6.

7.
8.
9.
i0.

ii.

12.

N. N. Maslov, Stability Conditions of Saturated Soils [in Russian], Gos~nergoizdat, Moscow (1949).
V. G. Mel'nik, "Determination of the characteristics of coarse-fragmental soils under
dynamic loads," Tr. VNII VODGEO, No. 30 (1971).
V. G. Mel'nik, "Determination of the design characteristics of coarse-fragmental soils
under dynamic (seismic) loads, " Tr. VNII VODGEO, No. 34 (1972).
A. A. Nichiporovich, Earth Dams [in Russian], Stroiizdat, Moscow (1973).
B. D. Chumichev and B. D. Granovskii, "Method of investigating the characteristics of
coarse-fragmental soils under dynamic loads," Eksp. Inf. Energ. Electrifikatsiya;
Set: Stroit. Gidroelekrostantsii Montazh Oborudovaniya, No. 7 (369) (1979).
Yu. K. Zaretsy, A. G. Chernilov, and B. D. Chumichev, "Strength and deformation properties of cohesionless soil under dynamic loading," in: Proceedings of the International
Symposium on Soils Under Cyclic and Transient Loading (Swansea) 7-11 January 1980. A.A.
Balkema, Rotterdam (1980)..
A. Casagrande, "Liquefaction and cyclic deformation on sands," Harvard Soil Mechanics
Series No. 88, Cambridge, Mass (1976).

CRACK RESISTANCE OF PRECAST REINFORCED-CONCRETE BEAMS

WITH WELDED REINFORCEMENT PROJECTIONS
A. P. Kirillov and A. N. Smirnov

UDC

624.012.35:626/627

The wide use of precast reinforced-concrete members in construction practice has raised
a number of new problems related to the behavior of the joints between blocks, which substantially differs from the behavior of construction joints of monolithic reinforced- concrete structures. Reference is to the joint between the precast elements placed next to each
other, which is accomplished by welding the projections of the main reinforcement with subsequent filling of the splice zone with concrete or mortar. Welding of the reinforcement
projections causes the formation of residual welding stresses in the splices of precast reinforced-concrete elements. Investigations show that in individual cases the welding stresses
can improve the behavior of the precast member [1-3].
The graphs in Fig. i show the deformations of the reinforcement of six precast beams
(dimensions 30 x 70 460 cm with P = 0.8%) with butted contact surfaces of the elements composing them. In specimens B-I, B-2, and B-3 the reinforcement projections are welded by arc
welding and in specimens B-4, B-5, and B-6 with paired straps. The graph shows that, on the
whole, the flexural deformation of the reinforcement of the specimens with welded splices
is considerably less than the deformation of the reinforcement of the monolithic specimen
B-7. In this case it was less in specimens B-I, B-2, and B-3 (Fig. ib) than in specimens B-4,
B-5, and B-6, which indicates their greater rigidity as a consequence of the increased initial
tensile stresses in the reinforcement projections of these specimens.
Figure I also shows graphs of the deformation of reinforcement of precast beams B-8,
B-9, and B-10 (dimensions 80 x 200 x 600 cm with P = 0.37%) of another series in which the elements were joined along the contact surfaces by means of metal support plates, permitting a
considerable reduction of the contact areas. In this series of beams, the reinforcement projections were welded as in specimens B-4, B-5, and B-6 with paired straps by a unilateral
side lap weld. The initial welding stresses in this case increased compared to specimens
B-4, B-5, and B-6 and, as a consequence, the flexural deformation of the reinforcement of the
specimens decreased considerably. Thus, by changing the support area of the butt on which
compression of the concrete occurs, it is possible to act on the numerical values of the initial welding stresses. As experiments show [3], the numerical values of the initial welding
stresses can be changed also by a number of other methods of a design and technological character. The initial welding stresses in the reinforcement projections alter the character of
formation and opening of cracks in the beams.

Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel'stvo, No. 5, pp. 14-17, May, 1982.

