PREDICTION OF CRACKING RESPONSE OF REINFORCED-CONCRETE TENSILE MEMBERS

This paper presents the results of an experimental and analytical stud y that was carried out to improve the understanding of the response of cracked concrete from a fracture mechanics point of view. Reinforced concrete panels made of normal- and high-strength concrete were tested under uniaxial tension. A previously proposed fracture energy model w as modified to predict the obtained tensile response of both normal- a nd high-strength concrete panels. Steady crack growth was described wi th energy equilibrium during cracking. A new method is proposed to app roximate the effective compliance for a member with multiple cracks. F or a given cracking stage, the model can predict concrete and steel st rains and entire load-deformation curves. The proposed fracture energy model is also capable of predicting the minimum reinforcement ratio o f normal- and high-strength concrete tensile members of different size s.