Shear in RC beams as per SBC and ACI codes

(by A. Charif)

Nominal shear
The total nominal shear capacity of the section, combines concrete and stirrup strength:
Vn Vc Vs (1)

f c'
Nominal concrete shear strength in beams: Vc bw d (2)
6
Av f y d
Stirrup shear strength: Vs (3)
S
Av is the shear steel area and S the stirrup spacing.
n d s
2

For given number of legs n and stirrup diameter ds, shear steel area is: Av (4)
4

Ultimate shear
Ultimate shear force used for design is usually computed at a distance d from the support face. It
is obtained from support and mid-span values using shear force envelope diagram.
Most modern analysis methods use clear length Ln (clear distance between support faces).

Vu0 Vud VuL/2

d Ln/2

For a simply supported beam, these two values are:

wu Ln wLu Ln
Vu 0 and VuL / 2 (5)
2 8
where wu is the total factored uniform load and wLu is the factored live load.

From similar triangles we obtain: Vud Vu 0

2d
Vu 0 VuL / 2 (6)
Ln
Safe design
The total nominal shear capacity, combining concrete and stirrups must be such:
Vu
Vn Vc Vs (7)

Av f y d Vu
In an optimal design we thus have: Vs Vc (8)
S
It may happen that relation (8) delivers a negative value for required stirrup strength. In this case
we just use two-leg stirrups with the maximum geometry spacing, defined in (13).

Section check
The section is insufficient to resist shear and must be increased if:
2
Vs f c' bw d That is if: Vu 5Vc (9)
3

Shear reinforcement (vertical stirrups)

Vc Vc
Stirrups are required if: Vn That is if: Vu (10)
2 2
Vc
Stirrups may therefore be required in some parts only (around the supports) where Vu .
2
Distance x0 beyond which stirrups are not required is obtained using similar triangles:
Ln Vu 0 0.5Vc
x0 (11)
2 Vu 0 VuL / 2

x0

Vu0
0.5Vc VuL/2
Ln/2

L
In half-span of the beam, stirrups are provided over a distance: Lstr Min x0 , n (12)
2
Maximum spacing of stirrups
(a) From geometry

If Vs 2Vc
1
S max Min 0.5d , 600 mm
Maximum stirrup spacing is (13a)

If Vs 2Vc
1
S max Min 0.25d , 300 mm

If Vu 3Vc
1
S max Min 0.5d , 600 mm
That is (13b)
If Vu 3Vc
1
S max Min 0.25d , 300 mm

(b) From minimum shear reinforcement

f ' 1b S
Minimum shear steel area is: Av ,min Max c , w (14)
16 3 f y

16.0 Av f y
This corresponds to a maximum spacing: 2
S max Min , 3. 0 (15)
f' bw
c
(c) From required shear reinforcement

Av f y d
Required spacing is deduced from (8) as: 3
S max (16)
Vu
Vc

Design of stirrups
The final spacing to be adopted must be less or equal to the previous three limits.
A stirrup is assumed to resist shear over a distance extending S/2 on each side of the stirrup. The
first stirrup must thus be located at a distance S/2 from the support face.
1
The geometry limit S max is independent of the shear steel area Av and thus on the number of legs
2 3
n and stirrup diameter ds, as opposed to the other two spacing limits S max and S max . Therefore if
1
the final stirrup spacing is controlled by the geometry limit S max , this means that the number of
legs, or stirrup diameter, may be decreased. The minimum leg number is 2 and minimum stirrup
diameter is 10. Stirrup diameter is usually fixed at an earlier stage in order to compute main steel
2
depth d. If on the other hand, the final spacing is controlled by any of the other two limits S max
3
and S max , then the design is adopted unless the spacing is too small (less than 100 mm), in which
case the number of legs must be increased.
Stirrup design algorithm (number of legs and spacing)
Stirrup diameter ds already known
Start with minimum leg number n = 2
1
Compute maximum geometry spacing limit S max (13)

