Masonry Magazine April 1961 Page. 6
Brick Panels
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Eleven years ago, if a mason contractor, a bricklayer and a brick manufacturer were told that thin brick units would be used to pre-assemble a structural clay wall panel 4' wide, 19' long, only 2%" thick and weighing 2000 pounds and which would be delivered to the job site where it would be erected to form a building wall, they would have said, "it can't be done"! Furthermore, if the bricklayer had been told that he would erect that panel and weld it to the building frame, his remark would probably have been, "Oh Yeah?"
Well-it has been done! At the corner of 95th St, and Western Ave, in Chicago, 27 such large plant assembled brick panels have been erected to form a structural wall 19' high and only 2%" thick on a new building for the Hirsch Clothing Co.
These panels, called the "SCR building panel", are the result of some 10
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off., SCPRF
Mason contractor/brick
manufacturer team up with
significant results in first
application of plant-assembled
brick panels.
years of research and development by the Structural Clay Products Research Foundation in Geneva, Ill. They represent one solution by the brick industry to the increasing demand for plant assembled building component of all types.
The "SCR building panel" is a thin (2% to 3 thick) structural ceramic wall panel which can be fabricated in widths up to 2' and in lengths up to 13'. Each panel is reinforced with 2 or more deformed bars 6" on center. The special clay units used to fabricate the panels may vary in size from those with normal brick dimensions (25x12") to 24x24" ceramic veneer. Colors and textures can be any of the wide range now available in unglazed or ceramic glazed structural clay facing units.
Thse panels may be bolted or welded individually to building frames by means of attachment channels or structural tees cast into the back side of each panel or, as in the case with the Hirsch Building, assembled into larger steel members welded to the backs the panels or with a steel angle surround. Tests at the Research Center in Geneva indicate that "SCR building panels" have excellent structural properties, enabling them to be used as load-bearing elements, shear walls, piers and even plate plate girders.
Fred Beyer Contractor
Metropolitan Brick, Inc. fabricated 513-1'x4' "SCR building panels" for the Hirsch Clothing Co. job. The clay units used were norman brick size and were ceramic glazed. These panels were then assembled into twenty-seven 4 by 19' steel angle frames by Fred Beyer, mason contractor for the job, to form large "plate girders". The ends of the two reinforcing bars in each of the small panels were welded to the steel surround and the joints between panels and panels and angle frame grouted with mortar.
Beyer's erection crew on the wall consisted of 6 men. After a crane lifted and swung each large panel into position, this crew plumbed and leveled the panel and quickly welded it to the steel building frame. When in place the panels formed a folded-plate wall 19' high and only 2½" thick. Because of the folded plate design, this wall is more than adequate in resisting the required wind loads over the 16 vertical span between welded connections.
First on Large Scale
This job is the first large scale commercial application of the "SCR building panel". While final cost figures are not yet available, it is felt that these panels, when used structurally in this manner, can be installed cheaper than conventional masonry walls. In non-structural applications, however, it is doubtful that the "SCR building panel" can be fabricated and installed at less cost than conventional hand-laid brick masonry. There is every indication, however, that this panel will be more than competitive with metal panels in non-structural curtain wall applications.
(Continued on nezt page)
The l'x4' "SCR building panels" (foreground) have just been removed from casting jig in background only about 10 minutes after special fast-setting grout was mixed and poured.
Mason contractor Fred Beyer's men assemble panels 4'x19' steel angle frames at the plant. Reinforcing bar each panel are then plug-welded into holes previously punched into vertical angle legs. Joints between panels and between panels and frame are then grouted with mortar.
MASONRY APRIL, 15