Evaluation of thermal crack width and crack spacing in massive reinforced concrete structures subject to external restraints using RBSM

• Published in: Engineering fracture mechanics Vol. 274; p. 108800
• Main Authors: Srimook, Puttipong, Maruyama, Ippei, Shibuya, Kazutoshi, Tomita, Sayuri, Igarashi, Go, Hibino, Yo, Yamada, Kazuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.10.2022
• Subjects: Crack spacing; Crack width; Massive reinforced concrete wall structure; RBSM; Thermal crack; Thermal crack; Crack spacing; RBSM; Crack width; Massive reinforced concrete wall structure
• ISSN: 0013-7944; 1873-7315
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2022.108800

•Thermal cracking on massive reinforced concrete (RC) member was quantitatively evaluated.•Newly proposed constitutive laws on the 3D-RBSM were proposed for this objective.•Crack width and crack spacing of massive RC walls subjected to external restraint were evaluated.•Time-dependent cracking behavior of a massive RC wall structure was clarified.•Impacts of factors affecting thermal cracking were studied using the proposed method. This study aimed to develop a numerical method to evaluate thermal cracking, in terms of parameters such as thermal crack width and crack spacing, on massive reinforced concrete (RC) wall structures externally restrained by a base structure. The existing experimental study was investigated using the rigid body–spring model (RBSM) with new constitutive laws developed for this objective. Thermal cracks, which localized and propagated throughout the wall thickness, were successfully reproduced, and the good agreement with the experiment indicated the capability of the proposed numerical method. The time-dependent cracking behavior and the impacts of factors affecting thermal cracking, which are difficult to investigate experimentally, are discussed.