Flexural performance of a new type of slightly curved arc HRB400 steel bars reinforced one-way concrete slabs

In the present study, a new type of slightly curved arc HRB400 steel bars (SCAHSs) was proposed to solve the problem of temperature-induced stress loss in mass concrete structures without cutting off steel bars. The flexural performance of SCAHSs and straight HRB400 steel bars reinforced one-way concrete slabs were first experimentally investigated. Then, the effects of the shape and dimension of SCAHSs on the distribution and width of concrete cracks were analyzed and discussed. Subsequently, the synergistic tensile work characteristics between SCAHSs and concrete were presented. Finally, equations for the bearing capacity and allowable crack widths for SCAHSs in hydraulic massive structures were proposed. The test results indicated that after replacing the straight steel bars in the concrete slab with SCAHSs, the crack width of the concrete slabs increased, with the maximum crack width at the bottom of the concrete slabs increasing by a factor of 1.2-1.4. As the rise-span ratio of SCAHSs increased, the flexural stiffness of SCAHSs reinforced concrete slab decreased slightly, but the deflection increased. The allowable crack widths of SCAHSs reinforced concrete slabs under environment categories I, II, and III were 0.20, 0.17, and 0.12mm, respectively.