Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
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No. 2
Critical Steel Ratios for the Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures
Critical steel ratios should be used for the design of reinforced concrete elements that are subjected to high restraint, e.g. joint-
free construction or walls that are cast on large foundations. This paper describes the procedures for calculating critical steel
ratios. It highlights that these ratios are now approximately 3% to 6% higher than previous design guidance. It also stresses the
importance of controlling cracking due to restrained movement of mature concrete
CONTROL OF CRACKING BY REINFORCEMENT βcc and α are coefficients based on the age of concrete
Basic Principles Mature Concrete
Concrete tends to contract as its temperature drops from the The tensile strength of mature concrete is specified by EC22 as:
hydration peak to ambient. This contraction starts at early-age and
continues through to long-term. Shrinkage can also increase the fctm= 0.30(fck)0.67 for fck ≤ C50/60 (5a)
amount of contraction significantly. fctm= 2.12ln[1+(fck+8)/10] for fck > C50/60 (5b)
The basic principles for controlling cracking by reinforcement are where fctm = tensile strength of mature concrete
illustrated in Fig 1. If the concrete is restrained so that contraction fck = specified 28-day cylinder strength
cannot occur, tensile stress gradually builds up. When the tensile
stress exceeds the capacity of the concrete section, a crack occurs. CRITICAL STEEL RATIO
Movement at the crack relieves some of the stress but as the Probability of Cracking
contraction continues the stress also continues to build up. The
reinforcement will yield if it is weaker than the cracking force and all Uncontrolled cracking of concrete due to restrained movement can
future contraction movement will be concentrated at the crack. The result in wide cracks with serious structural implications. Therefore,
crackwidth will gradually increase with continued contraction (Fig 1a). the occurrence of this type of cracking should be designed to be
relatively improbable. The criterion suggested here is at least the
95% confidence limit, i.e., less than 1:20 failures.
Critical Steel Ratio for Early-Age Concrete
a. Too Little Reinforcement b. Enough Reinforcement
The early-age critical steel ratio, ρcrit, derived from Eqns (3) and (4)
Fig 1. Control of Cracking by Reinforcement1 is:
However, if the reinforcement is stronger than the cracking force, it ρcrit = fct,ea/fyk = 0.598fctm/fyk (6)
will remain elastic and a new crack will form at the next weakest
where fct,ea = early-age tensile strength of concrete
cross-section, as contraction increases. This process continues until
enough cracks have formed to absorb the total amount of contraction A full probability analysis, which accounts for variations in concrete
(Fig 1b). The cracking in the first model is uncontrolled, but it is tensile strength and the distribution of reinforcement yield strength, is
controlled in the second model. presented in C6603. The equation used in the C6603 analysis for the
concrete tensile strength is:
Fundamental Criteria
fct,ea = fct(3).kis.ks.ka (7)
The amount of reinforcement required to control cracking of concrete
2
is subject to two criteria, namely: where fct(3) = 3-day tensile strength in accordance with EC2
kis = factor for in-situ effects, including temperature rise
a. Controlling cracking by ensuring that the reinforcement does not
ks = factor for reduced tensile strength under sustained
yield and therefore distributes the cracks evenly.
loading
b. Limiting crackwidths to a specified value. ka = factor to allow for cracking at ages other than 3 days
Only the first criterion is discussed in this design guide. The The C6603 probability analysis shows that the values for critical steel
procedures for limiting crackwidths are described in a separate paper. ratios derived from Eqn (6) for early-age concrete are safe at
confidence levels better than 98%.
