During the construction of houses, both multi-storey and private country houses, load-bearing or self-supporting walls can be erected. The first type of enclosing structures experiences serious loads from floors and roofs. Self-supporting walls are vertical elements of a building on which nothing rests. During the operation of the house, loads in such structures arise only from their own weight.
What are they?
The main distinguishing feature of self-supporting walls, in comparison with loaded ones, is that they have a small thickness. Material during their construction, respectively, takes less. The thickness of the walls of this variety, depending on what they were built from, can vary between 50-380 mm.
During the construction of the rear, among other things, non-bearing enclosing structures can also be assembled. Such walls also do not perceive the load from the elements of the house located above. In another way, structures of this type are called hinged. They are always built within the same floor. However, if theyheight exceeds 6 m, they can already be considered self-supporting. Their design and calculation are carried out accordingly.
Self-supporting walls are basically only external enclosing structures. Such elements of the building simply protect its interior from wind and precipitation, adjoining the main frame. Ceilings to such walls are attached to the side on all floors in height. During the construction of houses, both single-layer and multi-layer self-supporting enclosing structures can be erected. If the walls of this type are inside the building, they serve only as partitions.
Features of operation
According to the norms of SNiP, in such structures, when redevelopment in multi-storey and country houses, it is allowed to make openings or expand them to the required parameters. Also, the walls of this variety, in some cases, can even be dismantled and rebuilt without the risk of collapse of other building structures.
Calculation
Before the construction of any house, of course, a detailed project is also drawn up. At the same time, such an operation as the calculation of walls of self-supporting, non-bearing and loaded for stability is also performed. For brick structures, for example, such calculations are made taking into account the data of several tables from paragraphs 6.16-6.20 of SNiP II-22-81. In any case, when calculating the stability of a self-supporting wall, the ratio of its thickness to height for a given geometry is determined by the normative values.
Features of construction
Building such enclosing structures is allowed from almost any material. Self-supporting walls are building elements that can be built from wood, brick, blocks. In any case, such structures are assembled exclusively on strong supports. Their bases are poured simultaneously with the foundation of the building itself.
Match self-supporting brick, block, etc. walls with other types of enclosing structures exclusively using flexible ties. When using rigid ones, due to the unequal degree of loading, the elements of the building may subsequently crack and deform. Accordingly, living in the house will become unsafe.
Self-supporting walls are structures that are supposed to be reinforced when laying bricks or blocks according to the standards. However, such enclosing parts of buildings are usually not as carefully strengthened as loaded ones. Rods in the construction of walls of this type are inserted through a greater number of rows of masonry. Reinforcement for such structures, according to the standards, is allowed to use a diameter of 1-2 mm.
Materials for high-rise buildings
When building high-rise buildings, self-supporting exterior walls can be built from:
- ceramic brick hollow, porous, full-bodied;
- silicate brick.
When erecting buildings with not too many storeys, blocks are sometimes also used:
- arbolite;
- ceramic;
- from foam or aerated concrete;
- expanded concrete and any otherlarge format.
A feature of such materials in comparison, for example, with the same brick, is a relatively low degree of strength. Therefore, their standards are allowed to be used, depending on the variety, when building houses with a height of no more than 3-5 floors.
