Effective Tension Active Cross-Section of Reinforced Concrete Beams After Cracking

In the design of concrete structures, estimation of the deflection of the structural members under the service loads is often a critical factor. Strains and displacements are linked to the tension stiffening effect, which is not quantified in the standards. The CEB-FIP model code proposes an interesting simplified method for evaluating the concrete tension stiffening effect on reinforced concrete behavior. One of the parameters which enables the mechanical contribution of the concrete to be quantified is the effective tensile active section of the reinforced concrete beams. In this paper, a new method for calculating the effective tensile active section A _ct.ef is proposed. The calculation is based on an analytical model of stress distribution in the full depth of the concrete section. An experimental study on several reinforced concrete beams is reported. The results show that the new proposed model enhances the accuracy of the beam deflection predictions significantly.