Abstract
Cracking is an essential feature of the behavior of concrete structures. Even under service loads, concrete structures are normally full of cracks. Clearly, cracking should be taken into account in predicting ultimate load capacity as well as behavior in service. In the present engineering practice, tensile strength is used as the cracking criterion. This criterion, however, does not give objective results and does not agree with fracture tests. Remedy can be obtained by introducing an energy criterion. This approach will be described in detail, along with the finite element implementation, comparisons with fracture tests, and some examples of application. Considered will be the consequence for the structural size effect, and how this effect should be manifested in code formulas for brittle failures, such as the diagonal shear failure of beams. Furthermore, the stability aspects of fracture will be analyzed focusing attention on the strain localization instability as well as crack spacing.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Fract Mech of Concr, Struct Appl and Numer Calc |
| Publisher | Martinus Nijhoff Publ |
| Pages | 1-94 |
| Number of pages | 94 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9024729602 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1985 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Engineering(all)