and used.
Roman building using cement (Labate, 2016) dates from the third century BCE. Cement was used with crushed bricks and rock to produce concrete used for building. The cement was made from volcanic dust (pozzolana), lime (calcium oxide) or gypsum (calcium sulphate). This mixture reacts when mixed with water, binding the concrete into a permanent, strong, impermeable structure. The Roman engineers discovered that the use of cement in their mortar dramatically increased its strength. Special types of cement were discovered and used for under-water structures like harbors and bridge piers. Roman workmen perfected the skill of building with concrete, some of which, like the Parthenon, are still intact and beautiful to this day. During the first century CE, Rome had a “Concrete Revolution”, many concrete buildings being built as skill developed.
Concrete is the ultimate building block of society; there are a plethora of ways that it has been used. Romans were some of the first, in recorded history, to use it; they used it to build their aqueducts and even the Colosseum. If anything, the Romans were some of the first to make huge developments in concrete, and they were some of the first to actually use concrete on a large scale. America has also used concrete on a large scale, using concrete to build the Hoover Dam and the Grand Coulee Dam. Those examples show how concrete is an incredibly strong and durable building material that has remained standing after all these years and will continue to be the primary
forward. It's widespread use can be credited to it's simple design and craftsmanship, along with it's cost-effective economical nature. Adobe can be made into virtually any size or shape, provided the bricks are dried evenly and it's mixture before it's completion includes an effective reinforcement for bricks that are larger. Reinforcement can include cement, manure, straw, wooden posts, or rebar. Builders have learned over time that cement, straw, or manure blended into an average mixture of adobe can all develop a more durable, crack-resistant
Aesthetic Appeal: One of the most immediately noticeable benefits of a retaining wall installation is how it visually complements the rest of your landscaping. These tiered walls can turn a boring, sloped part of your yard into a beautiful and distinctive landscape feature. With retention walls designed to look like concrete, natural stone, and other materials, it’s easy to find the perfect appearance to match your personal preferences.