Behavior of Concrete Structures in Service

Abstract

In concrete structures, durability and compliance with functional requirements are strictly related to behavior in service conditions. In this paper, the analysis of the behavior of reinforced, partially prestressed, and prestressed concrete members is developed in a unified way by identifying the characteristic phases in the life of a structure: instantaneous load‐effect variations and effects of sustained loads. The analysis is performed for cracked or uncracked elements depending on whether or not the stresses due to load effects exceed the section's tensile strength. The effects of creep and shrinkage, of the variations in concrete modulus, and of the relaxation of the reinforcement are taken into account. The calculation of displacements and the evolution of redundant effects is carried out on the basis of the mean strain values which are determined by taking into account the influence of tension stiffening. For practical calculation purposes, the procedure advanced in this paper is based on the constitutive laws of the materials laid down in the 1978 Comite Euro‐International du Beton (CEB)