Vu
If required stirrup strength Vs Vc 0 1
Then adopt S max and stop

n d s
2

A - Compute shear steel area Av

4
2 3
Compute other two spacing limits S max and S max (15) and (16)

Spacing S Min S max
1 2
, S max 3
, S max
If S S max
1
Stop

If S 100 mm Stop
Increase leg number: n = n + 1
Goto A

Variation of stirrup spacing

3
If the final stirrup spacing is controlled by required steel limit S max , this means that it can be
varied (increased) at a reduced value of shear force located at a distance x from the support.
Spacing variation is performed if the required number of stirrups over distance Lstr given by
relation (12) is important (say greater than 10).
The new spacing value is usually 50 to 100 mm greater than the previous one:
S 2 S1 50 to 100 mm , or more generally: S j S j 1 50 to 100 mm .
1 2
The new spacing must not of course exceed any of the two limits S max and S max .
The value of shear force corresponding to the new spacing is deduced from (8) as:
Av f y d
Vu 2 Vc (17)
S 2

Ln Vu 0 Vu 2
Its location x2 is obtained using similar triangles: x2 (18)
2 u0
V VuL / 2
 x2

Vu0
Vu2 VuL/2
Ln/2

The number n1 of stirrups with the first spacing value is such:

S1 x2 1
(n1 1) S1 x2 Thus n1 (19)
2 S1 2
The process of spacing variation (increase) may be performed more than once.
S1
The distance left for the second spacing is: R2 Lstr n1 S1 (20)
2
R2
The approximate number of stirrups with spacing S2 is: n2 (21)
S2
If this number exceeds ten to twelve, then a further spacing variation may be considered.
The next shear force value and its location ( j 3) are given by:

Av f y d Ln Vu 0 Vuj
Vuj Vc xj (22)

S j 2 Vu 0 VuL / 2
The exact distance used by the stirrups with the preceding spacing and their number are:

j 2 S x *j 1
x *
j 1 x j ni S i 1 n j 1 (23)
1 2 S j 1

Remaining distance and approximate number of stirrups with spacing Sj are:

j 1 Rj
S1
R j Lstr ni S i nj (24)
1 2 Sj

1 2
The process must be stopped whenever spacing Sj exceeds S max or S max , or stirrup number n j is

less than 10.

1 2
If number n j allows more spacing variation but Sj exceeds S max or S max , then the number of legs

may be decreased (if it is greater than two).

Example 1
A simply supported beam is subjected to uniform loading composed of dead load (including self
weight) of 27.0 kN/m and live load of 17.5 kN/m. The beam clear span length is 9.6 m and the
section dimensions are 300 x 600 mm. Steel depth is d = 540 mm.
Design the beam for shear with the following material data f c' 25 MPa f y 420 MPa

Stirrup diameter: ds = 10 mm
The ultimate load is wu = 1.4 x 27.0 + 1.7 x 17.5 = 37.8 + 29.75 = 67.55 kN/m
Factored live load is wLu = 1.7 x 17.5 = 29.75 kN/m
Ultimate shear force at support and mid-span given by (5) are:
Ln 9.6 Ln 9.6
Vu 0 wu 67.55 324.24 kN VuL / 2 wLu 29.75 35.7 kN
2 2 8 8
Ultimate shear force at distance d from the support given by (6) is:

Vud Vu 0
2d
Vu 0 VuL / 2 324.24 2 x 0.54 324.24 35.7 291.78 kN
Ln 9.6
Concrete nominal shear strength given by (2) is:

f c' 25
Vc bw d 300 x 540 135000 N 135.0 kN
6 6
Section check (9): 5Vc 5 x 0.75 x135 506.25 kN Vu Vud 291.78 kN Section OK

Vc
Stirrups requirement (10): 50.62 kN Vud Stirrups required
2
Distance x0 beyond which stirrups are not required is given by (11) and (12):
Ln Vu 0 0.5Vc 9.6 324.24 0.5 x 0.75 x135
x0 4.552 m 4552 mm
2 Vu 0 VuL / 2 2 324.24 35.7

