Crack Pattern in an Industrial Masonry Chimney Explained by a Heterogeneous FE Model

Masonry chimneys often exhibit complex crack patterns caused by multiple factors, including thermal effects, wind loads, earthquakes, and lightning strikes. This study focuses on a disused chimney in the company town of Crespi d’Adda, northern Italy. The damage observed on the chimney consists of vertical cracks in the lower portion, horizontal cracks in the upper section, and zigzag patterns in the middle. Based on previous studies that successfully reproduced the vertical and horizontal cracks caused by thermal effects, but failed to reproduce the zigzag cracking in the middle region, in this work, a new numerical approach is proposed that considers thermal effects alone, explicitly taking into account the material heterogeneity of masonry. The numerical model represents bricks and mortar joints - albeit with idealized dimensions for practicality - and allows for plastic deformation and damage. To highlight the role played by material heterogeneity, a homogeneous model was also obtained from this heterogeneous representation.