What is Lintel? | Types of Lintel | Uses | lintel length Calculation | lintel bearing

What Is Lintel Beam?

The lintel is a horizontal flexible member that has openings in the walls for doors, windows, ventilators, cabinets, etc. Above the opening, a masonry wall is transferred so that the frames of the doors, windows, etc. are not mounted unnecessarily. The end bearings for the lintel should be at least 200 mm.

Bearing of Lintel

The length of the lintel bearing provided by the following 4 cases.

• Height of lintel beam

• 150 mm is minimum 

• 1/10th to 1/12th of span of the lintel.

• The width of the lintels is equal to the width of the wall.

Always provide adequate support for the ends of the lintels. The manufacturer's recommendations should be followed, but the standard test is 150mm (6") at each. If you do not provide sufficient results, the lintel will fail under loads.

 

What is the length of the lintel?

(Or)

How wide is the structural opening?

·       Measure the size of the structural opening therefore the clear span between the masonry supports.

·       Add 200mm (200mm is an example) minimum bearing to each end.

Example lintel length = 200 + 1200 + 200 = 1600mm

ALSO READ: How To Calculate Steel Quantity Of Lintel Beam - Bar Bending Schedule

Types of Lintels Based on Construction Materials

1.   Wooden Lintels

2.   Brick Lintels

3.   Stone Lintels

4.   Reinforced Brick Lintels

5.   Concrete Lintels

        a)   Plain Concrete Lintels

        b)  Reinforced Concrete Lintels

                         I.        (b) Precast Lintels

                       II.        (b) Cast in Situ Lintels

6.   Steel Lintels

·       Standard Cavity Steel Lintels

·       Short Outer Leaf Steel Lintels

·       Wide Inner Leaf Steel Lintels

·       Wide Outer Leaf Steel Lintels

7.   Specialist Lintels – Catnic

8.   Cavity Lintels

 

In this article, we will discuss on main types of lintel based on materials

 

1. Timber Or Wooden Lintel

In the old days of construction, wooden lintels were often used. But nowadays they are being replaced by many modern techniques, though they are still used in hilly areas. The main drawbacks with trees are high cost and low durability and vulnerability to fire.

If the length of the opening is greater, it is provided by attaching several pieces of wood with the help of the steel bolts shown in the figure below As for the wide walls, it was made up of two pieces of wood placed at a distance with the help of packing pieces made of wood. Sometimes, these are reinforced by providing mild steel plates at the top and bottom, called flitch lintels.

It has some other drawbacks-

1.    It is less durable.

2.    The wood is flammable so it is prone to fire.

3.    These lindels are structurally weak.

4.    Without proper ventilation, wood is bound to rot.

 

2. Brick Lintels

These are used to small span openings (less than a meter) with light loading. They usually have bricks, which are usually placed at the end and occasionally at the edge.

The brick lintel is built on a temporary wooden support (i.e., centrally functioning) called the Turning Piece. Bricks with frogs are more suitable for building lintels because they form dents when bordered, and therefore have higher cutting resistance at the end joints (higher strength). The structure formed by the use of frog bricks is called ‘jockey brick lintel’.

 

The following points should be given due consideration:

Brick lintels are the most frequently used applications of construction in brickwork. Steel bars (1:3) supplied on the tension side of the bricklayer and rich cement fill the construction joints in which the steel wires are placed.

The width of the joints should be at least 3 times the diameter of the reinforcement bar applied. The bricks used should be of good quality.

This type of lintel can be used for gaps up to 2500 mm and the thickness can be 100 mm, 200 mm..

 

3. Stone Lintel

stone bits in rectangular shape can be used as a lintel. This type of lintel is mainly used in this area where there is good access to the stone. On the off chance that the length of the opening is long, by that time, at any rate, two bits of wood are attached to give the lintel everything that is considered to be openings. They are only used in mountainous buildings because they weigh too much and other materials are not available for construction. Its use is basically tied to stone masonry structures. Stone lintels must be used in accordance with the characteristic layout. The thickness of the stone lintel is a significant factor in its design.

As thumb rule, the thickness is assumed to be 40 mm. The span length should be 300mm and the minimum thickness 80 mm. This type of lintel will be firm and strong.

