Shear in slabs and beams:

may they be treated in the same way?

Prof. Dr. Aurelio Muttoni

Dr. Miguel Fernndez Ruiz
cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Switzerland

Introduction

Members without shear reinforcement

Shear in one-way slabs

or beams without shear
reinforcement

Punching shear

In-plane failures by localization of strains in a critical shear crack

2

Beams and one-way slabs without shear reinforcement

Slabs without shear reinforcement

Punching shear

One-way slabs

Punching shear strength is governed by strains developing close to the concentrated load
4

Members without shear reinforcement

Punching shear is governed by shear and bending moments acting close to the concentrated
loads

Control perimeters close to concentrated loads are required to provide realistic estimates of
shear forces and bending moments in the shear-critical region

Members without shear reinforcement

(and one-way slabs)

Unitary shear strength for shear (VR/b) and punching shear are different
6

Design using strain-based models

Design using strain-based models

Muttoni A., Fernndez Ruiz M., 2008, Shear strength of

members without transverse reinforcement as function of
critical shear crack width, ACI Structural Journal, V. 105, No 2,
pp. 163-172

Muttoni A., 2008, Punching shear strength of reinforced

concrete slabs without transverse reinforcement, ACI Structural
Journal, V. 105, No 4, pp. 440-450

Design using strain-based models

Members with shear reinforcement

Girders (equilibrium-based models)

qEd

asw fyd

z
bw

AEd

sw

VRd , s

Asw
z f ywd cot cot sin
sw

z (cot + cot)

Nielsen M. P., 1971, On the Strength of Reinforced Concrete Discs, Acta Polytechnica Scandinavica,
Civil Engineering and Building Construction Series No. 70, Copenhagen, Denmark, 261 p.
Thurlimann B., 1979, Shear Strength of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete-CEB Approach, ACI,
Special publication, Volume 59, pp. 93-116.

10

Girders (shear-carrying mechanisms)

Fernndez Ruiz, M., Muttoni, A., 2008, Shear

strength of thin-webbed post-tensioned beams,
American Concrete Institute, Structural Journal,
Vol. 105, No. 3, pp. 308-317

11

Slabs with punching shear reinforcement

In-plane failures by localization of

strains in a critical shear crack

VRd VRd ,c VRd , s

ssw f ywd

12

Members with shear reinforcement (strength of compression struts)

rw =

0.24 %

Out-of-plane failures. Crushing of compression field with concrete spalling

rw = 0.24 % - 1.01 %

In-plane failures by localization of strains in a critical shear crack

13

Girders (crushing of compression struts)

VRd ,max kc

f ck

bw z

cot cot
1 cot 2

kc fc D
Presence of tendons
Brittleness effect
Strain effect

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Girders (crushing of compression struts)

kc fc D
Presence of tendons
Brittleness effect
Strain effect

Muttoni, A.; Schwartz, J.; and Thrlimann, B.,

Design of Concrete Structures with Stress Fields,
Birkhaser, Basel, Boston and Berlin, Switzerland,
1997, 145 pp.

15

Girders (crushing of compression struts)

kc fc D
Presence of tendons
Brittleness effect
Strain effect

Vecchio, F. J. and Collins, M. P. 1986, The modified

compression field theory for reinforced concrete
elements subjected to shear, ACI Journal, 83,
March-April, pp. 219-231

16

Girders (crushing of compression struts)

kc fc D
Presence of tendons
Brittleness effect
Strain effect

Muttoni, A., 1989, Die Andwendbarkeit der

Plastizittstheorie in der Bemessung von
Stahlbeton, Institut fr Baustatik und Konstruction,
ETH Zrich, Bericht Nr. 176, Birkhuser Verlag,
Basel-Stuttgart, 159 p.

17

Girders (crushing of compression struts)

kc fc D
Presence of tendons
Brittleness effect

600 mm

Strain effect

Grouted steel duct: k = 0.5

Grouted plastic duct: k = 0.8

Ungrouted duct: k = 1.2

Muttoni A., Burdet O., Hars E., 2006, Effect of Duct

Type on the Shear Strength of Thin Webs, ACI
Structural Journal, Vol. 103, No.5, pp. 729-735

125 mm

18

Slabs with punching shear reinforcement (crushing of compression struts)

Failures by development of an
in-plane crushing band

Fernndez Ruiz, M., Muttoni, A., 2009, Applications of the critical shear crack theory to punching of R/C slabs
with transverse reinforcement, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 106, No. 4, 2009, pp. 485-494

19

Slabs with punching shear reinforcement (crushing of concrete struts)

MC-90, EC-2

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Conclusions (1/5): One-way slabs and punching shear without shear reinforcement

1.

Control perimeters close to

concentrated loads are
required to provide realistic
estimates of shear forces and
bending moments in the
shear-critical region

2.

Different unitary shear

strengths for shear and
punching shear

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Conclusions (2/5): One-way slabs and punching shear without shear reinforcement

1.

Failure criteria are similar but

not equal (opening of critical
shear crack governed by
different parameters)

2.

Load-deformation
relationships are different

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Conclusions (3/5): design of shear reinforcement

qEd

Stirrup yielding

asw fyd

z
bw

AEd

z (cot + cot)

sw

ssw f ywd
Potential contribution of the inclination
of the compression chord

In many cases, punching before

yielding of shear reinforcement
due to strain localization:

ssw f ywd
Required combination of strainand equilibrium-based models

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Conclusions (4/5): crushing of concrete struts; in-plane and out-of-plane failures

Out-of-plane failures
Equilibrium-based models (with more
or less refined estimates of cracking
state in the web)
No size-effect

In-plane failures
Crushing of concrete struts with
development of an in-plane crushing
band
Influence of size-effect

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Conclusions (5/5): crushing of concrete struts

Models without strain localization (outof-plane failures) not applicable for

punching

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26

Influence of column size

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