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J. Eberhardsteiner, H.A. Mang:
"Collapse Analysis of Thin RC Shells on the Basis of a New Fracture Criterion";
in: "Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures", Chr. Meyer, H. Okamura (ed.); ASCE, New York, 1986, 579 - 601.

A new fracture criterion for concrete subjected to biaxial states of stress is presented and applied to ultimate load analysis of a built natural draft cooling tower shell made of reinforced concrete. It is based on the assumption that the biaxial tensile strength of concrete at a point of the shell increases with increasing stress gradient at this point. For the limiting case of a vanishing stress gradient, peak stresses from Kupfer's biaxial tests are taken as the biaxial tensile strength. For a non-vanishing stress gradient, a magnifying factor for Kupfer's biaxial tensile strength at the considered point is determined by means of a suitable hypotheses. It is shown that the partially significant increase of Kupfer's biaxial tensile strength at the integration points in the finite element model of the cooling tower does not have much influence on the structural response of this shell.