40 Damage to concrete structures
creep deformations of the beams or slabs on which they are standing, leading to possibly excessive cracking (Figure 2.9). Unfortunately, this damage
pattern quite often occurs in apartment and office buildings. In many cases,
it shows that the design did not duly consider creep effects, with estimated
deformations following linear elastic theory only.
In tall buildings, unexpected situations can also occur when neglecting
creep effects in concrete. Tall buildings typically consist of a central stiff
core made in concrete, surrounded by a steel skeleton for the construction
of the different floor levels. Due to creep and shrinkage of the concrete core,
Figure 2.8 Long-term creep deformations of concrete parking structure.
Figure 2.9 Cracking of light internal walls due to excessive creep deformations of concrete beams and slabs.