Which statement about reinforcement steel in concrete is incorrect?

The chosen statement highlights an important aspect of reinforced concrete: while reinforcement steel significantly enhances the tensile strength of concrete, it does not contribute to increasing the compressive capacity of concrete members. Concrete is inherently strong in compression but relatively weak in tension. The role of reinforcement steel is to provide resistance against tensile forces, which concrete alone cannot efficiently handle. When assessing the structural performance of concrete members, it is important to recognize that while the inclusion of reinforcement leads to improved performance in terms of durability and serviceability, it does not raise the compressive strength of the concrete itself.

In summary, the role of reinforcement is to enable concrete elements to withstand tensile loads, which is crucial in bending and other stress applications, but it does not modify the compressive capacity of concrete, which remains a characteristic of the concrete material itself.