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[December 2007]
CERAM Supports New Bond
CERAM Building Technology (CBT) has proven that an emerging building technique could have a major impact on the way large scale projects are constructed.
Using its state-of-the-art testing facilities and team of experts, CBT has shown that bond beam construction is an efficient and effective method for giving exterior walls of a significant span-size the appropriate support to withstand wind load.
In contrast to traditional vertical wind posts, bond beams are designed to run horizontally through the construction and are ‘installed’ using a simple process which involves U-shaped concrete blocks being fitted at specified height intervals.
Horizontally running reinforcement bars (bond beams) are then laid in the channels created, which in turn are filled with concrete. The bars are fixed both to columns at either end of the wall expanse and vertically to the immediate courses above.
When tested against competing construction methods (each applied to a 8m wide x 5m high sample wall panel built of 140mm concrete brickwork) bond beams tested by CERAM performed just as well as traditional wind posts, recording a failure figure of approximately 6Kn/m² - well above what they would be expected to accept in practice.
In fact, when performance tested to greater expanses (using a 12m wide x 5m high wall and utilising bed-joint reinforcement), the bond beams fared significantly better that any other methods.
As Geoff Edgell explained, this method overcomes a significant problem: “Specifiers are always faced with the issue of wind load and how to create the required resistance to ensure a solid structure. Supportive pillars provide an obvious remedy but as a route this is often rejected, or rather not permitted, due to aesthetic design restrictions.
“Traditionally, this issue has been overcome by incorporating vertical steel columns into concrete walls, utilising frame anchors to anchor them into the blockwork. But stainless steel is expensive and the process can be time consuming. With greater emphasis than ever before on low-impact builds (i.e. minimal disruption on the project site and surrounding environs), this is far from ideal.”
The tests conducted by CERAM show that bond beam construction provides a useful alternative to overcome this issue, and one which undoubtedly has the potential to help project managers cope with stricter guidelines regarding site efficiencies and lower carbon footprints in the future.
PRESS CONTACT: Catherine West-Robinson, Marketing Co-ordinator
Tel: +44 (0)1782 764344 Fax: +44 (0)1782 412331 Email: catherine.west-robinson@ceram.com
ENDS