Shear Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Slender Beams

Abstract

<jats:p>Major factors contributing to the shear behavior in reinforced concrete (RC) beams have been identified as compressive strength of concrete, shear span to effective depth ratio, and longitudinal reinforcement. Though significant, few of these factors are not fully incorporated in ACI code provisions for design of minimum shear reinforcement. To investigate the effect of these parameters, an analytical and experimental study was undertaken on the shear behavior of ordinary strength RC slender beams with moderate longitudinal reinforcement. The experimental program consisted of testing of eight simply supported RC slender beams subjected to two concentrated loads at a shear span to depth ratio (a/d) of 2.5 and equipped with varying shear reinforcement according to four different criteria. Ultimate shear strengths obtained in this experimental program are compared to the analytical shear strengths calculated according to existing as well as proposed equations. Test results exhibit that, the modified equation proposed in this work gives more accurate prediction of shear capacity of RC beams.</jats:p>