ALIYU ADAM MIKAIL

UM69444SCI78578

Civil Engineering
Beam and Wall Interaction

ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

HONOLULU, HAWAII

September, 2023
Introduction
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 This assignment starts with discussion about the history of frame which is
created in order to support and protect built structure.
The second important thing that the assignment is going to talk about: is single
frame which plays a vital role in the act of building. Knowing and mastering this is
another essential part of carrying out any building activity.
Multiple frames as the name indicates, is all about using more than one frame to
accomplish activities that are related to building. Therefore, this is another aspect
that the assignment is going to elaborate on.
Furthermore, the assignment will also shade more light on frame analysis which is
divided into two divisions are: manual method and simplified manual method.
The next important item to be considered by the assignment is the usage of beam
which carry transverse load from the building. The assignment gives the detail of
things to be taken into consideration when making design that is related to beam.
Masonry block is another prerequisite to carrying out building activities. This
assignment details how strong masonry block is expected to be.
This is the main body of the assignment, which is to shade more light on how the
beam and wall interact to ensure the completion of a building.
Towards the end of the assignment the methods of designing reinforced concrete
frame and things that are considered in the serviceability of the same reinforced
concrete frame. More explanation will be given, about how deflection of reinforced
concrete beam is estimated.
The assignment will not be completed without mentioning what affect deflection of
reinforced concrete beams.
Lastly cracking of reinforced beam will be analyzed, this is meant to prevent
cracking in the building. It suggests two ways of controlling crack in a building.

