Zwangbeanspruchung von Stahlbetonbauteilen - Neue Erkenntnisse aus der systematischen Untersuchung mit Zwangrahmen für bewehrten Beton

Restrained Concrete Members - New Findings from Systematic Investigations with Restraint Frames for Reinforced Concrete

In order to investigate the real structural behaviour of reinforced concrete members mainly subjected to restraint a new experimental set-up was designed at the Graz University of Technology. In the focus of interest is the continuous investigation of the stress history and crack development starting with restraint due to hardening and the subsequent superposition with further deformation impacts during service life.
The experimental investigation aims at quantifying the remaining restraint stresses after stress relaxation and crack formation as well as observing crack development during service life. In the hardening phase the influence of a realistic placement condition (normally partial restraint) and the thermal boundary conditions (especially thermal curing) was paid attention to. During service life the consideration of the member condition (single crack pattern or stabilized crack pattern) is highly significant.
Based on the experimental results it can be concluded that thermal curing has only a limited influence on preventing through cracks and the separate consideration of early restraint and service life impacts does not always lead to design on the safe side.