INFLUENCE OF REINFORCING BARS ON SHRINKAGE STRESSES IN CONCRETE SLABS. TECHNICAL NOTE

As a kind of structural element, continuous reinforced concrete (RC) slabs have been widely used in modern transportation engineering, such as highway and airport pavements and bridge decks. It is well known that cracking in concrete slabs significantly influences their service life. Concrete shrinkage may be the principle reason for the initial crack formation in the slabs. This paper presents an attempt to provide an analytical tool for the prediction of stress distribution in RC slabs after undergoing matrix shrinking restrained by the reinforcing bars. The model incorporates the material parameters of the reinforcing bar and the concrete matrix, and it enables prediction of the stress development in concrete with time.