Experimental investigation of the behaviour of brick lintels

Abstract

For erecting brick buildings, lintels have long been decorative accents on facades. Since ancient times masonry lintels have been applied: brick lintels, wedge-shaped and arched lintels. Brick lintels have the simplest structural solution. Brick lintels have been used for openings up to 2 m long. Their structural solution is also rather simple. Similar lintels are reinforced constructively applying to a wall thickness of 130 mm within the area of 0.2 cm2 of reinforcement. Reinforcement is overlapped behind the wall and exceeds 250 mm. The main function of reinforcement is to withstand the weight of the lower rows of bricks. A 20-30 mm thick layer of mortar protects reinforcement from the impact of an aggressive environment. Recently, in many cases, prefabricated lintels of steel or reinforced concrete are used. The expansion of the stock of masonry products has assisted in putting into use blocks.