Shallow and Wide RC Beams, Definition, Capacity and Structural Behavior – Gap Study

Abstract

Wide beam, shallow beam, and banded beam are almost equivalent terms for beams with limited depth and large width. They are often embedded in ribbed slabs to facilitate the formwork. The contribution of web reinforcement in the shear capacity of this type of beam is still a gray area, and all design codes neglected this contribution. The aim of this research is to introduce a general overview of this topic and detect the unstudied gaps in this topic. Nine design codes and about forty previous researches were collected, summarized, analyzed, classified, and mapped with respect to the considered parameters, utilized methodologies, recorded observations, and concluded outcomes to detect further research opportunities. The results indicated that design codes have no unified definition for the shallow or wide beams; most of them neglected the contribution of the shear reinforcement. On the other hand, the analysis of the collected research considering 32 points of the study showed that only 19 points are well studied; it also indicated an extreme shortage in both theoretical studies (using “Finite Element Method” FEM) and predictive models (mathematically using “Artificial Intelligence” AI) for the shear capacity besides the effect of creep and cyclic loading, especially for beams with web openings.

The Impact of Shear Reinforcement Amount and Arrangement on the Shear Capacity of Shallow RC Beams: An Experimental Study

“…The results of these studies suggest that machine learning is a promising approach for predicting the behavior of concrete elements [32]. Soliman et al [33] identified several gaps in the previous studies and investigations regarding the shear capacity of the wide, shallow reinforced concrete beams. Most previous studies had, of course, focused on the stirrup configurations at the shallow-wide beams, as the code provisions and expressions were completely negligible for the matter as mentioned before.…”

The Impact of Aspect Ratio, Characteristic Strength and Compression Rebars on the Shear Capacity of Shallow RC Beams

“…Using the same techniques, the mode of failure of the reinforced concrete beams can also be predicted [15]. After carefully studying the previous research and investigations, several gaps in these studies were identified and considered for this experimental investigation [16]. Previous experimental studies had only considered one aspect ratio (b/d) per study, meaning that all the specimens in the same study had the same cross section and only steel configurations or types of loading were changed during testing.…”