Conflicts between reinforced concrete design assumptions and actual concrete behaviour Available to Purchase

Reinforced concrete (RC) design is in a state of perpetual revision of ever-increasing complexity. However, preventing the recurrence of unexpected types of brittle failure is yet to be achieved. It is argued that the causes of such types of failure reflect conflicts between assumed and actual behaviour of concrete at both material and structural levels. This paper presents available information on the fundamental properties of concrete, which current design assumptions are incompatible with, and points towards the work required for really improving RC design.