22 - 23 November, 2010

Institution of Civil Engineers

Bridge Design to Eurocodes

-

UK Implementation
Design for early-age
thermal cracking
P Bamforth, Independent Consultant, London, UK
J Shave, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Bristol, UK
S Denton, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Bristol, UK
Early-age thermal cracking
crack
crack
crack
Guidance on early-age thermal crack
control in concrete
CIRIA R91 1992 CIRIA C660 2007
EN 1992-3 Design of concrete
structures -

Part 3 Liquid
containing and retaining
structures (with ref to Part 1-1
General rules and rules for
buildings)
BS 8007 The design
of concrete structures
for retaining aqueous
liquids
BD28/87 for bridges
Based on the approach
of BS8007
The design method of BD28
If cracking is predicted;
Sufficient (minimum) reinforcement is
required to ensure that the steel does
not yield when cracking occurs
Crack spacing is determined by the
reinforcement ratio, the bar size and a
coefficient for bond
Crack width = restrained contraction x
crack spacing
This approach is common to BD28,
BS8007 and EN1992-3
Changes in design BD28 > EN1992
Estimating minimum area of
reinforcement
Estimating crack spacing, and
hence crack width
EN1992 uses a different methods
for edge

and end

restraint
Minimum area of reinforcement for
controlled cracking
crit c
y
ct
c s A
f
f
A A = =
) A k (k
f
f
A k k A crit ct c
ky
eff ct,
ct c min s, = =
BD 28
BS8007
EN1992
The lesser of
250mm or h/2
k

allows for non-uniform
and self-equilibrating
stress
k

= 1 for h

300mm
k

= 0.65 for h

800mm
kc

takes account of the
stress distribution in the
section
= 1 for pure tension
Ratio of tensile strength
of concrete to the yield
strength of the steel
Surface zone for estimating As,min
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 500 1000 1500 2000
S
u
r
f
a
c
e

z
o
n
e

(
m
m
)
Section thickness (mm)
BD28 and BS8007
CIRIA C660
EN1992-1-1
Assumes cracking
propagates from
the surface
Development of cracking in thick sections
R
e
s
t
r
a
i
n
t
R
e
s
t
r
a
i
n
t
R
e
s
t
r
a
i
n
t
R
e
s
t
r
a
i
n
t
Cracking propagated
from the centre where
temperature change is
greatest
t
0
t
1
t
2
t
3
Temperature profile
Cracking due to edge restraint in thick
sections
C
o
n
tra
c
tio
n
C
o
n
tra
c
tio
n
R
e
s
tra
in
t
R
e
s
tra
in
t
C
o
n
tra
c
tio
n
C
o
n
tra
c
tio
n
R
e
s
tra
in
t
R
e
s
tra
in
t
C
o
n
tra
c
tio
n
C
o
n
tra
c
tio
n
R
e
s
tra
in
t
R
e
s
tra
in
t
Estimating crack spacing, Sr,max
BD28 / BS8007
3.4 c + 0.425 k
1

(/
e,eff
)
EN1992
0.5 (f
ct
/f
b
)(

/)
(f
ct
/f
b
) = 0.67
0.5 (f
ct
/f
b
) = 0.335
k
1

= 0.8
0.425 k
1

= 0.34
Additional term to
take account of
cover

e,eff

based on 2.5(c + /2)
or h/2 surface zone
With 20mm bar at 40mm
cover
e,eff

is based on

125mm

surface zone

based on 250mm or
h/2 surface zone
For a 500mm thick
wall

is based on
250mm

surface zone
Ratio of area of reinforcement
EN1992/BD28
30 mm
40 mm
50 mm
60 mm
70 mm
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Thickness (mm)
R
a
t
i
o

o
f

e
f
f
e
c
t
i
v
e

r
e
i
n
f
o
r
c
e
m
e
n
t
Cover
Ratio of crack spacing EN1992/BD28
30 mm
40 mm
50 mm
60 mm
70 mm
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Thickness (mm)
R
a
t
i
o

o
f

c
r
a
c
k

s
p
a
c
i
n
g
Steel ratio to EN1992 as % of requirement
of BD28
30 mm
40 mm
50 mm
60 mm
70 mm
0
50
100
150
200
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
P
e
r
c
e
n
t

s
t
e
e
l

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

t
o

B
D
2
8
Thickness (mm)
Cover
50 mm
60 mm
70 mm
30 mm
40mm
0
50
100
150
200
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
P
e
r
c
e
n
t

s
t
e
e
l

r
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

t
o

B
D
2
8
Thickness (mm)
Cover
Steel ratio to C660 as % of requirement of
BD28
k
1

increased from = 0.8 to 1.14
( = 0.8/0.7)
Observed v predicted crack widths
EN1992-3
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Measured crack width (mm)
E
s
t
i
m
a
t
e
d

c
r
a
c
k

w
i
d
t
h

(
m
m
)
BS8007
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Measured crack width (mm)
E
s
t
i
m
a
t
e
d

c
r
a
c
k

w
i
d
t
h

(
m
m
)
BD28
CIRIA C660
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Measured crack width (mm)
E
s
t
i
m
a
t
e
d

c
r
a
c
k

w
i
d
t
h

(
m
m
)
Edge restraint and end restraint
End restraint Edge restraint
Crack width is strain
limited
Crack width is determined
by stress in reinforcement
Edge restraint
RESTRAINT
cr = R free
End restraint
R
E
S
T
R
A
I
N
T


1
1
E
. .k.f .k 0.5
e s
eff ct c e
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
cr
c
R
E
S
T
R
A
I
N
T
Estimated crack widths
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Steel ratio (%)
C
r
a
c
k

w
i
d
t
h

(
m
m
)
12mm
20mm
16mm
300mm thick section
End
restraint
Edge
restraint
Conclusions
Significant design changes have arisen as a result
of the introduction of EN1992. These apply
specifically to the estimation of
Minimum steel ratio
Steel ratio for estimating crack spacing and width
CIRIA C660 has recognised these changes and has
proposed modifications to the design parameters to
complement EN1992, ensuring that sufficient
reinforcement is provided to achieve design crack
widths
End restraint is dealt with using a different approach