Frames
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 Since history, the problem of sheltering human beings from weather has
been solved by an enclosure of walls topped by a roof. In prehistoric times, walls
and roofs were made of the same material, without any distinction between a
supporting structure and protecting skin. A separation between supporting and
protecting functions leads to the simplest framed system: the post and lintel.
(Browne, 1967)
The lintel is a beam, usually simply supported on two posts and carrying the
roof load. The posts are the columns compressed by the beam. The post must also
resist some horizontal loads, such as wind pressure; this resistance stems from a
bending capacity. Some connections between posts and lintels must also be
provided.
The foundation of the posts carries the roof, floors, and columns to the
ground by means of footings, which spread the loads and guarantee that soil
defection, will be limited. In any case, the posts and foundations are under
compression, and this is the characteristic of the column and beam system.
Post and lintel systems may be built on top of each other to frame multistory
buildings. In this case, the beams are supported by vertical columns or masonry as
high as the entire building. Construction of this form, while capable of carrying
vertical loads, is not well suited to carrying horizontal loads and is essentially
damaged by lateral loads such as hurricanes and earthquakes. This happens
because masonry has little bending resistance, and a strong connection between the
horizontal and vertical structural elements is not easily developed.
Single Frame
The action of posts and lintel systems changes sustainability if a rigid
connection is developed between the lintel and the bending-resistant posts. This
new structure, the simple or single-bay rigid frame, behaves monolithically and is
stronger than the posts-and-lintel against both vertical and horizontal loads.
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 Under a uniform load, the lintel-and-posts system deflects, and its ends
rotate with respect to the posts, which remain vertical. In order to grasp the action
of the rigid frame under the same load, one may first consider the horizontal beam
as simply supported and the columns as rigidly connected to the rotated end of the
beam so as to stick out in a straight, inclined position. In order to bring back the
feet of the columns to their supports, the columns must be forced inward by
horizontal force, and the end of the beam must rotate partially backward. In their
final positions, both the beam and the columns of the frame are curved and develop
bending stresses. The beam has partially restrained ends and behaves like the
center span of a continuous beam on four supports.
The following consequences of rigidly connecting the horizontal and vertical
elements of the frame are immediately apparent:
- The beam has partially restraints ends; it becomes more rigid, and is capable of
supporting a heavier load in bending.
- The columns are subjected not only to the compressive loads of the roof or floor
above and their own weight, but also to bending stresses due to continuity with
the beam.
- A new horizontal force is required to maintain the frame in equilibrium under
vertical loads, the thrust, which brings back the column to their vertical position
and introduces compression in the beam.
The thrust is typically of frame action. It may be provided by the resistance
of the foundation to lateral displacements.
All the three members of a simple frame under vertical loads are bent and
compressed. Simple bending develops a linear stress distribution across the depth
of the element with maximum tensile and compressive stresses of equal magnitude
at the extreme fibers. Compressive adds a constant compressive stress, which
develops the trapezoidal stress distribution. Usually compression prevails in the
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columns so that their stresses are entirely compressive; bending prevails in the
beam so that tensile stresses are developed in some parts of the beam.
The deformations of a fixed frame under vertical loads show that the
columns develop inflation points. Since inflation points of no curvature, it is
equivalent to a hinge frame where no bending stresses developed. Hence, the fixed
frame is roughly equivalent to a hinge frame with shorter columns and stiffer than
the hinged frame. The thrust in the fixed frame is greater than in the hinge frame,
since it takes a larger force to bring back shorter and stiffer equivalent columns.
Multiple Frames
The advantages of continuity can be compounded by the use of multiple
frames, in which a horizontal beam is supported by and rigidly connected to, three
or more columns.
In view of the rigidity of compressed element, the vertical deflections of the
columns of a multiple frames are small, and the behavior of its beam, when loaded
vertically is similar to, although not identical with, that of continuous beam on
rigid support. Under the action of loads concentrated on one span, the multiple
frames develop curvatures not only in all other spans as a continuous span, but in
all columns as well. The column as a whole also exhibits a lateral displacement,
the so-called sideways, which is absent in the continuous beam.
If the span and the vertical loads of the multiple frames do not differ
substantially from bay to bay, the thrust in adjoining frame act in opposite
direction and tend to cancel each other. Theoretically only the two outer bays need
to be tied or buttressed. In practice, some means must always be provided to take
care of uneven loadings on the various spans of the multiple frames; the excess
thrust on each column is often resisted by the foundations.
Frame Analysis
The methods of frame analysis that are used may be classified as:
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1. Manual methods such as moment distribution or using solutions for standard
frame;
2. Simplified manual methods of analyzing sub-frame give in section 3.2.1 of BS
8110, (1997) Pat 1 using rigorous manual elastic analysis or a matrix computer
program.
All the methods are based on elastic theory, which permit redistribution of up to
30% of the peak elastic moment to be made in frames up to four storeys. In frames
over four storeys in height, where the frame provides lateral stability, redistribution
is limited to 10%. (McGinley and Choo, 1990)
Beam
A beam is a horizontal structural element provided to carry transverse load
from the ‘slab’ wall and or other secondary beams.
In the design of beams, subjected to loads, the following considerations are
important:
i- The beam must be strong to resist bending moments.
ii- Shear must be within acceptable limits.
iii- Deflection must be within tolerable limits.
Most buildings in Nigeria are made of walls built with sandcrete hollow
block in varying sizes and proportion of constituent material dependent on the
target strength. The strength of sandcrete wall is influenced by the strength of the
units and mortars, the bond strength and workmanship.
The compressive strength of mortar depends on class designation ranging
from 11N/mm2 to 1N/mm2 BS 5628, (1978). For conventional non load bearing
sandcrete blocks, The Nigeria industrial Standard (NIS) 74, (1976) specifies a
minimum compressive strength of 2.5N/mm 2. The compressive strength of hollow
masonry wall is usually less than the strength of the units alone, because of the
influence of mortar joints.
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Masonry block
The masonry block is basically designed to act in compression, with the load
bearing walls transmitting vertical dead and live loads from the upper floors down
to foundation.
When considering the compressive strength of masonry wall, distinction is
made between solid and hollow block masonry units
The following description distinguishes the mode of load distribution between
solid and hollow block masonry units.
- Solid masonry units are laid in a bed of mortar covering the full bed face, (full
bedding). The stress is therefore distributed over full bed area.
- Hollow masonry block unit on the other hand, have large proportion of their
volume being hollow. The walls are therefore laid with strips of bedding mortar
on face shell (face-shell bedding). The contact area is smaller therefore is
subjected to higher pressure.
A hollow is defined as block having one or more large cavities which passes
through the block and has solid material between 50% and 75% of the total volume
of block, calculated from overall dimensions.

When a hollow masonry wall is subjected to direct compression, the load

applied is transferred as compressive stress through the face shell and the webs,
causing transverse tensile stress in the web. Depending on the relative strengths of
the mortar and the block units, this result in the split of the mortar or the web and
failure will initiate by the lateral expansion of the unit (poison ratio effect) which
causes vertical tensile cracks to form and propagate in the wall, thus the measured
compressive strength depends on the tensile strength of masonry units, mortar joint
thickness and mortar strength.

