Experimental Investigation of using Wooden Lintel and sill with Different Lengths for Strengthening Brick Walls with Openings
Elsamny, M.K.1, Abd-Elhamed M.K.2, Ezz-Eldeen H.A.3, Elmokrany A.A.4
1Elsamny, M.K., Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
2Abd-Elhamed,M.K., Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
3Ezz-Eldeen,H.A., Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
4Elmokrany,A.A., Engineer in Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Cairo, Egypt.
Manuscript received on 13 June 2017 | Revised Manuscript received on 20 June 2017 | Manuscript Published on 30 June 2017 | PP: 159-169 | Volume-6 Issue-5, June 2017 | Retrieval Number: E5027066517/17©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The presence of openings can have an effect on the load capacity and cracking regime for brick walls. Often the type and magnitude of cracking indicate the cause of cracks. However, cracks in brick walls appear after construction under working load due to different reasons. The presence of openings in brick wall with conventional length of lintel gives small bearing area. Thus, as a result of concentrated load on part of the wall, corner cracks occur above the openings. In addition, openings divide the wall to two parts, the first part next to the opening act as pillars and are stressed much more than the second part below the opening. Thus, as a result of differential stress, vertical shear cracks occur under opening in the wall. For these reasons, there is a need for redistribution the load by using sill under opening and increasing the bearing area by increasing length of lintel and sill. In the present study, a total of seven brick wall specimens having a wall dimensions (85*65) cm and thickness (10) cm with square opening (25*25) cm were tested .The brick wall specimens were divided into three groups as follow : i. Group one consisted of wall with R.C lintel length of 35 cm as a control wall. ii. Group two consisted of three strengthened brick wall specimens by wooden lintel of lengths (L= 35, 50,65cm). iii. Group three consisted of three strengthened brick wall specimens by wooden lintel and sill of lengths (L= 35, 50,65cm). All wall specimens were tested under static loads in regular increments from zero up to the crack load then failure load. In addition, wall deformations have been measured by LVDT. A finite element analysis was performed using SAP2000 to define the stress distribution path as well as the expected positions of cracks that might occur in walls with openings using different techniques of strengthening. The obtained test results show that using wooden lintel with length (65cm) gives an increase in the load carrying capacity up to (130 %) from the control ultimate capacity. In addition, using wooden lintel and sill with length (65cm) gives an increase in the load carrying capacity up to (171%) from the control ultimate capacity .However, ductility has been significantly increased. In addition, it was found that strengthening with this technique is durable, economic and easy to apply during construction. The results suggest that adding sill under openings is very effective to overcome and prevent cracks under the working load in the wall and increasing the length of lintel and sill during construction shows the best performance in increasing the load carrying capacity and ductility.
Keywords: Experimental, Brick Walls, Openings, Wooden Lintel, Wooden Sill.
Scope of the Article: Testbeds for Network Experiments