ABSTRACT
Domestic and commercial vintage UnReinforced Masonry (URM) chimneys are a prominent feature in vintage URM and vintage timber-framed buildings in existence around the world and are commonly constructed using solid clay brick and weak mortar. Exterior URM chimneys which were constructed along a perimeter wall had a tendency to pull away from the building, creating a gap between the chimney and perimeter wall, or completely overturning. Insurance data claims and photographic evidence of damaged URM chimneys during the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand were examined to better understand behaviour, vulnerabilities, and failure modes. Geometric and construction details are representative of the most encountered characteristics observed during an in-field survey of 351 domestic and commercial vintage URM chimneys in Auckland.
