Abstract
THE Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has issued two special reports on floors and thin walls, the result of work undertaken by an ad hoc Building Materials Research Committee appointed to investigate new materials and constructional methods in connection with housing schemes (H.M. Stationery Office, 1s. 3d. net and 6d. net respectively). Some eight types of floors were dealt with, comprising hollow tiles, brick and tile, reinforced concrete, ash concrete, and ordinary wood joists. Suitable sections or units of these floors were erected and tested for carrying capacity to destruction. The results are summarised in tabular form, showing the weight of the floor, load carried, deflection, breaking load, age on testing, elastic limit, and so on. These results are also plotted diagrammatically, and drawings are given showing the construction of each floor to scale. The ash concrete proved weak, and the ordinary joisted floor, though possessing obvious disadvantages from some aspects, appeared to hold its own in the matter of strength. The experiments on thin walls included the testing of brick and concrete blocks and slabs and coke-breeze materials. Consistent results showed that the crushing strength of the walls varied from 67 to 83 per cent, of that of cubes of the materials respectively employed. Lengths of wall of 14 in. and 3 ft. 6 in. and 2 in. to 4 in. thick were dealt with. These strips were 8 ft. 6 in. high, and the horizontal pull necessary to make the wider strips collapse was measured. The materials built in lime mortar on account of early failure under test give rise to criticism of lime as a binding agent, but surely the behaviour of walls so built after only twentv-four days cannot be fairly compared with that of similar walls built in cement which sets in a day or two. Lime was used in all our national buildings until comparatively recent years; it is cheaper in actual cost and labour than cement, and its wider use merits revival. These experiments are valuable and interesting; it has to be remembered, however, that the country builder usually fears new methods, and is apt to put unduly high prices on unknown forms of construction.
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Building Materials and Heat Insulators. Nature 109, 222 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/109222a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/109222a0