Is Welded Wire Reinforcement supported by the American Concrete
Institute 318 Building Code?
Yes. The American Concrete Institute regards deformed welded wire
reinforcement equivalent to conventional reinforcing bars per Section
3.5.3 of ACI 318 Building Code for Structural Concrete and Commentary
Is designing in Welded Wire Reinforcement difficult and time consuming?
No. The design process is relatively the same as designing with conventional
rebar. The difference in designing in Welded Wire Reinforcement takes place
after the design engineer calculates the required areas of steel and before
the area of steels is converted into conventional reinforcing bars
(#3, #4, #5, #6, #7….). At this point the required areas of steel are converted
into the spacing and wire sizes used in a Welded Wire Reinforcement sheet.
For example, an Engineer designs a structural slab and calculates an area of
steel of the primary reinforcement to be 0.26 in2 per linear foot and 0.13 in2
per linear foot for temperature reinforcement. The welded wire sheet would
be 12"x12" D26/D13 or 4"x4" D8.7/D4.3
(note the area of steel per linear foot remains the same).
Conventional reinforcing bars have standard sizes (#3, #4, #5, #6, #7…).
Does Welded Wire Reinforcement have standard sizes?
No. Manufacturers of Welded Wire Reinforcement have the flexibility to produce
any area of steel from 0.014 in2 to 0.45 in2 in increments of 0.001 in2.
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