Question

If a beam is likely to fail due to high bonding stresses, then its bond strength can be increased most economically by

• A. Providing vertical stirrups
• B. Increasing the depth of the beam
• C. Using smaller diameter bars in correspondingly more numbers
• D. Using higher diameter bars by reducing their numbers

Answer 1

The correct option is C Using smaller diameter bars in correspondingly more numbers

(c)
Smaller diameter bars in large numbers (such that area of steel remains the same) should be used as this effectively increases the surface area of contact between steel and concrete.