Abstract
This paper presents the test results of total 35 direct tensile specimens to investigate the effect of high-strength concrete on the tension stiffening effect in axially loaded reinforced concrete tensile members. Three kinds of concrete strength 25, 60, and 80 MPa were included as a major experimental parameter together with six concrete cover thickness ratios. The results showed that as higher strength concrete was employed, not only more extensive split cracking along the reinforcement was formed, but also the transverse crack space became smaller. Thereby, the effective tensile stiffness of the high-strength concrete specimens at the stabilized cracking stage was much smaller than those of normal-strength concrete specimens. This observation is contrary to the current design provisions, and the significance in reduction of tension stiffening effect by employment of high-strength concrete is much higher than that would be expected. Based on the present results, a modification factor is proposed for accounting the effect of the cover thickness and the concrete strength.