workshop on "Fracture Mechanics and Design Structures" held in the afternoon of 26 July, 1995 during FRAMCOS 2 Zurich was attended by nearly forty participants. Thanks to diligence of all six invited speakers who had prepared advance the written version…
workshop on "Fracture Mechanics and Design Structures" held in the afternoon of 26 July, 1995 during FRAMCOS 2 Zurich was attended by nearly forty participants. Thanks to diligence of all six invited speakers who had prepared advance the written version of their introductory talks, the participants were a set of notes. The speakers gave a brief overview of several applications concepts of fracture mechanics have helped the designers of reinforced concrete structures. These covered the following economic design of plain concrete pipes (Gustaffson); the understanding of ductile-brittle transition failure longitudinally reinforced or fibre-reinforced concrete beams (Carpinteri/Massab6); size effect in anchor pull-out force and bond failure (Elfgren); prediction of shear capacity of longitudinally reinforced (Hawkins); (v) fracture mechanics as forensic tool in investigating the causes of cracking in large concrete structures, such as dams, judging the efficacy of repair and retrofit techniques (Ingraffea); design of massive unusual structures, such as offshore platforms (Modeer) made from high strength concrete for which the traditional strength-based design rules are either entirely inadequate or not at all. The talks therefore provided the audience with a glimpse of the potential benefits that the application of fracture mechanics can bring to the design of concrete structures of a range of sizes.