CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF

CRACKS IN BUILDING

A SEMINAR REPORT
BY : Megharaj
8th SEM BE CIVIL (USN:3NA16CV426)
 Contents
• Introduction
• What is a crack?
• Classification of cracks.
• Causes & occurrence of cracks.
• How do we calculate a crack?
• How do cracks grow?
• Measuring equipments
• Limitation of crack width.
• Preventive measures.
• References
• Acknowledgements
 INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS A CRACK?
A crack is a complete or incomplete separation of concrete into
two or more parts, produced by breaking or fracturing.

CLASSIFICATION OF CRACKS

1. STRUCTURAL CRACK
2. NON STRUCTURAL CRACK
1. Structural cracks:
Structural cracks may arise due to
various reasons such as incorrect design, overloading of
the structural components, overloading of the soil on
which the building is constructed or other similar factors.
Structural cracks endanger the stability of the building
and may be difficult to be rectified. Extensive cracks of
foundations walls, beams, columns or slabs etc, are
examples of structural cracks.
2. Non- structural cracks:
Non- structural cracks are generally
due to internal forces developed in the buildings on
account of change in the size of building components,
due to moisture variation, temperature variations, the
effect of gases, liquid and solids on the building
components. The non-structural cracks can be
repaired provided the reasons for cracks are identified
and suitable remedial measures are taken to prevent
their reoccurrence.
 CAUSES FOR THE OCCURANCE OF CRACK
CRACK MAY DEVELOP DUE TO-

 Structural deficiency resulting from design deficiency or

construction deficiency and overloading.
 Temperature and shrinkage effects.
 Settlement of ground.
 Faulty workman ship and poor construction practice.
 Shear, flexural and torsional steel deficiency.
 Abrupt curtailment of reinforcement bars.
 Over loading of member.
 Construction joint cracks.
 INVESTIGATION RELATING TO CRACK

• Whether the crack is old or new

• Pattern of crack
• Soil condition, type of foundation used, movement of ground
•Observation on the similar structure.
•Study of specification, construction method and climatic condition
 How do cracks grow?
• How a crack grows is called "crack propagation" and this takes
into account when a crack can start to grow, how far it grows,
and what direction it goes in.
• So when can it grow? Well there are two ways to look at it.
– First, from the point of view of the stress intensity factor,
KI.
– The material resists cracking with everything it has,
which is called its fracture toughness. KIc
• The crack can grow when its stress intensity factor (sif)
reaches the fracture toughness of the material:
KIc=KI
• The other way to look at when a crack can grow is the energy
way.
• When a crack is formed, new surfaces are also formed, along
the edges where the material has split apart.
• The material has to have enough energy to create these new
surfaces or it will not crack.
• If G is the energy necessary for the crack to grow and R is the
material's resistance to crack growth, the condition for a crack
to grow is:

G=R
• Which way does the crack
grow? Well, as long as the
material is being loaded like
this, a crack will always
grow perpendicular to the
load.
 How do we calculate a crack?

Forces
There has to be some sort of force acting on a material to make it fracture.
There are three major forces to consider:

• Temperature variation -- when concrete is mixed it gets very hot and

expands. When it tries to cool off, the concrete wants to contract. If it can't
contract (because it is connected to another wall or rock) then cracks form.

• Chemical reaction -- a reaction between the cement and the aggregate in the
concrete which makes the concrete "grow"

• Live load -- the general pulling or pushing on a material. In a dam, loads

could be caused by settling or sliding of the foundation or abutments, ice,
silt, waves, earthquakes, or even bombs or asteroids!
EQUIPMENTS FOR MEASURING CRACK

• MEASURING MAGNIFIER
• CRACK SCOPE
• DIGITAL CRACK GAUGE
• LOMARO MICROSCOPE
MEASURING MAGNIFIER
CRACKSCOPE

DIGITAL CRACK GAUGE

LOMARO MICROSCOPE
 LIMITATION OF CRACK WIDTH

1. For members in water storage units, sewage units, chemically

hazardous atmosphere cracks are not permitted.
2. In severe atmosphere up to 0.1mm crack is permitted.
3. Moderate atmosphere upto .2mm crack is permitted.
4. In mild atmosphere width of crack is permitted upt0 0.3mm.
• OCCURS DUE TO FLEXURAL STEEL DEFICIENCY

