A finite element study of masonry cracks

Brick walls of ceramic without any mortar covering or paint are used extensively in building façades in Spain. Their good appearance and high resistance to environmental attacks are the reasons of the widespread use of such walls in Spain. One of the most used masonry wall system is based on nonbearing panels hanging partially, about two thirds of the brick width, on the edge beams of the structural skeleton. The edge beam is veneered with special thinner bricks to achieve the visual continuity of the façade. A considerable number of these walls show cracking. In this work, finite element simulations were performed in order to gain insight on the causes of cracking. A special finite element, based on the strong discontinuity analysis and the cohesive crack theory is used in the numerical simulations. The results agree with the overall cracking patterns observed.