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Masonry-to-steel-joist

CONNECTION
Concrete masonry unit Consider connection
Steel joist
adjustability, potential
Rigid differential movement,
insulation
and lateral bracing of
Metal decking
and insulation
the masonry walls

Field-weld By Walter Laska


joist to plate

Bearing plate with studs


he structural composition of a

T
solidly embedded in
grouted bond beam building often consists of ma-
Brick sonry walls and steel joists.
In this type of system, masonry
walls perform as both bearing and
nonbearing components. When
Horizontal joint reinforcement at Reinforced detailing steel-joist-to-masonry
16 inches on center vertically bond beam
11⁄2-inch minimum air space connections, designers should
Figure 1. If a welded connection is desired between a masonry bearing wall take into account several factors,
and steel roof joist, you can specify a bearing plate with studs solidly em- such as the adjustability of the
bedded in a grouted bond beam. connection, potential movement
between the two systems, and lat-
Metal decking eral bracing of the masonry walls.
and insulation
K-series and LH-series joists are
most commonly used with mason-
ry. The span and depth of these
open-web joists determine their
Steel joist bearing requirements, as estab-
Sawcut
welded to lished by the Steel Joist Institute.
bulb tee K-series joists range from 8 to 30
concrete
masonry Steel joist spaced inches in depth, with a maximum
unit or at designated span of 60 feet. The minimum
special unit intervals bearing requirement on masonry
for a K-series joist is 4 inches. If
the joist is detailed to be an-
Bond beam
chored to a steel bearing plate,
the plate must be at least 6 inch-
Continuous bulb tee es wide (parallel to the wall).
Brick embedded solidly in LH-series joists range from 18
grouted bond beam to 48 inches in depth, with a maxi-
Rigid Concrete mum span of 96 feet. The mini-
insulation masonry unit mum bearing requirement on
masonry for an LH-series joist is 6
Horizontal joint reinforcement at inches. If the joist is to be an-
16 inches on center vertically 11⁄2-inch minimum air space
chored to a steel bearing plate,
Figure 2. A continuous bulb tee embedded solidly in a grouted bond beam pro- the plate must be at least 9 inches
vides a welded connection between a masonry bearing wall and a steel roof joist. wide (parallel to the wall).
It is sometimes necessary, how-
ever, for a steel joist to bear on
masonry less than the required
dimensions—when constructing
tall, slender (single-wythe) rein-
forced masonry walls, for exam-
ple. In such circumstances, the
structural engineer should give
special consideration to the de-
sign of the masonry and steel
joist connection.
Metal cap Metal decking and insulation
Movement
When a roof joist spans its max-
imum length and carries its maxi- Provide continuous
mum allowable load, the ends of sealant under drip on
both sides of cap and
the joist will rotate. This inward where cap sections
movement (joist shortening) is overlap
the result of deflection. If this con-
dition is overlooked, the masonry Through-wall brick or
can bow and crack. concrete masonry units
One way to eliminate this prob-
lem is to specify joists stiff enough Slotted channel solidly Steel joist with
to resist maximum deflection. You embedded in grouted bond beam oversized slots in
also can minimize deflection by top chord bolted to
increasing the number of joists, slotted channel
Reinforced bond beam
thereby reducing the space be-
tween them. Horizontal joint reinforcement at 16 inches on center vertically
Roofs should be insulated prop-
erly to prevent joist movement Figure 3. If a bolted connection is desired, specify a slotted channel solidly
due to temperature variations. embedded in the masonry.
You should also consider the time
of year the joists are erected and
the type of enclosed environment
they will be subjected to. If joists Concrete masonry unit
or through-wall brick
are erected in hot weather and
subjected to heavy cooling or re-
Sawcut concrete masonry
frigeration upon completion, they unit or special unit Metal decking
will contract. Joists erected in and insulation
cold weather and later subjected
to heating will expand. To accom-
modate this thermal movement,
Steel joist welded
you can specify that the steel fab- to bulb tee
ricator modify the camber (up-
ward bowing) of the top chord of Continuous bulb tee
the joist. A special slippage con- embedded solidly in
nection to accommodate joist grouted bond beam
lengthening may be required if
the walls are braced laterally by Weld extended bottom
steel joists. chord of steel joist to clip
In addition, do not design joists Fill cells of angle after all roofing
concrete masonry dead loads are in place
to be in direct contact with the solid with
outer face shell of concrete ma- Clip angle anchored to
grout or mortar concrete masonry unit
sonry units. Provide a clearance directly below with expansion anchors
of 3⁄4 inch. If the two materials are bond beam Reinforced bond beam
in contact, any structural move-
ment of the joist can stress the Figure 4. To increase the allowable height of the wall, one option is to ex-
concrete masonry, causing cracks. tend the bottom chord of the joist and connect it to the wall—after all roof
This clearance is especially criti- dead loads are in place.
cal in the design of single-wythe
walls, where any cracks that de- Extend angle and weld to clip angle Concrete masonry unit
