About the Book: Design of Reinforced Concrete
Concrete is one of the most popular materials for buildings because it has high
compressive strength, flexibility in its form and it is widely available. The
history of concrete usage dates back for over a thousand years. Contemporary
cement concrete has been used since the early nineteenth century with the
development of Portland cement. Despite the high compressive strength, concrete
has limited tensile strength, only about ten percent of its compressive strength
and zero strength after cracks develop. In the late nineteenth century,
reinforcing materials, such as iron or steel rods, began to be used to increase
the tensile strength