Crack profile in RC, R/FRCC and R/HPFRCC members in tension

Abstract

The theoretical approaches used for the evaluation of crack width in reinforced concrete (RC) structures, are generally based on the hypothesis of parallel crack surfaces. In this way, crack width measured on the concrete cover should be equal to that on the bar surface. The results of several experimental analyses, developed during the past years in many Research Institutes, do not justify this assumption. On the contrary, even in RC members under tensile actions, crack width appears wider on external surface than on rebar–concrete interface. To better define the effective crack profile of RC structures, a new model, able to analyze the whole structural response of RC ties, is here presented. In the proposed approach, all the physical phenomena involved in the cracking process are taken into account: the bond-slip behavior between steel rebar and tensile concrete, the nonlinear fracture mechanics of concrete in tension, and the mechanism of aggregate interlock. Crack profiles computed with this model seem to be in accordance with those experimentally measured in RC elements in tension. A good agreement between numerical results and experimental data is also found both in case of steel rebar and ordinary fiber reinforced cementitious composites (R/FRCC), and in case of steel rebar and high␣performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites (R/HPFRCC).