Evaluation of Crack Spacing in Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 5
Abstract
Cracking is a very common phenomenon in reinforced concrete (RC) members, dramatically affecting the members’ properties, such as stiffness, deformation capacity, and permeability. However, cracks develop randomly, making their simulation difficult, especially under combined loading conditions. Using numerical simulation results, the width of a crack can be estimated by integrating the cracking strain, along the crack spacing. Cracking strain can be obtained from a finite element analysis with the well-known smeared crack approach. To use such an approach, however, a reliable simulation of the crack spacing is needed. In this paper, a method is proposed to predict the average crack spacing occurring in RC shear walls subjected to lateral demands. The method extends earlier work, which is based on both a strength and fracture energy criteria. The extension allows the method to be applied to RC members under a plane stress condition with orthogonally placed reinforcement. Eleven low aspect ratio RC shearwall specimens from three experimental data sets subjected to 49 different lateral demand levels are extracted from the literature and used to validate the model. From these data sets, a formula to determine the bond strength between the concrete and reinforcing steel is regressed. Evaluation of the model against the experimental data sets indicates that the method can predict the average crack spacing with reasonable accuracy not only in the crack initiation stage, but also in the stabilization stage.
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Acknowledgments
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering Alumni Scholarship at the University of California, Irvine provided partial support for the second writer. This work was also supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. NSFCMMI-0729357, where Dr. Jorn Larsen-Basse and Dr. Lawrence Bank are the program managers. The above support is greatly appreciated. Data provided by Professor Thomas Hsu and his research students at the University of Houston and Lefas et al. (1990) are much appreciated. Opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the sponsoring agencies.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 5 • May 2009
Pages: 499 - 508
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 24, 2006
Accepted: Sep 23, 2008
Published online: May 1, 2009
Published in print: May 2009
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Khalid M. Mosalam
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