Masonry Wall Design Calculator
Multi-code single-leaf loadbearing masonry wall design — SANS 10164-1, BS 5628-1 and Eurocode 6 (EN 1996-1-1). Unit strength and mortar to characteristic compressive strength fk, a slenderness + capacity-reduction-factor vertical check, and a bending-moment-coefficient out-of-plane wind flexural check, with a printable clause-by-clause calc sheet.
Verified against the BS 5628 / EN 1996 worked example; every strength user-input with cited SA defaults — confirm before sign-off
Inputs
Wall
Design code
Geometry
mm
mm
Enhanced (0.75) needs demonstrable restraint; default conservatively to 1.0 if in doubt. cl 28.3 / EN 5.5.1.2
Unit & mortar → fk
MPa
MPa
Optional helper: fb = δ·fu from the EN 772-1 Table A.1 shape factor δ (bilinear-interpolated on unit height/width), written into fb above when height, width or fu change — fb stays directly editable afterward.
MPa
Mortar-class fm values are the 28-day preliminary (laboratory) minima of SANS 10164-1 Table 1 — class I 14,5, II 7, III 2 MPa. The works-test minima in the same table are lower (10 / 5 / 1,5 MPa). Under SANS it is the class itself, not fm, that selects the Table 3 row.
Vertical action (ULS)
kN/m
mm
Eccentricity from slab bearing (e.g. resultant at t/6 or t/3) is a user input. β closed form valid only for ex ≤ 0.4t; beyond → cracked-section analysis (blocked).
SANS 10164-1 cl.4.3.1.3 Table 5 — options rebuild for the design code selected above (BS 5628-1:2005 Table 4 / EN 1996-1-1 cl.2.4.3). Governs the vertical compressive check only; the lateral check uses its own γm,flex below.
kN/m³
Self-weight above mid-height = 1.2·γunit·t·(h/2), added to NEd when on. 1.2 is a conservative permanent-action factor — override NEd directly if you already include self-weight there.
EC6 slenderness — creep (Φm path)
Adds ek = 0.002·φ∞·(hef/tef)·√(t·emk) into the EN 1996 mid-height eccentricity (Annex G) once SR > 27 — no effect below that slenderness.
Lateral (out-of-plane wind)
m
kPa
SA practice = SANS 10160-1 (γf,wind≈1.3); the BS worked example uses 1.4. This scales MEd directly.
α is the largest uncertainty. Values are representative (±0.005) — read your exact (case, μ, h/L) off the full BS 5628 Table 9; do not extrapolate outside the tabulated grid.
MPa
MPa
BS 5628 Table 3 fkx vary with unit strength/thickness (concrete) or water-absorption band (clay). 0.25 / 0.60 are conservative concrete defaults.
MPa
Wall — vertical load
Lateral panel — out-of-plane wind
Design result
—
—
enter actions
| fk compressive | — |
| γm (vertical) | — |
| hef / SR | — |
| ea / em | — |
| β reduction | — |
| NRd resistance | — |
| NEd applied | — |
| Vertical utilisation | — |
| γm,flex (lateral) | — |
| Z per m | — |
| M⊥ applied | — |
| MR,⊥ | — |
| M∥ applied | — |
| MR,∥ | — |
| Lateral utilisation | — |
| EN 1996 alt. NRd | — |
Design checks
Step-by-step calculation
Combined wall summary — all walls
Every wall in the project, aggregated. Use “Add wall” above to build the schedule, then Download PDF (print → Save as PDF). Vertical NRd per the selected code’s method (β for SANS/BS, Φm for EN 1996); lateral shows the governing out-of-plane flexural utilisation.
This isn’t a toy calculator
It runs alongside STATIX — a full structural suite built on the same engine. Model the whole building, not just one wall.