ABSTRACT
This paper deals with the control of full-depth cracking caused by restraint to early-age cooling and shrinkage of concrete in reinforced concrete members with external end restraint. Such cracking is inevitable in many situations and a significant amount of reinforcement crossing each crack is required for crack control. Rational procedures are proposed for determining the restraining force and the concrete and steel stresses that develop with time both before and after cracking, as well as procedures to calculate the final width of the cracks and the spacing between them. Design procedures to determine the amount of reinforcement required to limit crack widths to a specified value are also proposed.
