Is the preset crack width of, for example, wk = 0.3 mm also designed for primary cracks? According to the manual, the average strain is considered. Does this ensure that the primary crack does not exceed the value wk = 0.3 mm?

Question

Accepted Answer

The method described in the theoretical background for determining a crack width corresponds to the direct crack width calculation according to DIN EN 1992‑1‑1, 7.3.4.This method is based on the approach of mean strain according to Equation (7.9). In this theoretical approach, only the crack width of primary cracks is determined. The crack spacing (sr,max) describes the theoretical distance to the next primary crack, and at the same time, it represents the length over which the strain difference is considered and finally the crack width is calculated.

Crack Width Calculation

Is the preset crack width of, for example, wk = 0.3 mm also designed for primary cracks? According to the manual, the average strain is considered. Does this ensure that the primary crack does not exceed the value w_k = 0.3 mm?