Title:
Concepts Underlying Reinforced Concrete Design: Time for Reappraisal
Author(s):
Michael D. Kotsovos
Publication:
Structural Journal
Volume:
104
Issue:
6
Appears on pages(s):
675-684
Keywords:
reinforced concrete; seismic design; structural concrete
DOI:
10.14359/18949
Date:
11/1/2007
Abstract:
This study makes use of the findings of previously published experimental information to demonstrate that the underlying concepts of the methods adopted by current codes of practice (for example, ACI 318 and EC 2) for the shear and, to a certain extent, the flexural design of reinforced concrete structures are in conflict with fundamental properties of structural concrete at both the material and the structure levels. It is shown that this conflict is the cause of various types of unexpected premature brittle failure of reinforced concrete structures. Experimental evidence is presented that indicates the aforementioned types of failure can be prevented by adopting alternative design methods that allow for a more realistic description of structural concrete behavior and, unlike the code methods, have been found to consistently satisfy the performance requirements of current codes of practice.