Long-term deflections of reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN">The effects of different long-term loading levels beyond cracking limit on the deflections of the reinforced concrete beams are investigated. Six identical beams were subjected to a sustained load at three levels over a period of about 200 days. The arrangement of measurements enabled the separation of the effect of bending moments from that of shear forces. The results show that the deflection curves at the two arbitrary time intervals are similar in spite of intensive crack development. The linear relationship between the initial and time dependent deflections can be assumed. This linear relationship also applies for the shear-induced deflections.</span>