Design of Cross Ties in Steel Plate Concrete Structures

Abstract

Cross ties have been widely used in Steel plate Concrete (SC) structures. It is considered as one of the most effective methods in ensuring the integrity of the SC module when subjected to both flexure and out-of-plane shear. Although there are no specific guidelines for the design of cross ties as shear reinforcement in the current practice, the requirements for reinforced concrete structures specified in ACI 349 has been generally adopted in design. The experimental studies completed at the University of Houston show that a minimum amount of cross ties is required for the SC structures to preserve shear ductility. This amount was found to be greater than the ACI 349 recommendations. In addition, the strength of SC beams could not be predicted by the ACI 349 code. This paper evaluates the applicability of the present shear design methods of reinforced concrete beams to steel plate concrete beams and proposes a set of shear design equations.