Evaluation of the shear strength of four pile cap using strut and tie model (STM)

Abstract

Strut and Tie Model (STM) has been widely used for the design of disturbed region and non flexural members in RC structures. Pile cap is typically a disturbed region with small length to depth ratio, hence ordinary flexural theory for beams cannot be applied to it. In this research, six pile caps were designed for certain theoretical ultimate loads on the basis of STM. These pile caps were tested on four simply supporting piles. Loads were applied at the centre of pile cap. The experimental values were compared with the theoretical capacities of the pile caps on the basis of STM. It has been observed that STM has provided a reliable solution for predicting the shear strength of the four‐pile caps and the experimental values fall very close to the theoretical values based on STM.