Serviceability Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Discontinuity Regions

The purpose of this paper is to (1) develop an approach to determine the serviceability behavior of concrete discontinuity regions and (2) refine existing methods for processing digital images and automating the collection of crack and displacement data. A research program currently underway at Northern Arizona University is seeking to correlate maximum crack width and crack area to the internal strain energy estimated from a representative strut-and-tie model. This effort is accomplished by testing twelve concrete deep beams with a 10×20 in. cross-section. Crack width, crack area, and deformation data establishes serviceability behavior. Preliminary findings indicate it is possible to determine serviceability behavior using internal strain energy in strut and tie models. These findings represent an improved design methodology engineers can use to perform serviceability design of their reinforced discontinuity regions.