254

0018-8220/82/1605-0254507.50

9 1982 Plenum Publishing Corporation

--!--F--I-T-~-cI ~
~,75
1.5

Pop
o,zs
o,s
~,2s

~__TTXtV~__

l--l-7-B-~g--~
t75

+--~-.

eop ~

'

~
B-? Monolithicbeam

B-6 P r e c a s t b e a m
~t.,,,*e2,' kN,

,,
,

I i i i ]
t

2,0

*,Ts

op

20 40 6ff 80 /00 120/~,510 ~ O

a

20 40 6a 80 /00 320~./2 "~

b

525
~75
a,5
~525

eg...,~e-9
~l--~'~,g

tl ..,5

~4.o !----~
"

0,2 m m

bear ~

0,2

o,~

g$

mm

Diagram of testingbeams

block-joint

go ~
g

20

40

~ac

gO

fog

120 s162

ZOne

Fig..2

Fig. i

Fig. I. Graphs of the deformation of reinforcement of the stretched zone of the beam
specimens,
a) In specimens B-I, B-2, a n d B-3 the butts of the reinforcement in the
joint are arc welded; b and c) in specimens B-4 to B-10 the butts of the reinforcement in the joints are welded by paired straps; B-C and B-Ii are monolithic control
beams.
Fig. 2. Graphs of the opening of cracks in reinforced-concrete beams during their
bending tests (the enumeration refers to the cracks of the beams shown in Figs. 3
and 4).
The graphs of Fig. 2 show opening of cracks in precast and monolithic beam specimens
B-6 and B-7. The general character of their cracking is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In the
equal-moment zone of the precast beam there were only two cracks (Nos. 7 and 8, Fig. 3) with
a maximum opening of 0.16 man per load increment Pop (the operating load, corresponding to a
safety factor of 1.8 of the breaking load).
In this case there were no cracks in the interblock joint or in the concrete sealing the splice.
In the monolithic beam eight cracks
formed (Fig. 4) with a maximum opening of 0.3 mmo In this case the first crack in this
beam appeared earlier than in the precast beam (Figs. 3 and 4). This makes obvious the
favorable effect of initial tensile welding stresses on the crack resistance of the interblock joint and concrete sealing the splice. To refine the conclusions we will examine the
two most characteristic cases of flexural compression of the joint at the splice of precast
elements, when only initial tensile welding stresses occur in the reinforcement projections.
First case:
the cross section is reinforced symmetrically with double reinforcement
(Fig. 5). The average values of the initial tensile welding stresses in the reinforcement
are equal among themselves.
The resultant No of the tensile forces of the reinforcement will
ul in this case will
cause uniform compression of the joint. The stress of the concrete (Oc)
be determined by the formula
ac

=~o/~,

where No = N n' + N n (N~ and N n are the resultants of the tensile forces in the upper and lower
reinforcement of the elements; h c and b are the height and width of the contact area of the
precast elements.
Second case:
i.e., F r > F r.

the cross section is reinforced with double reinforcement asymmetrically,

255

Fig. 3. Character of cracking of one of the

precast beams at loading stage Pop = Pbr/1.8
with initial stresses in the reinforcement
splices (Pop is the operating load; Pbr is
the breaking load).
Let the average values of the initial welding stresses in the upper and lower reinforcement be equal among themselves (Fig. 5), i.e.,
~v

av

r.we at.we and Nn=earV.weFr> NWn=~aVr.weFrr.

The values of stresses in the concrete on the splice

where M n = Nee is the moment of the resultant (No) relative to the center of gravity of the
element; e, eccentricity of the point of application of the resultant e = (h/2) -- yN; h,
height of the section of the element; YN, distance from the stretched face to the point of
application of the resultant (determined from the equality Nna + N ~ ( h -- a') = NoYN); x h, distance from the center of gravity of the reduced section to the fiber in which the stress is
determined; Ire, reduced moment of inertia; hk, height of the groove in the concrete in the
splice from the outer face to the support surface (depth of the keyway).
If we neglect cohesion of the surfaces being
goal or providing a crack resistance of the joint
lithic section, then the joint must be compressed
cracks in the stretched zone of the elements, the
zero. From this condition we obtain:

joined in the splice and set ourselves the

equal to the crack resistance of the monoby a force such that, upon formation of
stresses in the joint would be equal to

a) for the first case of the stress state of the joint

M~h - hk - -

~o
hob

--

~e

h -

= Rt

x.cr _ h k
h--~cr

(i)

'

where hob is the area of the concrete in the splice absorbing compressive forces; Mcr , moment of crack formation of a monolithic section of the precast element being bent; Xcr, height
of the compressed zone of the concrete (determined by the formula Xcr = Sre/Fre, where Sre
is the static moment of the reduced cross-sectional area of the element relative to its compressed face; Fre, reduced cross-sectional area of the element.
b) For the second case of the stress state of the joint
No

