Masonry Magazine January 1977 Page.15
Technical Notes on Brick Construction
Brick Institute of America 1750 Old Meadow Road, McLean, Virginia 22101
42
Nov/Dec
1976
EMPIRICAL DESIGN OF BRICK MASONRY
INTRODUCTION
Since 1964 many technical publications of the Brick Institute of America (formerly the Structural Clay Products Institute) have been primarily devoted to the design of brick masonry by rational or engineered procedures. The purpose of these publications was, of course, to introduce the "new" engineered design procedures and design standard requirements to engineers and architects who were already familiar with the then current empirical design methods and code requirements. Recently, however, it has become increasingly evident that many design professionals, especially the younger ones, have little or no knowledge of the still valid empirical design provisions which are contained in the American National Standard A41.1-1953 (R 1970), "American Standard Building Code Requirements for Masonry." The majority of current model building codes, as well as state and local building codes, still contain empirical masonry design and construction requirements based on the A41.1 Standard, in addition to the engineered masonry requirements which have been developed and adopted during the past ten years.
Accordingly, it is the purpose of this Technical Notes to review many of the pertinent design and construction requirements included in the still valid and eminently usable American National Standard, A41.1-1953 (R 1970). A drafting committee of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Sectional Committee on Masonry (A41) is currently working on a revision of the A41.1 Standard which is expected to be circulated for ballot within the year (1977).
SCOPE
# General
The abstract of the A41.1 Standard indicates that, "It is a complete code of minimum requirements for masonry construction including definitions, requirements for materials, allowable stresses, and general requirements for all types of masonry except reinforced masonry and thin veneers." An important aspect of the A41.1 Standard is that it provides for the use of various types of composite masonry constructions (e.g., brick and hollow concrete block; brick and structural clay tile) which are not covered by existing engineered masonry design standards.2.3 The A41.1 Standard also provides for the use of hollow clay units (i.e., units less than 75 percent solid), such as structural clay tile or hollow brick, which also are not covered within the scope of the engineered masonry design standards.
Masonry Units
Section 2 of the A41.1 Standard provides for the use of brick, concrete brick, hollow brick, hollow and solid concrete masonry units, cast and natural stone, architectural terra-cotta, glass block and gypsum tile. Current standard specifications for various types of clay, shale and concrete masonry units which are included within the scope of the A41.1 Standard are listed below.
1. Facing Brick (Solid Masonry Units Made from Clay or Shale), ASTM C 216-75a.
2. Building Brick (Solid Masonry Units Made from Clay or Shale), ASTM C 62-75a.
3. Hollow Brick (Hollow Masonry Units Made from Clay or Shale), ASTM C 652-75.
4. Calcium Silicate Face Brick (Sand-Lime Brick), ASTM C 73-67 (1972).
5. Concrete Building Brick, ASTM C 55-71.
6. Structural Clay Load-Bearing Wall Tile, ASTM C 34-62 (1970).
7. Structural Clay Non-Load-Bearing Tile, ASTM C 56-71.