CVEN3304

CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Week 8
Behaviour in Shear
ALI AMIN

Lesson Learnt From Failures Concorde

Overpass
30th Sept 2006, Laval, Quebec
Six lane bridge killed 5 people
The beam failed suddenly in

shear

Lesson Learnt From Failures

Shear Failure

Introduction
In reinforced concrete, the concrete primarily looks after the compressive
stresses while the reinforcing bars are designed to carry the tensile
stresses
Like timber, reinforced concrete does not have the same strength
properties in different directions
Such anisotropic materials are particularly susceptible to what are called
shear failures
Thus a reinforced concrete member subjected to shear may develop
diagonal cracks, and if the member does not contain an appropriate
amount of shear reinforcement, these cracks can result in the sudden
failure of the member
Stirrups link together the flexural tension and compression sides of a
member and ensures the two sides act as a unit
Avoiding such failures, which can be catastrophic is the objective

Introduction
Cracks first start to develop above
mid support and then at midspan
To prevent these bending cracks from
opening, there must be appropriate
quantities of longitudinal
reinforcement
The initial flexural cracks at maximum
moment locations will be vertical but
as the load is increased, new flexural
cracks will form at other locations
along the beam and as they spread in
from the outer faces of the beams
these crack will be inclined
These diagonal cracks are called shear
cracks as they nucleate in regions of
high shear
Transverse steel applied to arrest
cracks

International Codes
In designing for flexure, engineers have available a simple, general,
rational method called the plane sections theory which is capable of
predicting not only the flexural strength, but also the complete load
deformation response of reinforced concrete sections

Because of this, there is little disagreement between international design

codes as to the flexural strength of a given reinforced concrete section or
the quantities of reinforcement to ensure a ductile flexural behaviour
There is however substantial disagreement as to the magnitude of the
shear strength of structural elements and the reinforcement
requirements needed to ensure ductile shear responses
In view of the disparity between the state of the knowledge in flexure and
shear, it is not surprising that while failures of reinforced concrete
structures due to deficiencies in flexural design are extremely rare,
failure due to deficiencies in shear design occur much more frequently

International Codes
Accuracy of theory
of flexural strength

International Codes
Accuracy of ACI
theory of shear
strength

International Codes

Shear Stress Based on Linear Elastic Theory

2

a
c

b
d

NA

dz
1

fc2

fc1

C1
y

fc1y

a
c

b
d
vybdz

fc2y

C2

Prove that the

maximum shear
stress is equal to
V/bz

Stress Condition on an Elemental Block

dz

v
f

f
dz
tan

v
f

v'

max

v'=0

max

f'
v

ft (max)

dz
sin

bdz
bdz
bdz
f t'

f
cos

v
b
dz
cos

sin
sin

tan

tan

bdz
bdz
bdz
v'

f
sin

v
b
dz
sin

cos
sin

tan

tan

ft' 0.5 ft 1 cos 2 v sin 2

v ' 0.5 ft sin 2 v cos 2

tan 2 max
ft max 0.5 ft

v
0.5 ft

0.5 ft 2 v 2

Directions of Potential Cracks

ft (max)

The principal tensile stress ft(max) in the diagonal direction which is at an angle max
with the beam axis is at least as large as either ft or v. It is nearly equal to the
longitudinal stress ft if the shear stress v is small and its direction is nearly horizontal
(i.e. near the top or bottom of the beam). It is nearly equal to the shear stress v if the
longitudinal tensile stress ft is small and its direction is nearly 45 deg with the beam
axis. Since concrete is weak in tension, these principal tensile stresses are undoubtedly
correlated to inclined cracking

Behaviour of Beams Without Shear

Reinforcement
High shear stresses on a beam results in the formation of inclined cracks
To control these inclined cracks, transverse reinforcement (called
stirrups, links, ligatures etc) are used normally in the vertical direction
Inclined cracking in the webs of reinforced concrete beams may develop
either in the absence of flexural cracks or as an extension of a previously
developed flexural crack
An inclined crack occurring in a beam that was previously uncracked due
to flexure is known as a web shear crack
An inclined crack originating as an extension of a previously existing
flexural crack is known as a flexure-shear crack