•OCCURS AT MAXIMUM BENDING MOMENT

REGION
• OCCURS DUE TO SHEAR STEEL DEFICIENCY

•OCCURS IN MAXIMUM SHEAR REGION

OCCURS DUE TO IMPROPER ANCHORAGE
OF REINFORCED BARS
DIRECTION OF CONCRETING
 PREVENTIVE MEASURES
• Special care need to be taken while design and detailing.
• Requires continuous investigation.
• Damages from unintentional construction overloads can be prevented
only if designer provide information on load limitations and the
construction personnel heed to these limitations.
• Follow proper design specification.
 SHRINKAGE AND TEMPERATURE EFFECT

SHRINKAGE CRACK

• Show up in two basic location in most walls; approximately mid point

of long section wall, across door or window head.
• Uniform in width.
• Excessive water content within the concrete.
• Higher water content results in greater shrinkage.
• On exposure, concrete loses some of its original water and shrink.
SHRINKAGE CRACK IN WALL MASONRY
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

• Minimize the use of rich concrete mix.

• Use lean cement mortar in masonry works.
• Allow adequate time for curing.

TEMPERATURE EFFECT

• volume changes.
• volume relation to temperature is expressed by
coefficient of thermal expansion/contraction.
•Volume change induces stress.
 PREVENTIVE MEASURE

• Adequate insulating or terracing treatment.

• Painting top roof with reflective finish such as white wash.
• Introducing of expansion and contraction joint at appropriate
locations.

CRACK DUE TO SETTLEMENT

• Uneven settlement can be a major structural problem in small
residential building
• Vertical distortion or cracking of masonry walls, wrapped interiors
and exterior opening.
• Occurs early in life of building.
 SETTLEMENTS ARE CAUSED DUE TO

 Soil consolidation under footing.

 Loss of moisture.
 Water table level.
 Faulty drains, leaking water mains.
 Soil compaction or movement due to vibration.
Building settlement due to cut and fill
DIFFERENTIAL SETTLEMENT CAUSED
DUE TO VARIABLE SOIL TYPE
• Cracking likely to occur at corners and adjacent to opening.
follows a rough diagonal along mortar joints
• May extend through continuous building element such as floor
slabs, masonry walls above the foundation and interiors
• Building constructed on expansive soil are liable to cracks
•The structure is subjected to severe stress due to alternate swelling
and shrinkage
 PREVENTIVE MEASURES
• Under reamed pile foundation
• Foundation design for uniform distribution of pressure
• Sbc is not exceeded.
• soil should be well compacted.
FAULTY WORKMANSHIP AND POOR
CONSTRUCTION PRACTICE
CAUSES
• Improper reinforcing steel place placement.
• Improper bar detailing.
• Premature removal of forms.
• Cold joints.
• Segregation.
• Plastic shrinkage cracking.
PREVENTIVE MEASURE

• WATER CEMENT RATIO

• PROPER CURING
• SUPPORT FOR FORMS
• DESIGN RECOMENDATIONS
 CONCLUSION
• The individual cracks in members are unique by themselves
• They are versatile diagnostic devices, clearly indicating the specific
problem in concerned members. in addition they also indicate the
degree of seriousness of the problem.
• The crack throw light on the discipline in the associated structural
designs and quality.
• The corrective measures to be implemented are clearly indicated by
these cracks.
 REFERENCES

• Peter H Emmons- “concrete repair and maintenance”

• P.c Varghese- “limit state design of reinforced concrete”

• H.p Rossmanith- “fracture and damage of concrete”

• M.s.Shetty- “concrete technology”

 Acknowledgements

Firstly I’d like to thank our HOD for

enabling us to avail of the multimedia
facility.
Our faculty who’ve had the patience to sit
through all of this! 
My knowledgeable audience who’ve been
tremendously encouraging today.