Crack patterns in masonry structures using phase field method

Abstract

This work aims to study the crack pattern in masonry-like structures by a simplified description of the mediumusing a variational damage model. In literature, when modeling fractures in masonry structures, capturingboth fracture types, cracks in units, and cracks at the interface simultaneously, usually requires a complicated scheme. The phase-field method has been widely used recently because of its robustness in capturing variousfracture types. In this work, we consider the mortar and the interface (between the mortar and units) as a thickinterface layer with pseudo-material properties. We conduct numerical tests on a bending beam and a tensilewall using strategies of material properties with a phase field model. As it is not distinguished the crack in themortar and the brick-mortar interface, it is shown in this work that both types of fracture, in the thick interfacelayer and the unit, can be captured just using the phase field method and the simplified micro model.