Control of Cracking by Reinforcement
Correction Factors for Mature Concrete
The ratio of reinforcement to control cracking can be derived from
first principles by making the strength of the reinforcement at least Alexander1 and C6603 suggest that a reduction factor of 0.8 be
equal to the strength of the concrete as follows: applied to fctm to allow for the reduction of concrete tensile strength
under sustained loading. The resulting critical steel ratio for mature
Reinforcement capacity, Fs= As.fs (1)
concrete derived from Eqns (3) and (5) is:
Uncracked concrete capacity, Fc= Ac.fct [1+ρ(αe –1)] (2)
ρ'crit = fct/fs = 0.8fctm/fyk (8)
Equating (1) and (2) and neglecting the term ρ(αe –1) as small gives,
Comparing the values derived from Eqn (8) with those derived from
As.fs = Ac.fct, which results in:
the full probability analysis presented in C6603 indicates that the Eqn
ρ = fct/fs (3) (8) values for mature concrete are safe at confidence levels better
than 98%.
where ρ = reinforcement ratio, As/Ac
fct = tensile strength of concrete DESIGN GUIDANCE
fs = yield strength of reinforcement
Critical Steel Ratios
αe = modular ratio
Values of the critical steel ratio for various concrete strengths derived
TENSILE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE
from Eqns (4) to (8) are shown in Table 1.
Early-Age Concrete
Design Process
The early-age (3-day) tensile strength, fct,ea, may be estimated from
The design process for elements subject to direct tension has been
Eqns (3.1) and (3.2) of EC22: namely:
consolidated into the flowchart shown in Fig 2. The flowchart shows
fct,ea = (βcc(t))α.fctm = 0.598fctm (4) that the risk of early-age cracking should be assessed first and once
this is proved to be satisfactory, then the risk of late-life cracking
where fctm = mean value of axial tensile strength of mature concrete should be assessed.
Specified Strength Class, fck/fck,cube 28/35 35/45 40/50 50/60 60/75 70/85 80/95 90/105
Early-Age Tensile Strength, fct,ea = 0.592fctm 1.67 1.94 2.13 2.47 2.61 2.76 2.89 3.02
ρcrit = fct,ea/fyk 0.335% 0.389% 0.425% 0.494% 0.521% 0.552% 0.579% 0.604%
Late-Life Tensile Strength, fctm 2.80 3.25 3.55 4.13 4.35 4.61 4.84 5.04
ρ'crit = 0.8fctm/fyk 0.486% 0.565% 0.618% 0.717% 0.757% 0.802% 0.842% 0.877%
Table 1. Early-Age and Mature Concrete Tensile Strengths and Associated Critical Steel Ratios (better than 98% Fractiles)
Code requirements
Clients requirements Establish the requirements
• Durability
• Aesthetics for crack width
• Tightness class
Element
geometry Restraint
Assess the risk and
extent of early-age cracking
Concrete Casting
mix conditions
Cracking likely
Cracking
unlikely Check ρcrit using early-age tensile
Strength - increase if necessary
Crack width
Assess risk of
less than Calculate early-age crack width
late life cracking
specified
The key omission from current codes of practice or industry-standard 0.45%Ac ratio is generally thought to apply to structural tension
publications is where ρ is greater than ρcrit but less than ρ′crit. Then members such as hangers and not to members where the tensile
the cracks which were controlled for early-age contractions could stress arises from temperature or shrinkage contraction. Neither of
become uncontrolled for all further contraction movement. However, these ratios are related to the tensile strength of the concrete,
if ρ is greater than ρ′crit, new cracks form in addition to the original whereas Eqn (3) shows that it should be directly proportional to it.
ones and both old and new cracks are controlled. This omission
A comparison can also be made with the design of continuous
should be addressed by the publication of CIRIA Report C6603.
reinforced concrete pavements, for which the Highways Agency5
KEY QUESTIONS specifies 0.6% reinforcement in a single layer at the mid-depth. This
is similar to the critical steel ratio in Table 1 for typical UK concrete
The key questions raised by Alexander1 are summarised below.
strengths.
Are we misled by BS 8110?
Do We get a False Sense of Security from BS 8007?
In BS 81104, the only references to minimum reinforcement are
BS 80076 considers design to resist early-age contractions by using
0.13%bh in bending and 0.45%Ac in direct tension. The 0.13%bh
Eqn (3) to derive the critical steel ratio, with fy = 460 MPa, but it
ratio is significantly less than the Table 1 values. Furthermore, the
does not describe how the early-age tensile strength of concrete, fct,