huangyhg

masonry composite walls and hollow clay brick
i'm working on a project where we will replace a cracked brick tower in which the brick encloses a steel frame. the brick and steel are not working together. the moisture growth and thermal properties differences along with corrosion have led to failure. we are in new england and get our fair share of snow and freezing weather. the wall will be fully subjected to seasonal temperature changes as we will only provide enough heat to remove interior condensation. we are looking at building a reinforced masonry replacement. we have several options we are considering.
(1) one is a brick veneer wall supported on a cmu backup. this will require vertical relieving shelf angles and vertical control joints to isolate brick moisture growth, cmu shrinkage, and thermal differences.
(2) two is brick veneer on a hollow clay brick backup based on the premise the veneer and backup would move together eliminating the need for vertical control joints.
(3) three is a composite wall with brick facing and hollow clay brick as a backup. the brick would be bonded with brick headers about every 20 inches along with joint reinforcing. the reinforcing rods would go in the hollow brick cells. this would eliminate shelf support and vertical joints.
has anyone had any experience with hollow clay brick as a structural wall material? has anyone seen such construction described above? does anyone know of existing composite wall buildings which could demonstrate the viability of this type of masonry? usually reinforced walls are shown in codes and masonry texts with grouted collar joints and no mechanical interlock of masonry units between facing and backup. they rely solely on joint reinforcing to bond wythes. we are looking to lay up the wall with just a mortared collar joint much like traditional masonry solid walls.
this is an interesting test of preservation, trying to replicate the external appearance but yet improve upon the structural integrity of the tower. your comments are welcome.

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