Masonry Facade
Masonry bricks have excellent physical properties and this makes them a maintenance-free, weatherproof and extremely durable cladding material for external wall constructions.
Masonry brick wall claddings offer an extensive range and diverse design options and suit the most challenging architectural styles. It also acts as a connection of the proven double-shell construction with facing bricks by offering a good level of thermal and sound insulation performances.
A facade built with brickwork is formed out of a load bearing inner wall, an insulating layer and an outer wall. The outer wall cannot be used for load bearing purposes nor can it be used for attachments of various components. The outer wall is a design element that satisfies the aesthetics and also serves as a means of weather protection. The outer wall which is constructed of layers of brickwork needs to be supported at regular intervals. The load of the brickwork is transferred on to the inner load bearing wall through Support Brackets that are positioned ideally on each slab level but can also be positioned at intervals of up to 3 floor heights. Restraining of the outer wall is made with cavity ties, wall ties or brick ties. Therefore, both the inner and outer wall shells are connected to each other with load bearing brackets and restraint wall ties.
The following points should be carefully evaluated when designing a brickwork facade.
- Support height
- thickness of insulation and air gap,
- design of details, such as,
- wall areas,
- joints,
- external and internal corners,
- lintels above doors and windows,
- wind posts for columns.
Many product variations are available for these situations, including the fixing of precast brickwork lintels and prefabricated elements. The thickness of the insulation together with the air gap make up the dimension a for the distance between structural leaf and facing leaf. The greater the distance is between the two leaves, the larger the projection of the support brackets will be. Brickwork support brackets are suitable for distances between cavities of 40 to 160 mm. The corresponding brickwork support brackets come with projections K of 130 to 350 mm. Angle supports are used for any cavity sizes that are less than 40 mm. In order to cover all the loads within the application of brick works installation, there are four standard load groups that the brackets can carry. The load categories are 3,5 kN, 7,0 kN and 10,5 kN and 18 kN.
Brickwork support systems are used for the secure and easy installation of brickwork facades. The brickwork load bearing support brackets are used to transfer the dead loads of non-load bearing outer shell brickwork walls to the load bearing inner walls of buildings. Load bearing brickwork support brackets are fixed on concrete beams which carry the dead load of the facade. Restraints ties or wall ties are used along the rest of the storey height to secure the brickwork facade against wind loads. The brickwork support systems provide support for brickwork as non-load bearing external cladding which is attached on the substrate. The relatively thin outer skin of brick wall will not maintain its integrity unless it is properly supported by suitably designed load bearing brackets and restraint ties. In addition, the substrate may move differentially in relation to the cladding, so horizontal soft joints are required to keep the outer skin separate from the substrate. Careful design and designation of fixing systems needs to be carried out in order to achieve stable facade installation. Brickwork support systems are designed to be positioned at slab level and are fixed on to the substrate either by cast-in channels or with expansion or chemical anchor bolts. When fixing is made with anchor channels, quick installation and horizontal adjustability is achieved which increases the rate of installation. The brickwork facade is planned according to the individual brickwork. There may be a lot of variations in terms of insulation thicknesses, cavity sizes, height of floor levels etc. Extensive design must be made for corners, lintels, wind posts, head restraints etc.
Haz Metal has the technical know-how and the production capacity to offer one stop shop for fixing systems requirements to construct a masonry wall cladding. There is a wide range of brackets available for different executions. A technical service is available for proposing fixing system after viewing the details of the project. The fixing system elements are available in stainless steel grade AISI 304: 1.4301 (A4) & AISI 316 – 1.4401 (A2). Various products and accessories as listed below are designed and produced in HAZ Metal to cover all aspects of the brickwork facade installation.
- Support brackets
- Continuous angle supports
- Wall ties and brick ties
- L shaped cramps
- Head Restraints
- Cavity ties
- Lintels
- Wins posts
- Cast in channels
- Brick tie channels
- Anchor bolts and Resin bolts