CRACK CONTROL REQUIREMENTS OF ACI 318

S. K. Ghosh S. K. Ghosh Associates Inc. Palatine, IL

www.skghoshassociates.com
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Crack Control
Three reasons for limiting crack widths in concrete

Appearance (exposed to view) Corrosion protection (exposed to

aggressive environments)

Water tightness (marine / sanitary

structures)
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Crack Control
Appearance limit crack widths on surface
locate reinforcement as close as possible to surface.

Corrosion protection use better quality

concrete, increase thickness of cover.

Water tightness - severe limits on crack width,

applicable only to specialty structures. A single provision not sufficient to address control of cracking for all three reasons.
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Correlation Between Surface Crack Width and Cover

Crack Control ACI 318

From 1971 through 1995, ACI 318 restrictions concerning distribution of tension reinforcement were based on limiting width of surface cracks.

Crack Control ACI 318-95

For fy > 40 ksi
z = fs 3 d c A

< 175 kips/in for interior exposures < 145 kips/in for exterior exposures

fs = calculated stress in the reinforcement at service loads (ksi), which may be taken as 0.6fy. dc = thickness of the concrete cover measured from the extreme tension fiber to the center of the bar or wire located closest to it (inches) A = effective tension area of concrete surrounding the flexural tension reinforcement and having the same centroid as that reinforcement, divided by the number of bars or wires square inches)
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Crack Control ACI 318-95

Crack Control ACI 318-95

Examples for determining A Bars 1, 2 and 3 are #9 (area = 1.00 in2) Bar 4 and 5 are #8 (area = 0.79 in2)

Equivalent no. of #9 bars = (3 x 1.00 + 2x 0.79) / 1.00 = 4.58 A = 2dcg x b / 4.58 dcg = distance from extreme tension fiber to center of gravity of steel
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Crack Control ACI 318-95

The numerical limitations of z = 175 and 145 kips/inch for interior and exterior exposure, respectively, correspond to limiting crack widths of 0.016 inch and 0.013 inch.
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Crack Control ACI 318-95

Method essentially encouraged reduction of reinforcement cover, which could be detrimental to corrosion protection. Method severely penalized covers exceeding 2 inches by reducing spacing or service load stress of reinforcement
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Crack Control ACI 318-95

Corrosion of reinforcement weakly related to surface crack width limits of 0.013 to 0.016 inch. Actual crack widths in structure highly variable. A scatter on the order of + 50 percent is observed. New approach intended to control surface cracks to a width that is generally acceptable in practice, but may vary widely in a given structure. Crack widths in the field cannot be predicted using ACI 318-99 Eq. (10-5).
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ACI 318-99, 02 10.6.4 Crack Control

540 s 2 .5 c c fs s 12 (36 / f s )

(10-5)

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ACI 318-99, 02 10.0 Crack Control

s = center-to-center spacing of flexural tension reinforcement nearest to the extreme tension face, in. (where there is only one bar or wire nearest to the extreme tension face, s is the width of the extreme tension face.)

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ACI 318-99, 02 10.0 Crack Control

fs = calculated stress in reinforcement at service loads, ksi = M / (jd x As) - fs may be taken as 0.6fy cc = clear cover from the nearest surface in tension to the surface of the flexural tension reinforcement, in.

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Comparison of Max. Reinforcement Spacing for Crack Control

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318-05 Crack Control

Due to changes in both the load combinations and -factors in ACI 318-02, the service-level stress in reinforcement has increased. For consistency, the default service stress level is increased.

318-05 Crack Control

s = 15 ( 40,000 ) - 2.5 cc fs (10 - 4)

40,000 ) s 12 ( fs

Default value for fs = (2/3) fy

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ACI 318-02 7.7.5 Corrosive Environments

In corrosive environments or other severe exposure conditions, amount of concrete protection shall be suitably increased, and denseness and nonporosity of protecting concrete shall be considered, or other protection shall be provided

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ACI 318-02 7.7.5.1 Corrosive Environments

For prestressed concrete members exposed to corrosive environments or other severe exposure conditions, and which are classified as Class T or C in 18.3.3, minimum cover to the prestressed reinforcement shall be increased 50 percent. This requirement shall be permitted to be waived if the pre-compressed tensile zone is not in tension under sustained loads
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ACI 318-02 7.12 Shrinkage and Temperature Reinforcement

... required at right angle to the principal reinforcement to minimize cracking ...

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ACI 318-02 10.5 Min. Reinforcement for Flexural Members

At every section of flexural member where tensile reinforcement is required by analysis,
As ,min =
' 3 fc

fy

bw d

200 bw d fy
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ACI 318-02 10.5 Min. Reinforcement for Flexural Members

The minimum reinforcement requirement need not apply if every section the area of tensile reinforcement provided is at least one-third that required by analysis.

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ACI 318-02 18.8 Limits in Reinforcement of Flexural Members

Total reinforcement must satisfy

M n 1.2 M cr

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ACI 318-02 10.9 Limits for Reinforcement of Compression Members

Area of longitudinal reinforcement for non-composite compression members shall be not less than 0.01... times gross area Ag of section
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10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement

Width of cracks in the web may exceed crack widths at level of flexural tension reinforcement.

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10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement 89

If depth of web exceeds 36 in.

- Ask / ft /side face 0.012 (d-30) in.2 / ft - s d/6 - s 12 in.

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10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement 89

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10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement 02

Changed

From: To:

Ask / ft /side face 0.012 (d-30) s 1000 Ab / (d-30)

Ab = Area of individual bar or wire, in.2 Above expressions are mathematically identical

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10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement 05

Changes made to simplify the crack control provisions for skin reinforcement and make these provisions consistent with those required for flexural tension reinforcement.

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10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement

In beams and joists with h > 36 in.

Skin reinforcement over h/2 from tension face Spacing per 10.6.4 (cc to side face) May include skin reinforcement contribution to Mn
based on compatibility analysis

Bar size not specified

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Fig. R10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement

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R10.6.7 Skin Reinforcement

The size of the skin reinforcement is not specified; research has indicated that the spacing rather than bar size is of primary importance. Bar sizes No. 3 to No. 5 (or welded wire reinforcement with a minimum area of 0.1 in.2 per foot of depth) are typically provided.
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