ENGG 135

Design of Reinforced Concrete

Structures

Bond and Bar Development

Reading: Wight and MacGregor Chapter 8

 Bond
●
Bond transfers shear
stresses between the
reinforcing bar and the
concrete
●
Necessary to maintain
strain compatibility
between the bar and the
concrete
●
Without bond, the bar
would slip and be useless
Bond between bar
and concrete is
developed by
– Shearing
resistance from
adhesion
– Sliding friction once
adhesion is
overcome
– Bearing against bar
deformations
Bearing (against bar
deformations) is very
beneficial for bond, but
also causes radial
stresses in the concrete
around the bar
Radial stresses could lead to longitudinal
splitting of the concrete
– Between bars if the bars are spaced
too close together
– Between bars and the exterior face if
the concrete cover is too small
●
Bond stresses
are a function of
the stress in the T=fsAb
embedded bar
●
They vary along
the bar as shown
Maximum bond stresses that can be developed
between bar and concrete depend on many factors:
– Bar diameter
– Length of embedment
– Concrete type and strength
– Curing and placement
– Concrete cover
– Spacing between bars
– Confinement of concrete
It's not possible to develop a systematic theory
that takes into account all these factors, so we
use experiments to investigate bond behavior
– Pull-out test
see video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POyhJQ
drkd4
– Bond beam test
Concrete cylinder with embedded bar
●
We don't use bond stresses directly in concrete
design
●
Instead, we use the concept of development
length
 Development Length

● Length of embedment (Ld) needed to develop

the yield strength of the reinforcing bar
● If the embedment length is Ld or greater and we
perform a pull-out test, the bar should yield but
not pull out
●
In concrete design we prefer ductile failure
modes to govern the behavior
– Yielding of the bar is a ductile mode
– Bar pulling out from the concrete is a brittle
mode
●
We want to ensure that the reinforcement always
has sufficient development length so it can yield
rather than slip or pull out from the concrete
●
This can be difficult to achieve in practice,
especially for larger diameter bars, because Ld
can be quite large and there might not be enough
space
Development Length

T = fy Ab

Assume constant bond

stress along the whole
development length (very
Ld rough approximation)
●
Development Length of Bars in Tension

Ld ≥ 12”
● The term (cb+Ktr )/db is associated with potential
longitudinal splitting if there is insufficient cover or
if the bars are spaced too closely together
●
Read your textbook for more details
●
ACI code identifies common conditions where you
can assume (cb+Ktr )/db = 1.5 or (cb+Ktr )/db = 1.0
Case 1: Beam with stirrups at max permissible
spacing along development length

For this case cb≈db and Ktr≈0.5db

Therefore (cb+Ktr )/db ≈ 1.5
Case 2: Slab, wall, mat, etc., without stirrups

For this case cb≈1.5db and Ktr=0 (no stirrups)

Therefore (cb+Ktr )/db ≈ 1.5
●
If you don't satisfy Case 1 or Case 2, you can
assume you fall under “Other Cases”, for which
you can assume (cb+Ktr )/db = 1.0
●
For these conditions and substituting appropriate
bar size factor ys , we get....
●
Table A-6 of your textbook has an even nicer table
that lists Ld as a function of db for different values
of f'c, fy, yt, assuming ye=1.0 and l=1.0
● Note that you always have to check that Ld ≥ 12”
● For #3 bar with f'c=6,000psi, fy=40,000psi, Case 1
or 2, and yt=1.0 for bottom bar condition, you get
Ld=20.7db=7.8”, but you can't use this. You must
use at least 12”