velop would be on the exterior or through-wall brick unit
and exposed; in double-wythe
walls, in contrast, cracks would Reinforced bond beam
develop on the interior and
wouldn’t be exposed. Fill cells of concrete masonry
unit solid with grout or mortar
Bearing wall connections
Horizontal joint
A connection should be de- reinforcement at
signed so that it can be installed Metal 16 inches on
decking
easily. It needs to be adjustable and
center vertically
since distances between bearing insulation
points can vary by an inch or
more due to construction toler-
ances. In addition, the anchor
bolts set in the masonry during Clip angle bolted to
construction can be misaligned. masonry with
expansion anchor
Detail a connection that allows
adjustment of the joist in two di- Extend bridging angle and weld to clip angle
rections—north-south and east-
west. If a welded connection is de- Figure 5. To brace the wall laterally, you can extend the horizontal bridging
sired, then specify a bearing plate angles and weld them to clip angles embedded in the masonry wall. The
extended section of each angle should align with the horizontal bridging.
with studs (Figure 1) or a continu- (Nonalignment could cause joist chords to crimp from wind pressure.)
ous bulb tee (Figure 2), which will
provide adequate adjustment.The slotted joist allows for up-down anchor or an anchor bolt. Alterna-
bearing plates should be fabricat- adjustment (Figure 3). tively, you can specify fabricated
ed and delivered to the jobsite metal inserts, which are installed
prior to masonry construction to Nonbearing wall connections during construction. Clip angles
enable masons to embed the When connecting steel joists to and metal inserts should be fabri-
plates before the joists are deliv- nonbearing masonry walls, con- cated and delivered to the jobsite
ered. nection adjustability is not as crit- prior to the beginning of masonry
If a bolted connection is de- ical, but you should still give spe- construction.
sired, then specify a slotted chan- cial consideration to this
Lateral bracing of walls
nel solidly embedded in the ma- connection. Two similar types of
connection plates provide the Masonry walls must be braced
sonry. Also, specify the steel joist laterally to resist wind loads
to be fabricated with oversized best results.
For the most adjustability, spec- (which govern in nonseismic ar-
slots in the top chord. The chan- eas). This bracing is commonly
nel enables the bolt to be adjust- ify a clip angle bolted to the ma-
sonry with either an expansion provided by a roof system con-
ed from left to right, while the structed of steel joists. The steel
joists (and metal decking) act as a
Extend angle and weld to fabricated insert diaphragm that continuously
Concrete masonry unit
braces the wall against wind
Metal
decking loads at the bearing connection.
and Fabricated metal inserts solidly Columns, piers, pilasters, or
insulation embedded in concrete masonry crosswalls are not required for
with mortar lateral bracing if the wall is built
within height limitations allowed
Horizontal joint by code.
reinforcement spaced
at 16 inches on center Bearing walls are braced at the
vertically masonry and steel joist connec-
tion. To increase the allowable
Steel
joists height of a wall without increasing
the wall thickness, adding more
rebar, or constructing columns,
piers, or pilasters, you can extend
the bottom chord of the joist and
connect it to the wall—but only
Extend bridging angle and weld to fabricated metal inserts after all roof dead loads are in
place (Figure 4). The joist must be
Figure 6. Another option for bracing a wall laterally is to extend the horizon- stiff enough to minimize deflection
tal bridging angles and weld them to metal inserts embedded in the wall. after live loads are applied. If ex-
cessive deflection occurs, a hori- when the joist deflects, loads
zontal crack can develop in the would be induced into the cross-
mortar joint immediately above bracing, pulling the top connec-
or below the bottom chord con- tion inward while pushing the
nection. bottom connection outward, re-
Nonbearing walls also must be sulting in additional bonding
braced laterally by the steel joists. stresses.
To brace these walls, you can ex-
tend the horizontal bridging an- Conclusion
gles and weld them to the metal Successful design of masonry
plate or angle, which is connect- and steel requires a thorough un-
ed to the wall (Figures 5 and 6). derstanding of the two materials.
Align the extended angle with the Numerous problems can be
horizontal bridging to prevent avoided—and successful con-
crimping in the joist chords due struction can be assured—by
to wind pressure. However, if providing well-developed and
spacing between the bridging an- workable connection details.
gles is in excess of 6 feet, bridging
alone may not adequately transfer Walter Laska is the senior consultant and
wind loads. In this case, you must president of Masonry Technologies Inc., in
Downers Grove, Ill., and is a technical con-
increase the number of bracing sultant for Masonry Construction.
angles.
If diagonal bridging is used for
steel joists, specify a horizontal
bridging connection at the end
joists to brace the walls laterally.
Cross-bracing these joists to the PUBLICATION #M960472
masonry is not recommended Copyright © 1996, The Aberdeen Group
and may cause the walls to crack; All rights reserved

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