Shear strength of RC beams subjected to axial load

Abstract

Due to the complex mechanism of the shear failure, most shear design equations in codes and guidelines are based on empirical approaches and consequently should only be used within the bounds of the test population from which they were developed. To accommodate this issue, a mechanics-based segmental approach, which can simulate a reinforced concrete (RC) beam with any type of concrete and reinforcement and which can explain the physical process of shear failure has been proposed to determine the shear capacity of RC beams with and without stirrups. In this paper, this segmental approach is extended by incorporating axial load in the mechanics-based model; furthermore, a closed form solution for assessment is also derived. By simulating 61 published test specimens, the proposed approaches are validated with good correlation between the predicted and measured strengths. Being mechanics based, this approach has a great potential to be developed for all types of RC structures with all combinations of loading for use in the development of or refinement of simplified design approaches.