Masonry Corbel, Corroded Steel Beams

[dukeguy]

I was curious if anyone has ever encountered a masonry corbel with embedded steel members (pics below)? My initial reaction was that the stiffness of these members must be so much smaller than the surrounding masonry, they wouldn't be providing much strength to the cantilever/corbel, right? Then, I wondered if the steel members might be acting as "rebar" providing tensile resistance against the corbels wanting to rotate/split off from their supports... any thoughts would be appreciated!!

 

[masonrygeek]

I would have to assume that the steel beams are helping to resist the bending stresses in the corbelling, however, they may not be doing a lot since the masonry can resist the flexural/overturning forces to a certain point. If you look at BIA Tech Note 36A (

https://www.gobrick.com/docs/defaul...and-copings-corbels-and-racking.pdf?sfvrsn=0)

Fig. 8, you'll see that a loadbearing corbel can work as long as the slope is less than 63 deg from horizontal. You could check your situation to see if it follows the recommendations. The original builder may have wanted to be more conservative and put the beams in place and was also taking into account that the corbels are the bearing points for the beam/lintel over the opening. Depending on how the masonry above the lintel is being supported may dictate what you can do.

 

[dik]

Damage from moisture? or from load?

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik