  Refractory masonry (refractories) is exposed to in-service loads of different
types. To rationalise the masonry design and failure analysis, differences of
failure under cyclic and monotonic loading were studied. For samples of silica
refractories tested in wedge splitting set-up global failure parameters and
crack trajectories were assessed. Under cyclic loading, higher fracture energy
and lower brittleness at failure were seen. Cracks of different modes had
similar non-linearity and branching. However, the size and microstructural
characteristics of the fracture process zone was different. In addition, higher
energy dissipation during cyclic loading is promoted by repetitive friction
events along the crack trajectory.