~:b +

Ntoe(h~x~r-hk)

~e

Mcr(h_h k-xc~)

Ire

From the law of plane sections we obtain

e c E c = Eul.t

256

h - - x C r - hR E c . t ,
h - - Xcr

= Rt h - x c r ~ h k

h-%r

(2)

Fig. 4. Character of cracking of a monolithic

reinforced-concrete beam (control) at the
loading stage Pop = Pbr/I-8 (PoD is the operating load; Pbr is the breaking-load).
from where the strain of preliminary compression of the joint which in bending provides an
equality between the moment of the start of its opening and the moment of crack formation of
the concrete of the elements is determined by the expression

~ul,t[(h--Xcr--hk)/(h--~cr)]
~c--

..

Ec/Ec. t

Having denoted (h -- Xcr -- hk)/(h -- Xcr) = K, Ec/Ec. t = n", we obtain ~c = r

K/n''"

Here E c and Ec. t are the moduli of elasticity of concrete in compression and tension;
eul.t is ultimate elongation of concrete.
The data of the investigations show that ultimate elongation of concrete varies in limits from 0.15 to 0.3 mm/m and depends little on its grade [4].
If we take the average value of ultimate elongation of concrete equal to eul.t = 2.10 -4 ,
then we can determine its conventional modulus of deformation Ec. t in tension as a function
of the standard tensile strength of concrete, i.e.,

EC.t=~ul.t

and n"=~/Ec.t=Ec~ul.tJRc~

For concrete from i00 to 500 the value of n" will vary in limits from 3.8 to 2.7 and
will average 3.14. For an example we will take: h k = 0.2h, n" = Ec/Ec. t = 3.0, and Xcr =
0.5h; then K = 0.6 and cc = 0.4"10 -~.
The maximum strain of the concrete sealing the splice in the most stretched fiber at the
time of unloading the contact surface of the splice from compressive stresses is

~l(h--Xcr)
h--hk ~cr--0fi7"10-~"

When Ec. t = 10" MPa, a c . t = 0 . 6 7 MPa. When Ec = 3 1 , 5 0 0 MPa t h e c o m p r e s s i v e s t r e s s e s

p r o v i d i n g a c r a c k r e s i s t a n c e of the i n t e r b l o c k j o i n t equal to the c r a c k r e s i s t a n c e of the
m o n o l i t h i c c r o s s s e c t i o n o f t h e e l e m e n t w i l l be e q u a l t o
For the c e n t r a l l y
value of the resultant
expression

~Ee~I.26MPa.
compressed section (the first case of the stress state) the necessary
o f t h e t e n s i l e f o r c e s i n t h e r e i n f o r c e m e n t w i l l be d e t e r m i n e d by t h e
No

Mcr(h--hk--~c~
--

Ir e

'

from where

av
~ , / , F + ~ ).
~r.we--=-t~o,kr
For the eccentrically compressed section the necessary value of the resultant of the
tensile forces in the reinforcement No, providing a crack resistance of the interblock joint
in bending equal to the crack resistance of the monolithic section of the element, will be
determined by the expression
RcrK~tm
N~--[~e + ~ e ( h - - h k ' X c r ) ] '

257

First case of the stress state of the intcrblock joint

M

'

N~

~c.k

6c.k

Nt

Oc~,F,-

/e,.,r

~t.k

6Z.c. k

Second case of the stress state of ~he interblock joint

~t
r

et.k
Fig. 5.

State of stress and strain of the interblock joint with welding stresses in
the reinforcement splices.

from where
av

%.we= Ns

+ ~# ).

