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Crinkle Crankle Wall

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Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall

#41

Post by jfoutz »

gweinberg wrote: post #40

Wouldn't it be easier to make with straight zig-zag sections than with wavy curves?

I don't think you'd get the protection from lateral forces on the straight sections. Just a little bit of curve transfers the cross force down the whole curve.

The gist is, if i push on a brick in the middle of a flat part, the force has to be resisted by the width of the single brick. but if i push on any part of the curve, that's got to lift the adjacent next level up bricks as well, which in turn have to lift the next level, and on and on.

It's been a long, long time since i studied static forces though.

Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall

#42

Post by frosted-flakes »

KSteffensen wrote: post #17
superhuzza wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're likely right, it's probably not very economical nowadays. Especially given the wider range of materials than be used to build a wall or fence.

Aestethics still apply though and it looks nice. Pet peeve: Why isn't anyone building brick houses anymore?

They are. In my area of southern Ontario, I estimate that >80% of houses have a brick facade. Note that nearly all houses here are stick-framed. It's very common for visitors to comment on this, because it seems very specific to this part of the country.

I don't know of any structural brick houses here though.

Brick facades cost more up front, but they require zero maintenance and are very durable.

Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall

#45

Post by gweinberg »

appleflaxen wrote: post #28

So is it the case that it brings the cost of the wall down from 2N (two brick depth for strength) to sqrt(2)N (for a hypothetical 45 degree angle) ?

I don't think so. I don't think you need anywhere near a 45 degree angle, and making the wall double thick won't really solve the fall over problem in the first place.

Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall

#48

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

jessriedel wrote: post #34
Cytobit wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the shape of the wall affect either of these uses? Otherwise, wouldn't it be off-topic to start listing general facts about walls for agriculture?

Based on this comment, I think the idea is that if you plant trees within the bend of a wall, they are shielded and heated from more than 180 degrees. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21564553 You only get this benefit for tree right along the wall, which is not much agricultural area. Seems like a strained justification.

Fruit trees were commonly grown against purpose built walls. For flat walls trees would be trained to keep their branches in a plane.

Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall

#49

Post by kparaju »

jhncls wrote: post #14

While this type of wall mainly exists in England and the Netherlands, it is amusing how the English Wikipedia's main arguments are about saving bricks and possible military advantages, while the Dutch Wikipedia tell these walls are meant to protect fruit from weather conditions. The fruit would typically be planted at the south side. One of the ideas is that the bricks both protect against wind and keep giving some w…

Found pictures of this kind of wall in UVA too! Pretty neat.

https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/pictures/serpentine/

Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall

#50

Post by gopalv »

jhncls wrote: post #14

While this type of wall mainly exists in England and the Netherlands, it is amusing how the English Wikipedia's main arguments are about saving bricks and possible military advantages, while the Dutch Wikipedia tell these walls are meant to protect fruit from weather conditions. The fruit would typically be planted at the south side. One of the ideas is that the bricks both protect against wind and keep giving some w…

> while the Dutch Wikipedia tell these walls are meant to protect fruit from weather conditions

Might also have a historic quirk to it.

"The fruit wall appears around the start of the so-called Little Ice Age, a period of exceptional cold in Europe that lasted from about 1550 to 1850."

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/fruit-walls-urban-fa...

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