There are also a few drawbacks of the stone lintel.

·        Its high cost and secondly its an inability to withstand excessive transverse stress.

·        Due to the weak tensile strength they are not used in buildings subject to vibratory loads structure.

·        Transportation is a very complex task so it is difficult to tranfer them to cities.

 

4.  Reinforced Brick Lintels

The problems for brick lintels are heavier loads and more substantial span lengths. These can be overcome by using the reinforcing bars. So reinforced brick lintels provide more support than brick lintels. The depth of the reinforced brick lintels is equal to 100 mm. or a multiple of 100 mm (or one brick thickness).

The arrangement of the bricks should be such that there is sufficient space between the adjacent bricks for the insertion of light steel bars as reinforcement. After inserting bars, the remaining gap is filled with a 1: 3 cement mortar. 6 mm bars are used as vertical stirrups at every 3rd vertical component. 8 to 10 mm bars placed at the bottom are used as primary reinforcement.

 

5.  Steel Lintels

Steel lintels are suitable where exaggerated loads are heavy and opening spaces are large. Steel lintels are desirable when lintel depth plays an important role because the depth of reinforced concrete lintels cannot be ignored by the designer due to the high loads.

These lintels use profiled sections or beams made of rolled steel or profiled sections individually or in combination with two or three units. Depending on requirements, Lintel can be one division or two or more combinations. The single steel joist can be embedded in concrete or covered with a stone face to maintain the same width of the wall. The combination of two or more units is placed side by side and positioned by the pipe separator. Water supply is provided for ten days in all cases.

It has several things note:

·        Steel lintels can be used to support heavier loads on more important sections without the need to replace or reinforce.

·        Steel lintels are subject to rust, corrosion or corrosion.

·        Steel lintels are very practical and less labour intensive.

 

6. Reinforced Cement Concrete Lintel

Currently, reinforced concrete lintels are the most common in use. In this way, reinforcement is used to overcome the low compliance problem in concrete. They are built into today’s structures. They are suitable for high loads and large opening. Their thickness is kept up to 8 centimetres per meter. RCC lintels may be precast or cast-in-situ.

Generally, precast reinforced cement concrete lintels are used when the lintel gap is small. The width of the lintel should be equal to the width of the wall. The depth of the lintel depends on the length of the span and the amount of loading.

Concrete, although strong in compression, is brittle to tensile stress, so key reinforcement bars are used below to resist tensile stress. Half of these bars are tied at the ends. Cut stirrups are provided to withstand transverse shear stress. Typically, cement, sand and aggregates are mixed in the ratio of 1: 2: 4 to form a cement concrete mortar.

There are a few benefits to this lintel:

·        They are durable, tough and strong.

·        Reinforced concrete lintel has fire-resistant properties.

·        They are economical and easy to build.

·        The main advantage of RCC lintels is that they can be modified to fit any size and shape.

 

FAQs

Uses of lintel beam

·       The purpose of the lintel beam

·       These beams are used to support the walls above openings such as windows and doors.

·       For the safety of windows and doors, these beams are provided.

·       These beams are provided to withstand the loads coming from the blocks or bricks above.

·       It is provided to shift its loads to the side walls.

·       Lintels are sometimes used as decorative architectural elements.

 

What are the types of lintel in construction?

1.   Wooden Lintels

2.   Brick Lintels

3.   Stone Lintels

4.   Reinforced Brick Lintels

5.   Concrete Lintels

    a)   Plain Concrete Lintels

    d)  Reinforced Concrete Lintels

                     III.        (b) Precast Lintels

                     IV.        (b) Cast in Situ Lintels

6.   Steel Lintels

·       Standard Cavity Steel Lintels

·       Short Outer Leaf Steel Lintels

·       Wide Inner Leaf Steel Lintels

·       Wide Outer Leaf Steel Lintels

7.   Specialist Lintels – Catnic

8.   Cavity Lintels

Must read: Know the Difference between Formwork, Shuttering, Centering, and Staging

Must read: Removal of Concrete Formwork: Know the Correct Time | calculations | specification

 

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