Having assigned the characteristic steel percent used in structural elements of hydraulic structures P = 1.0%, we obtain for the example examined above R t = 2.0 MPa; for the first
case oaVr.we = I00.0 MPa, for the second case oaVwe will be still less.
The two examined cases of the stress state of interblock Joints of precast reinforcedconcrete elements with welded splices of the reinforcement show the possibility of providing
a crack-reslstant joint.
The experiments conducted at the research department of the All-Union Planning, Surveying, and Scientific-Research Institute (Gidroproekt) indicate that the initial tensile
welding stresses in reinforcement splices can reach high values, up to the yield point; that
such stresses can be regulated by technological and design methods and, consequently, the
necessary level, providing crack resistance of the joint can be attained.
The preceding materials of a theoretical analysis and the numerous experiments performed
at the research department of Gidroproekt permit being convinced of the possibility of using
initial welding stresses for increasing the rigidity and crack resistance of joints linking
elements forming reinforced-concrete members, which considerably improves the work of the
structures.
CONCLUSIONS
I. Initial welding stresses occurring during welding of reinforcement splices in the
joints of precast reinforced-concrete flexural members can be used for increasing the rigidity and crack resistance of their interblock joints.
2. The necessary level of the initial tensile welding stresses can be determined from
the condition of equality of the linking joint and monolithic cross section of the precast
blocks.
3. The concrete sealing the welded splices of the reinforcement projections in the
joints of precast reinforced-concrete members is less prone to cracking as a consequence of
the jig effect exerted on it by the compressed concrete of the precast block.
LITERATURE CITED
i.

258

A . P . Kirillov, "Effect of concreting joints on the behavior of reinforced-concrete members," Gidrotekh. Stroit., No. 3 (1969).

3.
4.

A. P. Kirillov and V. B. Safonov, "Investigation of the joints of reinforced-concrete

members of the Saratov hydroelectric station," Gidrotekh. Stroit., No. 7 (1968).
A. N. Smirnov, "Problems of electric-arc welding deformations in reinforcement of precast reinforced-concrete elements," Gidrotekh. Stroit., No. 12 (1969).
A. A. Gvozdev, Strength, Structural Investigations, and Deformations of Concrete [in
Russian], Gosstroi SSSR (1973).

DETERMINATION OF THE PARAMETERS OF SMOOTH BLASTING

FOR THE PRELIMINARY CONTOURING METHOD
M. I. Shuifer and A. E. Azarkovich

UDC 622.235.674.3:626/627

Smooth contour blasting has found wide use in hydrotechnical construction.

It permits
obtaining even stable walls in foundation pits and underground workings.
Two smooth blasting
methods are distinguished -- preliminary and subsequent contouring depending on the sequence
of firing the contour charges relative to the loosening charges. The first method became
widespread in surface works and in the construction of large underground chambers and the
second in tunneling works.
With respect to the method of subsequent contouring in foundation pits of important hydraulic structures, the quality of the contour walls is characterized by an amount of unevenness which should not exceed 15 cm with the obtainment of not less than 75% of the imprints of the holes on the breakoff plane [i].
Substantiated requirements imposed on the quality of smooth blasting, expressed by the
value of the permissible unevenness, can be obtained from the condition of providing stability of the contour walls.
Taking into account that rock masses are composed of joints of
various size depending on the category of jointing, we must assume that the stability of exposures-walls can be related to the degree of clamping of the joints in the wall -- the less
the joints project beyond the limits of the wall contour, the more stable it is. To prevent
the joints from coming out of the walls they should not protrude by more than a half, or
with a margin of safety, by a third. With such an approach it is possible to establish the
relation between unevenness and the size of joints in the mass. Taking into account that the
maximum projection is limited to the doubled amount of unevenness, we can write the condition
of preservation of wall stability in the form

ha~(1/6)dn'

(1)

where h u is the average amount of unevenness; dn is the average size of a natural joint of
the rock in the mass.
Table i shows the permissible unevenness of contour walls according to (1) in relation
to the jointing category of the rock mass.
Masses of jointing category I are not examined in Table I, since in them smooth blasting
usually does not produce favorable results -- the walls collapse, which is in complete accord
with relation (i).
A statistical analysis shows that the average amount of unevenness of contour walls is
about 2/3 of the maximum amount and therefore the requirement [I] concerning a maximum amount
of unevenness of 15 cm corresponds to jointing categories II-III of the mass.
As shown by an analysis of the data on the amount of unevenness of contour walls obtained by the preliminary fissuration method, for a ll0-mm-diameter of the contour holes
there was a close statistical relation at 33 different objects between the ratio of the average amount of unevenness to the size of the natural joint, on one hand, and ratio of the
distance between the contour charges also to the average size of the joint in the mass, on
the other. The graph of the relation is shown in Fig. I and in limits ac/d n = 0.6-0.9 is expressed by an empirical formula (with a correlation coefficient of 0.9)
Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroltel'stvo, No. 5, pp. 17-21, May, 1982.

0018-8220/82/1605-0259507.50

9 1982 PlenumPubllshing Corporation

259