L
This distance is short of the half span value. So Lstr Min x0 , n 4552 mm
2
Maximum geometry spacing given by (13b) is:
Vud 291.78 3Vc 303.75 kN So : 1
S max Min 0.5d , 600 mm 270.0 mm
We start with two legs: n = 2
n d s
2
100
Shear steel area (4): Av 2 50 157.08 mm 2
4 4
Required stirrup shear strength (8) is positive:
Vud 291.78
Vs Vc 135.0 254.04 kN
0.75
Minimum steel spacing (15):
16.0 Av f y 16 157 .08
2
S max Min , 3.0 Min , 3.0 420 659 .7 mm
f' bw 25 300
c
Av f y d 157.08 x 420
3
Required spacing (16): S max 540 140.2 mm
Vud 254.04 x 1000
Vc

Final spacing is thus controlled by this last value.
We usually chose spacing values as multiples of 50 mm. So we take a spacing S1 = 100 mm.
Spacing variation:
1 2
Spacing may be increased provided it does not exceed other limits S max and S max .
We chose a second spacing S2 = 150 mm.
The corresponding shear force given by (17) is:
Av f y d
0.75135
157.08 x 420 1
Vu 2 Vc 540 x 279.38 kN
S2 150 1000

The location of this value is given by (18):

Ln Vu 0 Vu 2 9.6 324.24 279.38
x2 0.746 m 746 mm
2 Vu 0 VuL / 2 2 324.24 35.7
The first stirrup is at a distance S1/2 = 50 mm. Seven more stirrups are needed to cover this
distance x2.
The total number of stirrups given by (19) is n1 = 8.
The remaining distance for spacing S2 given by (20) is:
S1 100
R2 Lstr n1 S1 4552 8 x100 3802 mm
2 2
R2 3802
The approximate number of stirrups with spacing S2 is given by (21): n2 25.3
S2 150
This large number allows a further variation of spacing.
1
We chose a new (third) value of 250 mm (which corresponds to S max ). S3 = 250 mm
The corresponding force value and its location are given by (22):
Av f y d
0.75135
157.08 x 420 1
Vu 3 Vc 540 x 208.13 kN
S3 250 1000

Ln Vu 0 Vu 3 9.6 324.24 208.13

x3 1.932 m 1932 mm
2 u0
V VuL / 2 2 324 .24 35 .7
The exact distance used by the stirrups with spacing S2 and their number given by (23) are:
S 100 x 2* 1182
x x3 n1 S1 1 1932 8 x100
*
2 1182 mm n2 7.88 So n2 = 8
2 2 S2 150
Remaining distance and approximate number of stirrups with spacing S3 given by (24) are:
2
S1 100 R3 2602
R3 Lstr ni S i 4552 8 x 100 8 x 150 2602 mm n3 10.41
1 2 2 S3 250
For safety we must use n3 = 11

Summary:
Stirrups required over a distance Lstr 4552 mm
Use of two-leg stirrups as follows:
First stirrup at S1/2 =50 mm, and then seven stirrups with S1 = 100 mm (until 750 mm)
Eight stirrups with spacing S2 = 150 mm (until 1950 mm)
Eleven stirrups with spacing S3 = 250 mm (until 4700 mm)

The next figure is produced by RC-TOOL software in which all previous theory is implemented.
 RC-TOOL software output for example 1.

Example 2
Same beam and same data except that we use 8-mm diameter stirrups.
n d s
2
64
For a two-leg stirrup, shear steel area (4) is: Av 2 32 100.53 mm 2
4 4
Geometry maximum spacing (13) is unchanged
Minimum steel spacing (15) and required spacing (16) become:
16.0 Av f y 16 100 .53
S 2
Min , 3.0 Min , 3.0 420 422.2 mm
max
f' bw 25 300
c
Av f y d 100.53 x 420
3
S max 540 89.7 mm
Vud 254.04 x 1000
Vc

The final spacing controlled by this last limit is clearly very small. A three-leg stirrup must
therefore be used. Following the same steps as before, we find the same results as those produced
by RC-TOOL, and shown in the next figure.

RC-TOOL output for example 2.