Method for estimating crack spacings of reinforced concrete flexural members

A method for estimating crack spacings of reinforced concrete beams subject to flexure is proposed. In the proposed method, it is assumed that the tensile extreme fiber stress of concrete between each pair of adjacent cracks is caused by the sum of two tensile stresses. The one is the tensile stress of concrete based on the model of uniaxial tensile test of the reinforced concrete prism. The other is the tensile stress of concrete caused by the compressive resultant force acting eccentrically on the concrete at the cracked section. It is presented that the crack spacings of reinforced concrete beams can be estimated with relatively good accuracy by the proposed method.