Standardized models for cracking due to restraint of imposed strains—The state of the art

Crack control throughout the service life of a structure has always been a challenging task for engineers and asset owners, particularly those who are involved with the design and construction of structures with increased durability requirements, such as liquid retaining structures, nuclear containment buildings or structures in direct contact with ground, but also other externally restrained structures. For these reasons, several standardized methods exist throughout the global engineering community which encompass differences between them. This work is a state-of-the-art review of the methods for crack width control due to imposed strains recommended by different regulatory documents from Europe, USA, Australia and Japan, and provide a reasonable degree of guidance with respect to the assumptions, possibilities and restrictions of each method. This work resonates with the scope of the RILEM TC 287-CCS: Early age and long-term crack width analysis in RC structures.