## 4 Test Setup, Instrumentation, and Crack Formation
### The Effects of Investigated Parameters on the Behavior of Anchors
#### 5.3.2 The Effect of Cracking for Various Anchor Locations  
Although most of the experimental results of this section were already presented in the previous Section 5.3.1, they are repeated here grouped by location (brick or mortar), with the purpose of more thoroughly assessing the effect of a 0.50 mm wide crack. Thus, the plots of Figures 14 and 15 show monotonic curves for uncracked and cracked mortar locations, separately for strong and weak mortar.  
The effect of cracking on the anchor behavior in a T-joint can be summarized as follows: (a) It reduces the mean tension resistance, for both tested mortar strengths. A reduction  
Figure 14: Load–displacement curves for anchors installed in an uncracked vs. cracked (c\({}_{w}\) = 0.50 mm) T-mortar joint (L\({}_{4T}\)) made with strong mortar.  
Figure 15: Load–displacement curves for anchors installed in an uncracked vs. cracked (c\({}_{w}\) = 0.50 mm) T-mortar joint (L\({}_{4T}\)) made with weak mortar.  
factor of 0.47 applies to anchors installed in strong mortar joints, while this factor is equal to 0.72 for weak mortar. (b) It increases the displacement at which the tension resistance is activated, i.e., it reduces the stiffness of the bond mechanism. (c) It renders the curves smoother than in the absence of a crack. (d) It increases the scatter of both the tension resistance values and the respective displacements. For example, the data in Table 6 show that in the case of strong mortar, the CoV of the average tension resistance is equal to 7.3% for the uncracked location L\({}_{\text{3T}}\). This coefficient rises to 20.3% for the cracked location L\({}_{\text{4T}}\). The respective figures for the displacement at tension resistance are 26.0% and 90.9%.  
Similar is the effect of cracking on the tension behavior of anchors embedded in bricks (Figures 16 and 17). However, as pointed out in the previous Section 5.3.1, in this case, the reduction factor of the tension resistance due to the 0.50 mm wide crack is approximately equal to 0.50, independent of the mortar compressive strength.  
A summary of the experimental data illustrating the effect of anchor location (brick or weak mortar joint), as well as the effect of cracking on the tension resistance and on the corresponding displacement is presented in Figures 18 and 19, respectively. The reduction  
Figure 16: Load–displacement curves for anchors installed in an uncracked brick with uncracked vs. adjacent cracked (c\({}_{\text{w}}\) = 0.50 mm) mortar joint (L\({}_{\text{6}}\)) made with strong mortar.  
Figure 17: Load–displacement curves for anchors installed in an uncracked brick with uncracked vs. adjacent cracked (c\({}_{\text{w}}\) = 0.50 mm) mortar joint (L\({}_{\text{6}}\)) made with weak mortar.  
of tension resistance is apparent, as the anchor \"moves\" from brick to mortar and from uncracked to cracked conditions (Figure 18). The opposite holds true for displacements, which increase when the anchor moves from brick to mortar and from uncracked to cracked locations (Figure 19). It is also noted that brick locations are characterized by a smaller scatter of displacement values than mortar joint locations.