In BS8110 for reinforced concrete design, it states that longer tension lap lengths have to be provided at the top of concrete members. The reason behind this is that the amount of compaction of the top of concrete members during concrete placing is more likely to be less than the remaining concrete sections. Moreover, owing to the possible effect of segregation and bleeding, the upper layer of concrete section tends to be of lower strength when compared with other locations.
When the lap lengths are located at the corners of concrete members, the degree of confinement to the bars is considered to be less than that in other locations of concrete members. As such, by taking into account the smaller confinement which lead to lower bond strength, a factor of 1.4 (i.e. 40% longer) is applied to the calculated lap length.
This question is taken from book named – A Self Learning Manual – Mastering Different Fields of Civil Engineering Works (VC-Q-A-Method) by Vincent T. H. CHU.
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