Deformation Prediction of Brick Masonry in Coke Oven

Various types of brick masonry are used in the handling and treatment of hot materials in steelmaking processes. Although trouble related to damage of the bricks and joints is an important issue, it is difficult to predict and prevent damage of brick masonry because masonry is characterized by heterogeneity, nonlinearity and nonequilibrium. In this paper, the brick masonry in a coke oven is studied as an example, and a method of deformation prediction under external force is developed as a basic study. First, a compression test of a sample consisting of two bricks with one mortar joint is performed. Second, a part of a heating flue of a coke oven made of bricks is constructed as a test sample, and brick masonry deformation under external force is measured experimentally. Third, a model of the same heating flue in the experiment is prepared, and a numerical elasto-plastic analysis is carried out using the total strain rotating crack model based on the measured mechanical properties. Finally, the experimental and numerical deformation results are compared. The results validated this method of predicting masonry deformation.