Is the 5 m long red-marked piece the beam?
 
J justusandersson said:
Is the 5 m long red-marked section the beam?
Both the red ones i.e., one that is 5m and one 12m
 
With the current load, approximately 20 kN/m, an HEB 120 can handle a span of about 2.5 m. Column supports every 2.5 meters must withstand a load of 50 kN. This can be achieved by 90x90 glued laminated timber or larger, as well as a plethora of (almost all) steel profiles.
 
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Ok! Can I replace the poles with 120*190*590mm lecablocks standing upright (joined with mortar)?
 

Best answer

Yes. Lecan has a compressive strength of 2 MPa, which means that a 12x19x59 cm block can withstand approximately 140 kN.
 
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Thank you very much for the comprehensive answer!
 
D
Hold on a second, this seems to be moving a bit fast if the original poster is in overalls and ready to proceed without bringing in a professional.

The compressive strength of such a Leca pillar does not amount to 140 kN (I suspect you've calculated the block's volume instead of the cross-sectional area). If it is correct that Leca has 2 MPa (which can also be written as 2 N/mm2) in compressive strength, and the blocks are set upright, their effective area becomes 120x190 mm = 22800 mm2. This then provides a compressive strength of 22800 N = 22.8 kN.

Furthermore, I consider the design solution itself with stacked Leca blocks to be unsuitable. The pillar ends up with several unstabilized joints with only mortar, where buckling can easily occur with the slightest crookedness, vertical lateral load, or horizontal impact. Perhaps there are Leca blocks prepared to act as pillars, but in that case, I imagine they mainly serve as formwork and should be reinforced and cast with concrete to take the vertical load.

A full-length steel pillar, as previously suggested, is most suitable if wood is to be completely excluded.
 
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D dennis.sa said:
Wait a minute, this seems to be going a bit fast if the TS is in carpenter's overalls and ready to proceed without bringing in a professional.

The compressive strength of such a Leca pillar does not amount to 140 kN (I suspect you have calculated the block's volume instead of the cross-sectional area). If it's true that Leca has 2 MPa (which can also be written as 2 N/mm2) in compressive strength, and the blocks are set up, their effective area is 120x190 mm = 22800 mm2. This then gives a compressive strength of 22800 N=22.8 kN.

Then I consider the construction solution itself with standing stacked Leca blocks to be inappropriate. The pillar gets several unbraced joints with only mortar, where buckling can easily occur with the slightest crookedness, vertical skew load, or horizontal impact. Perhaps there are Leca blocks prepared to act as pillars, but then I can imagine that they mostly act as forms and that reinforcement should be inserted and cast with concrete to take the vertical load.

A full-length steel pillar as previously suggested is most suitable if wood is to be completely excluded.
Aye, then I'll go to the blacksmith. At least I won't have to do the masonry.
We don't take chances here.
 
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I also do not think that a lecamur is the ideal solution to the problem, but it can handle significantly larger loads than 23 kN, depending on height and thickness. Weber has excellent design guidelines with easy-to-read tables that are downloadable. The interesting thing is not what individual stones can handle, but the entire masonry. A 150 mm thick and 2-meter high wall with a centric load can handle about 120 kN per meter. Increasing the thickness to 200 mm boosts the load-bearing capacity to about 160 kN/m. Since it is to be built next to a brick wall, the risk of buckling can be reduced. If the existing wooden pillars are to be replaced with steel or glued laminated timber, that is naturally fine if the number remains unchanged. A reduction in the number requires checking that the cellar floor can truly withstand the larger concentrated load.
 
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J justusandersson said:
I also don't think a lecamur is the ideal solution to the problem, but it can handle significantly larger loads than 23 kN, depending on height and thickness. Weber has excellent design guidelines with easy-to-read tables that are downloadable. The interesting thing is not what individual stones can handle but the whole masonry. A 150 mm thick and 2 meter high wall with a centric load can handle about 120 kN per meter. If you go up to 200 mm thickness, the load-bearing capacity increases to about 160 kN/m. Since it will be built next to a brick wall, the risk of buckling can be reduced. If the existing wooden posts are to be replaced with steel or glued laminated timber, it is naturally possible if the number remains unchanged. A reduction in the number requires a check that the basement floor actually can withstand the larger concentrated load.
I think @dennis.sa's reasoning seems reasonable. The compressive strength of individual blocks must surely provide an upper limit on the load-bearing capacity, which is reduced depending on how the masonry is constructed (taking into account buckling, etc.)?

In this case, I interpret it as the length of the "masonry" is 0.19 m, which with 120 kN/m (as you give as an example for t=150 mm) provides a load-bearing capacity of 22.8 kN for a 2 m high wall/pillar. I would think that calculating the buckling load is also essential.

Note that I have never calculated masonry before, so I might have misunderstood something.
 
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The length of the masonry is 0.59 meters, which thus means approximately 71 kN. The limited compressive strength of Lecablocks primarily means that larger point loads must be distributed over a larger area. There are very detailed rules for calculating the load-bearing capacity of masonry which take into account the type of mortar and the shear strength of the stones. This is something architects and designers have been doing on a scientific basis since the 18th century, so it's not new. Adding mortar against the brick wall also significantly reduces the risk of buckling in the weak direction.
 
J justusandersson said:
The length of the masonry is 0.59 meters, which therefore means approximately 71 kN. The limited compressive strength of Lecastenar primarily means that larger point loads must be distributed over a larger area. There are very detailed rules for calculating the load-bearing capacity of masonry, taking into account the type of mortar and the shear strength of the stones. This is something that architects and designers have been dealing with on a scientific basis since the 1700s, so it is not news. Adding mortar also against the brick wall significantly reduces the risk of buckling in the weak direction.
I think you missed that the original poster wanted to place the blocks on edge.
 
TS wrote: "120*190*590 lecablock stacked vertically on top of each other." I didn't interpret that as on the edge. I think on the edge is completely out of the question.
 
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The post I am referring to is below.

A andost said:
Ok! Can I replace the poles with 120*190*590mm lecablock standing on edge (joined with mortar)?
 
Fadai
Go with steel! Simpler, safer!
 
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