Abstract
A fracture energy concept proposed by Ouyang and Shah's fracture mechanics approach was used to predict cracking of reinforced concrete members subjected to tension. In this approach, fracture properties in plain concrete which incorporate the presence of the fracture process zone are first determined from the generalized size effect method, then fracture energy required for crack propagation with the same dimension and material properties are evaluated using an R-curve. Subsequently taking into account the material properties in Ouyang and Shah's approach, a theoretical analysis to predict the mechanical behavior of reinforced concrete members subjected to tension was performed and compared to observed experimental results. It is seen that the predicted average crack spacing curves agree well with the experimental results, whereas the analytical method seems to predict lower values for this study. The analytical approach predicts well responses of stress-strain curves before and after the first crack is formed. It is concluded from this study that a fracture energy concept based on the R-curve and the generalized size effect method is a rational approach to predict cracking of reinforced concrete members subjected to tension.
