Web openings in beams occur quite often in practice to provide convenient passage of electrical and mechanical conduits. In this paper, the analysis and design against cracking of simply supported prestressed concrete beams with rectangular openings are presented. Several design parameters are varied, including opening width and depth, horizontal and vertical locations of the opening, type of cross section, and amount and arrangement of reinforcement around the opening. The results from a finite element analysis are substantiated by test results. A simple design method for estimating the cracking load for the different crack patterns is proposed and two illustrative design examples are presented.
