Study of Composite Behavior of Reinforcement and Concrete in Tension

This paper aims to further the understanding of the interaction between reinforcement in tension and the surrounding cracked concrete. This is achieved using the elastic analysis of axisymmetric prisms reinforced with a single central bar. As a preliminary to the analyses, the behavior of axially reinforced prisms is described based on previous experiments. This preliminary analysis confirms that the elastic analysis adopted in this investigation is reasonable. Two analytical exercises are described: the first assumes no slip, plasticity, or internal cracking at the interface between the steel and the concrete; the second introduces internal cracking and debonding between ribs. The first analysis indicates that shear deformation of the surrounding concrete accounts for a substantial proportion of the surface crack width, and therefore that this form of deformation cannot be ignored in crack prediction formulae. The second analytical exercise shows that the internal cracking model described by Goto is appropriate.