Dear Mr. Rodriguez,
I believe checking crack width would be part of Serviceability Limit State (stress limitation, aesthetics, drainage, deflection, creep, vibrations, reinforcement corrosion, watertightness) using load factors of 1.0 unless you are conducting a special limit state analsyis. The reinforcement tensile stress limitation rules at SLS in ACI 318 (e.g limiting f
s to 2/3 of f
y) along with minimum reinforcement ratio and maximum reinforcement spacing rules are intended to limit crack widths without having to calculate them directly.
See
ASCE 7-10 Commentary Appendix C - Serviceability Considerations for load combinations (mostly for static loads) used to check SLS. Load combinations may include wind to check drift but I can't think of a situation where they would include seismic loads (maybe for critical tank structures??).
Hope this is helpful :)
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Robert Yates P.E., M.ASCE
Senior Civil Engineer
ROY Structural and Materials Engineering
Roseville, CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-21-2020 08:49
From: Rocio Rodriguez
Subject: Crack width check with seismic load combinations?
Hi!
I am working on this project in a seismic zone and was wondering if it is required by the code to check crack widths in concrete under the seismic load combinations following LRFD. I am following ACI 224 code for crack check.
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Rocio Rodriguez P.E., M.ASCE
Structural Engineer
Orlando FL
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