Hendry [13] reported on tests on the compressive strength of brick masonry using
differing bed joint materials including mortar, steel and rubber.
Thin steel increases the strength brick assembly by more than
40% of the strength of the brick itself whilst rubber joints resulted
in a 87% reduction in strength. More recently [14] tests on sandstone have shown that the stiffness of sandstone in axial compression is strongly affected by the nature of the bed-joint, with dry
joints exhibiting greater stiffness than mortar joints.
The significance of the reduction in flexural stiffness of the panel due to the incorporation of the polycarbonate spacer can be
checked by considering the maximum deflection of a panel in a
realistic application. Consider a panel 1.0 m wide spanning 3.0 m
between floors subjected to a maximum wind pressure of 2.0 kPa.