Critical Depth of Normal Cracks in Reinforced Concrete Beams of Rectangular Cross-section

The evaluation of stress state of longitudinal tensile reinforcement is highly important while examining the technical state of under-reinforced concrete structures. The appearance of yield stress in tensile reinforcement could be treated as the start of incipient failure of the flexural structure. The state of tensile reinforcement of flexural reinforced concrete structures could be examined by observing the properties of normal cracks. This paper presents the analysis of the relationship between various parameters of a normal crack during its development. Some elements of fracture mechanics are used for analysis of stress state in flexural reinforced concrete members. The analytical data are compared to the experimental results, and the adjustment functions are proposed for flexural beams of certain cross section shape, dimensions and reinforcing ratio.