masonry detailing

huangyhg

masonry detailing
hi all,
i am relatively new to the design of masonry structures and have a question about the standard detailing of masonry.  i have a wall with #4 bars @ 48".  using the working stress method, the steel is overstressed.  i can up the bar to a #5, still at 48" and get this to work, but i was wondering if it would be "better" to reduce the spacing of the #4 bars to, say 32" and proceed that way.  any thoughts from more experienced designers would be appreciated.
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hi all,
i forgot to ask if anyone had a good source for standard masonry details...
thanks
my experience with masons indicates that wider spacing with bigger bars is less expensive.  the textbook i rely on is amrhein's reinforced masonry engineering handbook.
daveatkins
thanks dave,
i was figuring that would probably be the case, but wanted to make sure i wasn't missing something that was obvious to someone with more experience in masonry design.
thanks again.
i agree with dave the less bars to handle and less cells to fill the cheaper. do not forget the cleanouts to inspect bar presence before they fill cells. also keep the max lifts per aci masonry code. keep in mind that some building codes limits your maximum spacing to 48 inches on center!
it is even better to put bars in both faces of the cells (if 8" cmu or larger) to keep from having to grout more cells. it is the grouting which is tough. also, keep in mind that the ibc code mandated lap lengths make anything larger than a #5 an impossibility to build w/ current building practices.
try running a google search - you should turn up sources for brick masonry at the brick masonry institute (bia) and also tek notes for concrete masonry construction.  both sites will give design details in addition to specs.
amrein is the industry staple on masonry design and detailing.
regards,
qshake
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