Behaviour of Beams Without Shear

Reinforcement
It is widely accepted that there are four types of mechanisms of shear
transfer in cracked reinforced concrete beams without shear
reinforcement:

Shear stresses in the uncracked concrete zone

Aggregate interlock or crack friction tangentially along a crack due to
irregular interlocking of the aggregates along the rough concrete
surfaces
Dowel action, which is the resistance of the longitudinal
reinforcement to transverse force
Arch action on relatively deep beams

Influence of a/d on Shear Strength

AS3600 Approach
AS3600 empirically attempts to quantify the resistance provided by
concrete, aggregate interlock and dowel action
Test data has indicated that the longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the
tensile strength of the concrete are the main parameters influencing the
shear capacity of a beam without shear reinforcement:

A
Vuc bv do f cv st
bv do

Size Effect

f cv

fc'

1.11.6 do 1000 1.1

do is the distance from the

extreme compressive fibre
to the centroid of the
outermost layer of tensile
reo

Size Effect
The reduction of applied shear
stress with an increase of beam
height is called the size effect in
shear

It can be seen that there is a

consistent and significant
decrease in failure shear stress as
the depth of the specimens is
increased
Many international codes were
developed based on test
specimens with depths < 350mm!!

Function of Shear Reinforcement

The most generally accepted model for the behaviour of reinforced
concrete beams containing shear reinforcement is the truss model

In the reinforced concrete beam above, the concrete performs the task of
carrying the compressive forces, while the steel reinforcement is used to
carry the tensile forces
In the beam above, there exists a compression chord (on top) and a
tension chord (bottom) the diagonal and vertical members are in
compression and tension, respectively and link these two chords

Truss Model
It is noted that the contribution to the shear strength in the truss model is
provided only by the shear reinforcement (no aggregate interlock etc)
Once the model is developed, the truss forces can be obtained from
statics and equilibrium.
The member forces in the diagonals, verticals and top and bottom chords
are then checked against prescribed limits. For example the stress in the
concrete cant exceed the effective compressive strength of the concrete
The strength in the verticals and bottom chord is usually taken as the
area of the reinforcement multiplied by the yield stress of the steel
This method can be used to design not only the shear reinforcement but
also the longitudinal reinforcement!

Forces Acting on a Cut Section Truss Model

w
C

A sv fsy.f

z cot

Vus Asv f sy. f n Asv f sy. f

z cot
s

V
T

Design for Shear AS3600

In AS3600 we require:

Vu Vuc Vus V *
We also impose some practical limits such as the crushing limit of the
beam section which ensures that failure by yielding of the shear
reinforcement occurs before compression failure of the concrete:

Vu Vu ,max 0.2 f c'bdo

AS3600 also specifies a minimum quantity of shear reinforcement to
avoid a sudden and brittle shear failure:

Asv.min 0.06bs f c' f sy. f 0.35bs f sy. f

Vu.min Vuc 0.1bdo f c' Vuc 0.6bdo

Benefit of Adding Min Shear Reinforcement

Design for Shear AS3600

The angle of the inclined struts is not fixed. It can be treated as a
design variable
AS3600 defines from 30-60 degrees. Angles exceeding 45 degrees
are only used in exceptional circumstances
The value of can be chosen as 45 or according to the quantity of web
reinforcement (stirrups). When the minimum amount of steel is used
the lower limit of = 30 may be used. When the maximum quantity is
used (approaching crushing limits) can be taken as 45. For
intermediate steel dosages can be taken as:

