Simplified cracking analysis of RC ties taking account of the effect of secondary cracks

A simplified model based on the assumption that bond stresses are linearly distributed along the transmission length is here set up to study the cracking behaviour of an RC tie subjected to monotonic loading, taking into account the effects of the so-called Goto cracks, or internal secondary cracks. At the stabilized cracking stage, under the assumption that the crack spacing is maximum, the relative mean strain formula proposed in fib Model Code 2010 and Eurocode 2 is modified by introducing a coefficient eta, depending only on the acting axial force-to-cracking force ratio, which allows the effect of internal secondary cracks to be considered