Abstract ▼ AI-Helper

A rational method for prediction of long-term deflections of reinforced concrete beams under sustained loads was proposed. Strain and stress distributions of uncracked and fully cracked sections after creep and shrinkage were determined from the requirements of strain compatibility and force equilib...

A rational method for prediction of long-term deflections of reinforced concrete beams under sustained loads was proposed. Strain and stress distributions of uncracked and fully cracked sections after creep and shrinkage were determined from the requirements of strain compatibility and force equilibrium of a section, and then long-term deflections were calculated from the section analysis results. In fully cracked section analysis, noncoincidence of the neutral axis of strain and the neutral axis of stress after creep and shrinkage was taken into account. The accuracy of the proposed method was verified by comparison with several experimental measurements of beam deflections. The proposed approximate procedure gave the better predictions than the existing approximate methods. At the same time, the proposed method also retained simplicity of the calculation, since maximum long-term deflection could be obtained without tedious integration of the curvatures.