WALL CONSTRUCTION

 A wall is a continuous vertical structure, which is thin relative to its length and height.
External walls help to provide shelter from our environment and internal walls divide
buildings into rooms or compartments.
 To provide adequate shelter a wall should have sufficient strength and stability to be self-
supporting and also to support roofs and upper floors. The type of wall used will depend on
the availability of materials and labour, economic factors and the design approach.

1 Functional requirements
 The function of a wall is to enclose and protect a building or to divide space within a
building. To provide a check that a particular wall construction satisfies a range of
functional requirements it is convenient to adopt a list of specific requirements. The
commonly accepted requirements of a wall are:
❑ Strength and stability
❑ Resistance to weather
❑ Fire resistance
❑ Resistance to the passage of heat/thermal resistance
❑ Sound resistance

Strength and stability

 The strength of the materials used in wall construction is determined by the strength of a
material in resisting compressive and tensile stress and the way in which the materials are
put together.
 The usual method of determining the compressive and tensile strengths of a material is to
subject samples of the material to tests to assess the ultimate compressive and tensile
stresses at
 which the material fails in compression and in tension.
 From these tests the safe working strengths of materials in compression and in tension are
set. The characteristic working strengths of materials determine their use in the
construction of buildings.
 Stability of a wall may be affected by foundation movement, eccentric loading, lateral
forces (wind) and expansion due to changes in temperature and moisture.
 Eccentric loads (those not acting on the centre of the wall), such as from floors and roofs,
and lateral forces, such as wind, tend to deform and overturn walls.
 The greater the eccentricity of the loads and the greater the lateral forces, the greater the
tendency of a wall to deform, bow out of the vertical and lose stability.

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 To prevent loss of stability, due to deformation under loads, building regulations and
structural design calculations set limits to the height or thickness ratios (slenderness ratios)
to provide reasonable stiffness against loss of stability due to deformation under load.
Resistance to weather
 The exposure of a wall is determined by its location and the extent to which it is protected
by surrounding higher ground, or sheltered by surrounding buildings or trees, from rain
driven by the prevailing winds.
 Where a wall is sheltered from the prevailing winds the exposure can be reduced by one
category in sheltered areas of the country and two in very severe exposure areas of the
country. Local knowledge and specific site characteristics (e.g. weathering of neighbouring
buildings) are also valuable indicators of exposure.
 The cavity wall has been particularly successful in separating the internal and external
environments, transferring loads and resisting rain and wind penetration.
Durability
 The durability of a wall is indicated by the frequency and extent of the work necessary to
maintain minimum functional requirements and an acceptable appearance.
 Where there are agreed minimum functional requirements such as exclusion of rain and
thermal properties, the durability of different walls may be compared through the cost of
maintenance over a number of years.
Fire resistance
 Walls (combined with doors and windows) are an important element in providing fire
protection. The two principal considerations are the structural integrity of the wall in a fire
and the surface spread of flame, which is determined by the materials used.
 Specifying a minimum period of fire resistance for the elements of the structure may
restrict premature failure of the structural stability of a building in a fire
 An element of structure is defined as part of a structural frame, a load bearing wall and a
floor. The requirements are that the elements should resist collapse for a minimum period
of time in which the occupants may escape in the event of fire.
 Periods of fire resistance vary from 30 minutes for dwelling houses with a top floor not
more than 5 m above ground, to 120 minutes for an industrial building, without sprinklers,
whose top floor is not more than 30 m above ground.
 Fire may spread over the surface of materials that encourage the spread of flame across
their surfaces
Thermal insulation
 The building interior is heated by the transfer of heat from heaters and radiators to air
(conduction), the circulation of heated air (convection) and the radiation of energy from
heaters and radiators to surrounding colder surfaces (radiation).

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 This internal heat is transferred through colder enclosing walls, roofs and floors by
conduction, convection and radiation to colder outside air.

