Prediction method of drying shrinkage crack in reinforced concrete walls

Because thin plate reinforced concrete members such as walls and slabs are greatly influenced by the drying shrinkage, cracks can occur in these members due to the restraint of the volume change caused by drying shrinkage. therefore, the control of cracking due to drying shrinkage is very important in building construction that the thin plate members are frequently used. however, few researches of estimating shrinkage cracking in rc walls have been executed, and the cracking control design of rc walls has been conducted based on the experience rather than the quantitative design method.in this study, the practical cracking prediction method using equivalent bond-loss length lb was proposed for the quantitative drying shrinkage crack control of rc wall. the calculated values using proposed method were compared with the experimental results from uniaxial restrained shrinkage cracking specimens and the investigative values from the field study. in general, the results of this method were close to those of the experiment and the field study.