Title: Study of the Behavior of Volume Change Cracking in Base-Restraint Concrete Walls

Author(s): G.F. Kheder, R. S. Al Rawi, and J. K. Al Dhahi

Publication: Materials Journal

Volume: 91

Issue: 2

Appears on pages(s): 150-157

Keywords: cracking (fracturing); crack width and spacing; creep properties; drying shrinkage; reinforced concrete; reinforcing steels; restraints; thermal expansion; volume change; walls; Materials Research

DOI: 10.14359/4566

Date: 3/1/1994

Abstract:
The present work studies the problem of cracking due to volume change of base-restrained reinforced concrete walls. The cracking behavior of some 61 full-size walls and 14 experimental walls was investigated. The observed primary and secondary crack spacings and widths were compared with the values obtained using recently developed formulas and previous formulas developed by other researchers. A good agreement was found between the observed values and those predicted using the developed formulas. On the practical side, the results clearly showed that crack spacing and, consequently, the crack width, increased with the increase of the wall height and, therefore, a higher percentage of reinforcement or closer joints is required for their control. Furthermore, crack width was not uniform with the wall height, but varied according to the change of restraint associated with cracking and, therefore, the percentage of reinforcement may be varied with the wall height to obtain approximately uniform crack widths. This may lead to savings in reinforcement cost.