Experimental Study on the Bond Behavior of Reinforcing Bars Embedded in Concrete Subjected to Lateral Pressure

Owing to its importance in the design and assessment of steel-reinforced concrete structures, the bond behavior of reinforcing bars embedded in concrete has been widely investigated. In this paper, 91 specimens were cast and tested to study the effect of lateral pressure on the bond behavior of plain and deformed round bars. On the basis of the experimental results, it is found that, for plain round bars, the bond capacity increases significantly with an increase in lateral pressure, whereas the slip corresponding to the peak bond stress reduces dramatically once the lateral pressure is applied. Through using the deformed reinforcing bars with noncentrosymmetric surface configuration, it is found that the bond behavior is closely related to the direction and magnitude of the lateral pressure. When the lateral pressure is applied parallel to the transverse rib, the bond capacity increases with an increase in lateral pressure. When the lateral pressure is perpendicular to the transverse rib, the bond capacity basically remains constant. Finally, a theoretical explanation of the experimental phenomena is given. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000365. (C) 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.