Resistance to the passage of sound

 Sound is transmitted as airborne sound and impact sound. Airborne sound is generated as
cyclical disturbances of air from, for example, a radio, which radiate from the source of the
sound with diminishing intensity with distance from the source.
 The vibrations in the air caused by the sound source will set up vibrations in enclosing walls
and floors which will cause vibrations of air on the opposite side of walls and floors.
 Impact sound is caused by contact with a surface, for example, the slamming of a door or
footsteps on a floor which set up vibrations in walls and floors that in turn cause vibrations
of air around them that are heard as sound .
 The most effective insulation against airborne sound is a dense barrier such as a solid wall,
which absorbs the energy of the airborne sound waves. The heavier and more dense the
material of the wall the more effective it is in reducing sound.

Forms of wall construction

Monolithic construction
 Monolithic construction is a method by which walls and slabs are constructed together.
In this method, fresh cement concrete is poured in light weight aluminum formwork
system having required reinforcement bars for needed strength.
 As the walls and slabs are cast in one go, the operation is very fast. This is ideal for
multi storied construction, allowing speedy construction on mass scale.
 This technology offers speedier solutions to rapidly increasing housing shortage in urban
areas by optimal use of time, money and building materials like steel and cement.
 It is a highly efficient technology which facilitates concreting of all the components like
walls, roof etc. simultaneously, resulting in a structurally very sound monolithic
construction.
The technology requires unskilled and semi-skilled labours (hand-held) and does not
require the use of expensive construction equipments. Hence cost effective.
Modular designs of mass housing schemes provides excellent opportunity for reuse
of form work which makes the technology very cost effective
The material of formwork (either aluminum or HDPE) is recyclable and completely
eliminates the use of precious natural resource wood. Hence the technology is environmental
friendly.
This technology helps excellent quality control of the entire structure as per BIS
and all the international standards

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 No need of bricks, blocks and plastering.
Excellent finished surface avoids expensive plastering and enhances a relatively water
resistant surface.
 Since footing, wall and slab are designed as an integrated unit and Reinforcement is
continuous and interlocks with all the structural components of the building I.e.,
foundation, walls and slabs.
 Hence Columns and beams are not required which leads to Slender sections thereby
providing high resistance to earth quake, cyclone, wind and flood.

Masonry walls
 are a traditional, common, and durable form of wall construction used in both bearing and c
urtain walls. They are designed in accordance with building codes and are constructed by indiv
idual placement of bricks, blocks of stone, cinder concrete, cut stone, or combinations of the
se. The units are bonded together by mortar.
 Main types of stone masonry:
1.stone masonry
 Rubble Masonry:
 Stone masonry in which either unpainted or coarsely prepared stones are placed is called
rubble masonry.
 Ashlar Masonry:
 Stone masonry in which finely dressed stones are laid in cement or lime mortar is known as
ashlar masonry.
2.Brick masonry:
 The art of laying bricks in mortar in a correct systematic manner provides homogeneous
mass that may withstand forces without disintegration, known as brick masonry.

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 The bond is an arrangement of bricks in each course, in order to make sure the largest
possible interlocking to avoid the continuity of vertical joints in two successive courses, both
on the face.

3.Concrete Masonry:
 Most of concrete masonry construction consists of mortar construction, i.e., units bonded
with mortar.
 The bonding of a concrete masonry wall or the separation of a composite pattern can look
interesting and attractive in a variety of ways.
 In addition, the strength of masonry can be influenced by the bond pattern

Timber framed walls

 The construction of a timber-framed wall is a rapid, clean, dry operation. The timbers can
be cut and assembled with simple hand or power operated tools and once the wall is raised
into position and fixed it is ready to receive wall finishes.
 A timber-framed wall has adequate stability and strength to support the floors and roof of
small buildings, such as houses.
 Covered with wall finishes, such as plasterboard, it has sufficient resistance to damage by
fire, good thermal insulating properties and reasonable durability providing it is sensibly
constructed and protected from decay.
 Two workers in a matter of a few days can construct a timber-framed house on site.
Alternatively, off-site prefabrication allows the erection of a house within a day, with
roofing and external cladding completed soon afterwards.