85 s26
85 s26
85 s26
An experimental study was performed on full-scale beam specimens bars placed horizontally at the top of the formwork
to study the "top bar" effect on the responses. The behavior of (top-cast). In addition, Soretz, 8 Leonhardt and
beams containing top-cast bars is compared with companion beams
Walther, 9 and Ferguson and Thompson 10 performed
containing bottom-cast bars. A top bar factor for these tests is de-
rived and the results are compared with current ACI predictions and beam tests comparing the behavior of bottom-cast with
with the suggested provisions made by ACI Committee 408. In addi- top-cast specimens.
tion, the influence of transverse reinforcement is investigated. In the case of a vertically oriented reinforcing bar, it
was concluded that the settlement of the concrete re-
Keywords: anchorage (structural); beams (supports); bond (concrete to rein- sulted in better consolidation of the concrete above the
forcement); position (location); reinforced concrete; reinforcing steels; struc- deformations than below the bar deformations. The
tural design.
bond resistance is therefore more favorable when the
bar is pulled against the direction of casting rather than
The influence of the casting position of reinforcing in the casting direction. The lower bond strength of
bars on bond characteristics has been recognized since top-cast compared to bottom-cast horizontal bars is at-
1913. 1 The top bar factor was introduced in the 1951 tributed to the greater settlement of concrete immedi-
ACI Building Code for top bars defined as horizontal ately below the top-cast bar and to a 10 to 20 percent 11
bars so placed that more than 12 in. (305 mm) of con- lower tensile strength of the concrete at the top of the
crete is cast in the member below the bars. This factor casting. The pullout tests enabled the following classi-
and the definition of a top bar have remained essen- fication for casting position and loading direction of
tially the same in the ACI Building Code for more than bars in order of decreasing bond strength:
30 years. I. Vertically oriented bar loaded in direction oppo-
site to casting direction;
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE 2. Horizontally oriented bottom-cast bar;
There is a need for more research in this important 3. Horizontally oriented top-cast bar; and
area to provide a better understanding of the effects of 4. Vertically oriented bar loaded in direction of cast-
casting position on the bond performance. The effects ing.
of water-cement ratio, the vertical position of bars in From their pullout tests, Ferguson, Breen, and
the casting height, the orientation of the bars, the pres- Thompson 7 observed that top-cast bars slipped at the
ence of superplasticizers, and the use of large-diameter unloaded end at relatively low loads and then contin-
bars need to be investigated. This paper presents the ued to accept more load, whereas bottom-cast bars did
results of a series of experiments on full-scale rein- not slip at the unloaded end until almost at their maxi-
forced concrete beams to examine the top bar effects on mum load.
the responses. Recognition of this phenomenon was first intro-
duced into the ACI Building Code" in 1951 in the form
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TOP BAR of allowable bond stresses at working loads based on
FACTOR the tests carried out by Clark.' The allowable bond
The effects of casting position on the bond charac- stress for a top-cast bar was 0.7 times the allowable
teristics were reported by Abrams; 1 Davis; 2 Clark; 3 stress for a bottom-cast bar. Top bars were defined as
Menzel; 4 Dutron; 5 Rehm; 6 and Ferguson, Breen, and
Thompson. 7 These researchers performed experiments
Received May 6, 1987, and reviewed under Institute publicationpolicies.
on pullout specimens that included reinforcing bars Copyright :<:: 1988, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, mcludmg
placed vertically in the formwork, bars placed horizon- the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copynght propn-
etors. Pertinent discussion will be published in the March-Apnl 1989 ACI
tally at the bottom of the formwork (bottom-cast), and Structural Journal if received by Nov. I, 1988.
81 30 (762)
36 Bll 4080 812 4560 Closed
(914) (28.1) (31.4) 83 36 (914)
85 40 (1016)
10
so
Table 2 - Concrete mix components for one 87 44 (1118)
Component Weight
Fine aggregate: sand 1610 lb 0
Coarse aggregate: Y.-in. stone 510lb 0.30 0.60 0.90
'h-in. stone 840lb
DEFLECTION, in.
V.-in. stone 340lb
Type I portland cement 500 lb
Water 270 lb Fig. 2-Load-deflection responses of top-cast beams
Water-reducing admixture 35 oz having different embedment lengths
I lb. ~ 4.448 N.