V * Vu.min
v 30 15

V
u.max
u.min

Critical section is
normally taken as
d away from
support

Design for Shear AS3600

According to AS3600 if V*
0.5Vuc no shear reinforcement
is required (except for large
beams D>750mm) provide
Asv,min
If V* is between 0.5Vuc and
Vu,min then Asv,min must be
provided
When V* exceeds Vu,min the
appropriate quantity of steel
must be calculated and
provided

Design for Shear AS3600

The following steps can be used to calculate the stirrup
requirement:
1. Determine V*

2. If V*> Vu,max increase section size!!

3. Calculate Vuc. If V*< Vuc no need for stirrups
4. If V*> 0.5Vuc then calculate Vu.min
5. If V*< Vu,min calculate Asv.min
6. If V*> Vu,min Calculate
7. Find Asv/s in which Vus = V*- Vuc

Try to stick to 1 stirrup

size and just vary the
spacing..

According to AS3600 s
should be limited to
300mm to ensure that at
least 1 stirrup is crossed
by the failure crack

Example 1
Design the stirrups required for the transfer beam below using AS3600
w* = 400kN/m

f c' 32MPa
f sy 500MPa
7m

950

1000

500

8N32

Modified Compression Field Theory

The MCFT was developed by
researchers from the University of
Toronto in the early 1980s
The membrane element tester
shown on the right was developed
to test reinforced concrete
elements in pure shear
In particular it was desired to find
the principal compressive stresscompressive strain relationship for
diagonally cracked concrete

Modified Compression Field Theory

The uniform stress conditions that
the test panels were subjected to
enabled the average strain values
in the different directions to be
measured which enabled accurate
Mohrs circles to be drawn
An unexpected outcome of testing
revealed significant average
tensile stresses even after
extensive cracking of the concrete
had occurred.
These tensile stresses increased
the ability of the cracked concrete
to resist shear.

Modified Compression Field Theory

Modified Compression Field Theory

MCFT Approach to Shear in Beams

The Canadian Concrete Code (and Draft Australian Bridge Code for
Concrete Structures) defines the Shear resistance of RC beams taken
as a combination of an aggregate interlock component (Vuc), and a
steel component that depends on the number of stirrup legs that cross
a diagonal shear crack (Vus):

Vu Vuc Vus V *
Vuc kv f c' bdo

Vus Asv f sy. f n Asv f sy. f

z cot
s

The strain aggregate size parameter, kv, is derived from the MCFT (and
from Walravens tests) and determines the capacity of the section to
resist aggregate interlock

MCFT Approach to Shear in Beams

kv is taken as:

kv

0.40
1300

1 1500 x 1000 kdg z

The first term above models the strain effect and is based on a linear
approximation of the crack width relationship to the longitudinal strain
at mid-depth of the member.
The second term above models the size effect. The parameter kdg is a
function of the maximum aggregate size and is taken as:

kdg

32
0.80
16 d g

MCFT Approach to Shear in Beams

The ultimate shear strength is influenced by many geometric and
loading effects including % reinforcement, applied moment, shear etc
To capture all these effects in a single parameter, the average strain in
the longitudinal direction at a given depth of the beam is used (ex)
The concept is that the larger this strain, the wider the cracks and hence
the lower the aggregate interlock and hence Vc
The effect of lowered strength with larger longitudinal strains can be
called a strain effect.
The strain ex is calculated at mid-depth of the member and is
conservatively assumed as 0.5*the strain in the longitudinal
reinforcement:
M*
do V *
If this value is high then
x
crack widths will be high!
2 Es As

MCFT Approach to Shear in Beams

The MCFT predicts the angle of
the principle compressive stress,
or strut angle , at shear failure
for members with shear
reinforcement to depend
primarily upon the longitudinal
strain ex.
The angle is determined as:

29 7000 x

To learn more about the

MCFT download papers
written by Professors Collins,
Bentz and Vecchio from the
University of Toronto

Example 1
Design the stirrups required for the transfer beam below using
DRAS5100.5
w* = 400kN/m

f c' 32MPa
f sy 500MPa
7m

950

1000

500

8N32