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 In framed buildings, wall is designed as non-load bearing element. The wall
only provides partition between beams and columns to meet functional
requirements of the building. However, sagging of a reinforced concrete beam in a
frame structure may exert some load on the non-load-bearing wall underneath the
beam which may cause damage to the wall.
Beam and Wall Interaction
When a masonry wall is supported on a beam, the wall acts compositely
with the supporting member to resist vertical loads. The resulting action is complex
and depends on relative stiffness of the wall and the beam. A common example of
this is the lintel over an opening in a masonry wall, where the composite action is
likely to be partial and is usually ignored. Another situation where the composite
action arises is for an infill wall supported on beam in multi-storey structure. For
this case assuming that the beam will support the full load of the wall can be
unnecessarily conservative and it can be advantageous to design for composite
section. A full design for composite action is not intended to be covered in the
scope of this research project, but an outline of the behavior and the important
design parameters are given.
A simple model for the interaction between wall and beam suggests that the
beam support only triangular portion of the wall, and that the remainder of the
masonry wall and the associated load is supported by the arching between the
supports.
Arching action develops in the wall supported by a combination of the
columns and the horizontal forces that develop at the wall-beam interface. These
horizontal forces are concentrated towards the end of the beam and relay on
friction developed at the interface. The resulting action is to develop a tensile force
in the beam, superimposed on its bending action under the vertical load from the
wall. As the vertical load progresses, a point is reach where the friction capacity is
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insufficient to maintain the horizontal force and composite action is lost. The
masonry will then suffer tensile failure near the center at the base of the wall and
the beam will deflect excessively and thus a bears on the wall and the circle is
repeated.
The degree of arching depends on the relative stiffness of the wall and the
beam. Both the flexural and axial stiffness of the beam are relevant. In the case of a
stiff wall and a very flexible beam, the latter is acting almost entirely as a tie to
balance the horizontal compressive stresses in the wall. This is the action for a
simple arch bar used over small openings. On the other hand, where a flexible wall
is supported on a stiff beam, the beam resists the load primarily by bending and the
wall is subject to much lower stresses.
Another important consideration is the relative proportion of a vertical load
transmitted through the wall and that applied directly to the beam. If the latter is
high, the beam can separate from the base of the wall and the development of
friction force to promote arching is thus compromised. The resulting horizontal
crack at the base of the wall can be unsightly and the lack of sufficient arching
might lead to overstressing of the masonry in tension at result in vertical cracks at
this point.
The main parameters for design of this combination are as follows:
- Vertical stress in the wall, resisted by the masonry compressive strength. The
critical location for this action is adjacent to the support and immediately above
the beam. If the wall is heavily loaded in comparison to its compressive
capacity, this concentration of stress at the support can lead to crushing.
- Axial force in the beam, resisted by it tensile strength. The tensile force in the
beam will be maximum at mid span.
- Shear stress at the interface resisted by friction between the masonry and the
beam. The friction capacity of the interface is influenced by the materials of the
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 wall and beam and the level of compressive stress at the interface. High friction
is usually most probable for concrete beam than for steel.
- Bending moment in the beam, resisted by its bending capacity. The beam must
be design for the combination of this bending moment and superimposed tensile
force.
Also, the shear and tensile strengths of the masonry must be considered and
the construction sequence can have significant effect because failure to prop the
beam prior to building the masonry wall will increase the bending moment in the
beam and reduce the capacity to develop composite action.
Most design procedure for composite action is limited to cases where the
height of the wall is at least 60% of the span for the supporting member. Below
this level, composite action is usually considered to be partial and not reliable for
design, Stephen, L. (2004).
Design of reinforced concrete Beam/Frame
A structure is statistically determine if the forces and bending moments can
be determined by the direct application of the principles of statistics. A statistically
indeterminate structure is one in which there is a redundancy of members or
supports or both is and which can only be analyzed by considering the elastic
deformation under load.
The analysis of two-dimensional frame is somewhat more complex than that of a
linear beam system. If the configuration of the frame and/or the applied loading is
unsymmetrical, side sway will almost invariably occur, thus lengthening the
analysis. Many more combination of loads may be required to obtain the critical
stresses and moments. However, it must be remember that the critical conditions
for the design of a particular structural element may not be those corresponding to
the maximum moment. Loading producing a reduced moment together with greater
axial thrust may be more critical. To combat such complexities, it is often possible
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to simply the calculations by introducing some degree of approximations. For
instance, when considering wind load, the point of contraflxure may be assumed to
occur at mid height of columns, thus rendering the frame statically determinate. In
spite of the uncertainties involved in frame analysis, it is sufficiently accurate to
analyze a structure as a series of sub-frames with beams and columns attached.
(Reynolds and Steedman, 2002)
Serviceability of reinforced concrete beams
The main serviceability considerations are excessive crack width and
deflection. To minimize the amount of calculation that would otherwise be
necessary, BS 8110, (1997) provides various rules regarding serviceability;
compliance with these requirements should ensure satisfactory behavior under
loads. Other serviceability considerations include durability and fire resistance.
The code also states that account is to be taken of temperature, creep, shrinkage,
sway and settlement.
Estimation of deflection of reinforced concrete beams
A beam may be strong enough to resist safely the bending moments and
shear forces and yet unsuitable because its deflection under the calculated safe load
is excessive. Apart from being unsightly and given impression of insecurity,
excessive deflection can cause cracking of plaster ceilings and of partitions.
BS 8110, (1997) requires that for appearance purpose, any deflection should be
limited to Span/250 and also, in order to prevent damage to non-structural
elements, deflection must not exceed Span/500 or 20mm for brittle material and
Span/350 for non-brittle material and finishes. Lateral deflections due to wind must
not exceed storey height/500.
Two methods are given in BS 8110, (1997) part for checking that deflection
is not excessive are:

