Crack spacing

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Crack spacing

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Because of shrinkage concrete cracks. In case of jointed and doweled concrete cracks are forced to develop at joints. In the case of continuously reinforced concrete there are no joints and cracks develop spontaneously. The intervals at which these cracks develop should be within certain limits. Weak concrete (i.e. low tensile strength) and close spacing of steel result in closely spaced cracks. For good structural performance desirable values are between 1.0 m and 1.8 m. However, in the case of ultra-thin continuously reinforced concrete the cracks should be closer to 0.3 m.