DEFLECTION, mm
B5, B7, and Bl3) and for the beams with bottom-cast 82 30 (762)
test bars (B2, B4, B6, and B8) are shown in Fig. 2 and 84 36 (914)
50
3, respectively. All of these specimens contained open 10
86 40 (1016)
stirrups. The test bars in these beams had embedment 88 44 (1118)
lengths varying from 30 to 48 in. (762 to 1219 mm). If
the responses of the companion top-cast and bottom-
cast specimens having the same embedment lengths are 0.30 0.60 0.90
0
Yielding
2000
"'0
1500
"'0
X
1500
l:·jl\;~
I ·~~
"""[] 84
o I o
•
,o \
\
/6_6,....6-o\ o
)<
z 0
<
a: o-o I o~\ \\,
,!f:/,
f-
rJ)
I -· \ \ ,
1f~
1000 1000
i \\\
500 500
0 i \ 0 \0
0~-L~~~~~~~~-L~~~_u~~~ 0
H4" Typical 48
(102 mm)
Typical
(102 mrn)
POSITION OF GAGES
POSITION OF GAGES
Fig. 4-Measured tensile strains in No. 8 bar at failure Fig. 5-Measured tensile strains in No. 8 bar at failure
for specimens Bl, B3, B5, and B7 for specimens B2, B4, B6, and B8
specimens (B2, B4, B6, and B8). As expected, larger sponse in Fig. 2, Beam B 13 displayed an extremely
strains are developed in the No. 8 bar as the develop- ductile response similar to that for bottom-cast Beam
ment length is increased. It is clear from these two fig- B6 having a test bar embedment length of 40 in. (1016
ures that the top-cast bars required an embedment mm).
length of 44 in. ( 1118 mm), while the bottom-cast bars Photographs of the side faces and tension faces of
required only 36 in. (914 mm) to yield the reinforce- Beams B3 and B4 are shown in Fig. 8. For these beams,
ment. and in general for all the beams tested, the bottom-cast
The measured load versus central deflection re- specimens displayed better cracking response (i.e., a
sponses for Specimen B3 (top-cast) and B4 (bottom- larger number of more evenly spaced smaller cracks)
cast) are shown in Fig. 6. The various stages of behav- than the companion top-cast specimens due to the
ior, such as cracking at the bar cut-offs, the initiation larger tensile strength of the bottom-cast concrete. In
of longitudinal splitting cracks, and the appearance of addition, the top-cast specimens exhibited more severe
major shear cracks close to maximum load, are shown longitudinal splitting cracks than the bottom-cast spec-
in this figure. It is interesting to note that the top-cast imens (see tension faces of Beams 83 and B4 in Fig. 6).
specimen displayed flexural cracking at slightly lower From this series of tests on companion beams with
loads than the bottom-cast specimen, indicating that top-cast and bottom-cast No. 8 (25-mm diameter) bars
the tensile strength of the concrete at the top of the and an average concrete strength of 4170 psi (28.8
casting is lower than that at the bottom of the casting. MPa), it can be seen that a development length of 36
The effects of increasing the embedment length to 44 in. (914 mm) is required for a bottom-cast bar, while a
in. (1118 mm) for Beam B7 (top-cast) and Beam B8 length of 44 in. (1118 mm) is required for a top-cast
(bottom-cast) are apparent from Fig. 7. The test bar in bar. This implies a top bar factor of 44/36 = 1.22 for
the top-cast specimen just reached yield at maximum these tests. It is noted that the top-cast test bar had 15.5
load (see Fig. 4). Beam B8 displayed yielding of the test in. (394 mm) of concrete cast below it (see Fig. I).
bar along a length of about 28 in. (711 mm), as can be
seen from Fig. 5. Effect of transverse reinforcement and position
Only one beam, top-cast Specimen Bl3, had an of casting on the responses
embedment length of 48 in. (1219 mm). Due to the sig- Fig. 9 compares the responses of bottom-cast Beam
nificant yielding displayed in Beams B6 and B8 having B2, without transverse reinforcement crossing the plane
embedment lengths of 40 and 44 in. (1016 and 1118 of splitting, and bottom-cast Beam BIO, containing No.
mm), respectively, it was unnecessary to test a compan- 3 closed stirrups at 8-in. (203-mm) spacing crossing the
ion bottom-cast specimen with a longer embedment plane of splitting. The significant difference in the re-
length. As can be seen from the load-deflection re- sponses of these two beams in terms of their overall be-
254 ACI Structural Journal I May-June 1988
DEFLECTION, mm
10 15 20
•
B3
50
-r
'
\
"\
/
200 .)
40 B3
10 50
0.30 0.60 0.90 Fig. 8-Effect of casting position on the crack patterns
DEFLECTION, in.
on side faces and tension faces of Beams B3 and B4
DEFLECTION, mm
DEFLECTION, mm
200
10 15 20
40
88 (bottom-cast)
50
87 (top-cast)
150
30
200
40 "'
c.
:;: z
ci
"'ci
< <
0 0
--' 100 --'
20
150
30
.,
c.
:;: ~
ci ci
< < 10
50
0 0
--' 100 --'
20
DEFLECTION, in.
havior (i.e., cracking, stiffness, maximum strength, and
maximum deformations) is clearly evident in Fig. 9.
Fig. 7-Effect of casting position of the reinforcement Both beams have embedment lengths of 30 in. (762
on the load-deflection responses of Beams B7 and B8 mm). The improved response of Beam BIO is due to the
ACI Structural Journal I May-June 1988 255
DEFLECTION, mm
Beam! Centerline
10 15 20
2500
"'~
2000
)/\ y-- Yielding
50
40
B 11 (closed stirrup)
200
"'c.
:>: ~
1000 o" o"
<( <(
~ Flexural Cracks at Cut-off
0 0
--' 100 --'
20
50
10