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1. Limiting the span to effective depth ratio using the procedures set out in clause
3.4.6 of BS 8110, (1997). The code provides that deflection is influenced by the
amount of tension reinforcement and its stress. The span/ effective depth ratio
shall therefore be modified according to ultimate design moment and the
service stress at the center of the span. Accordingly, the allowable
span/effective depth = basic span/depth multiplied by Modification factor with
a view to limiting the total deflection to span/250.
2. Calculation of deflection from curvature is set out in BS 8110, (1997) part 2,
section 3.6 and 3.7 in which the maximum deflection is given as;
a = KL2/r
Where:
K = Constant depending on the shape of the bending moment diagram
L = Effective span of the member
1/r = Curvature of the beam
Factors affecting deflection of reinforced concrete beams
Whenever a beam is subjected to transverse loads a bending moment is set
up at each cross section, which is opposed by moment of resistance created by the
straining of the fibers. This straining of the material of which the beam is made
produces curvature of the beam.
In order to calculate the slope and curvature and deflection of beam it is necessary
to treat a beam as a single line. If we consider what happens to the axis of a beam
as it is loaded, it can be seen that it follows the deformations of the beam.
Therefore this line is used to represent the beam and we call it elastic line of the
beam.
The amount of beam deflects depends on the way in which it is supported, the
amount and disposition of the load, the span of the beam, the size and shape of its
cross section and the elastic modulus of concrete and steel.
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All other factors being equal, a beam with its end freely supported. The effect of
span on deflection is very important and in a way very surprising. Assuming that
two beams a and b are identical in size, with span of beam a twice that of beam b.
beam a will deflect 8 times (not twice) beam b since deflection of a beam is
proportional to the cube of the span (Morgan, 1977).
Cracking of reinforced concrete beams
A reinforced concrete beam is subject to flexural cracks on the tension face
when the tensile strength of the concrete is exceeded. Primary cracks forms first
and then secondary cracks, with increase in moment. Excessive cracking is
unsightly and lead to corrosion of the reinforcement and deterioration of the
structure. Any prominent crack in reinforced concrete greatly detracts from the
appearance. BS 8110, (1997) provides that for reinforced concrete cracking should
be kept within reasonable bounds. The code provides two methods for crack
control:
1- In normal cases a set of rules for limiting the maximum bar spacing in the
tension zone includes:
 Bars of diameter less than 0.45 of the largest bar in the section should be
ignored except when considering bar in the side faces of beams.
 The clear horizontal distance between bars or group near the tension face of
a beam should not be greater than the values given by the expression clear
spacing = 75000βb/fy ≤ 300
Where:
βb = moment after redistribution/ moment before redistribution
For zero redistribution the maximum clear distance between bar for grade
250N/mm2 and 460N/mm2 are 300mm and a160mm respectively.
2- As an alternative, the clear spacing between bars can be found from the
expression clear spacing = 47000βb/fs ≤ 300
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 Where:
fs = services stress.
If the overall depth of the beam exceeds 750mm, longitudinal bar should be
provided at spacing not exceeding 250mm over a distance of two-thirds of the
overall depth from the tension face.
Conclusion
From this assignment, we can draw the following conclusions:

- The prehistoric times has been left forward in making their shelters.
- That frame systems make the buildings optimal in supporting structures and
protecting the body from dangers
- Those structural frames are those to be considered and are those that make
structures qualitative in any construction.
- In order to resist bending moments, the beam must be strong
- Those cracks seen in some buildings might be caused by the interaction
between beam and the wall below.
- That the deflection of the beam must not exceed the limit above a wall due to its
compressive stress.
- Engineers are required to be on site to make sure that major structures are
constructed to a desired code.

Bibliography
- Browne, J.S.C (1967). “Basic Theory of Structures, Lecture Notes” Dundee
College of Technology, Commonwealth, London.
- BS 5628 (1978). “Code of Practice for Use of Masonry: Part1” Unreinforced
Masonry British Standard Institute, London.

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- BS 8110 (1997). “Structural Use of Concrete, British Standard Institute”
London.
- McGinley T.J and Choo, B.S (1990). “Reinforced Concrete Design and
Theory” Chapman and Hall, London.
- Morgan, W. (1977). “The Element of Structures” A Pitman International Text,
Auckland, California.
- NIS 74 (1976). “Structural Nigeria Industrial Standard: Specification for
Hollow Sandcrete Blocks” SON, Lagos.
- Reynolds, C.E and Steedman J.C (2002). “Reinforced Concrete Designer’s
Handbook” Spoon Press, Taylor and Francis Group, London.
- Stephen, L. (2004). “Design of Clay Masonry for Compression”.

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