‫ﺑﺴﻢ ﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ‬

REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN-I

(CE 370)

LECTURE #16
Shear in Beams-Behavior

By

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Contents
2

 Objectives of the present lecture

 Shear force
 Introduction
 Basic Theory
 Cracking pattern
 Average shear Stress between Cracks
 Beam Action and Arch Action
 Shear Reinforcement
 Effect of a/d ratio on shear strength of beams without stirrups
 Behavior of beams failing in shear
 B-regions and D-regions
 Forces acting on beam when resisting shear forces
 Behavior of Beam with web reinforcement (Truss Analogy)
 Benefits of Stirrups
 Further reading

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Objectives of the Present lecture
3

 To explain the behavior of reinforced concrete

beams under flexural shear (i.e. shear associated
with a varying bending moment).

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Shear force
4

 Shear force is present in beams where there is a

change in bending moment along the span. It is
equal to the rate of change of bending moment.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Introduction
5

 A beam resist loads primarily by means of

internal moments, M, and shears, V.
 In the design of a reinforced concrete
member, flexure is usually considered
first, leading to the size of the section and
the arrangement of reinforcement to
provide the necessary moment resistance.
 Limits are placed on the amounts of
reinforcement which can be used to
ensure that if failure was ever to occur, it
would develop gradually giving warning to
the occupants.
 The beam is then proportioned for shear.
 Because a shear failure is frequently
sudden and brittle, the design for shear
must ensure that the shear strength equals
or exceeds the flexural strength at all
points in the beam.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Basic Theory
(Stresses in Uncracked Elastic Beam)
6

 The shear forces and shear stress exist in

those parts of a beam where the moment
changes from section to section.

For homogeneous, elastic, uncracked beams, the shear stresses, v,

on elements 1 and 2 cut out of a beam, can be obtained using
VQ
v
Ib

V  shear force on the cross section

I  moment of inertia of the cross section
Q  first moment about the centroidal axis of the part
of the cross - sectional area lying farther from the centroidal
axis than the point where the shear stresses are being calculated.
b  width of the member at the section where the stresses are
being calculated.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Contd.
7

 Equal shearing stresses exist on both the

horizontal and vertical planes through an
element.
 The shear stresses on the top and bottom of the
elements cause clockwise couple, and those on
the vertical sides of the element cause a counter
clockwise couple. The two couples are equal and
opposite in magnitude and hence cancel each
other out.
 The horizontal shear stresses are important in
the design of construction joints, web-to-flange
joints, and regions adjacent to holes in beams.
 For an uncracked rectangular beam, v  VQ gives
Ib
the distribution of shear stresses.
 The elements are subjected to combined normal
stresses due to flexure, f, and shearing stresses,
v. The largest and smallest normal stresses
acting on such an element are referred to as
principal stresses.
CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017
 Shear Stresses in Concrete Beams
8

In ealstic homogeneous beams, where stresses are proportional to strains, two

kind of stresses occur (bending and shear) and they can be calculated with the
following expressions :
Mc VQ
f  ; v
I Ib

Principal Stresses
An element of a beam not located at an extreme fiber or at the neutral axis is subject to
both bending and shear stresses. These stresses combine into inclined compressive and
tensile stresses, called principal stresses, which can be determined from the following expression :
2
f f
fp      v2 substitute :  x  f ;  y  0;  xy  v
2 2
The direction of the principal stresses can be determined with the formula to follow, in which
 is the inclination of the stress to the beam' s axis :
2v
tan2  substitute :  x  f ;  y  0;  xy  v 2
f  x  y   x  y 
 I,II       xy2
2  2 
1  2 xy 
  tan 1  

2 
 x   y 

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Cracking pattern
9
 The surfaces on which principal tension stresses
act in the uncracked beam are plotted by the
curved lines. These surfaces or stress trajectories
are steep near the bottom of the beam and flatter
near the top.
 In a material like concrete which is weak in
tension, tensile cracks would develop in a
direction that is perpendicular to that of the
principal tensile stress. Thus , the compressive
stress trajectories indicate potential crack
patterns (depending on the magnitude of the
tensile stress).
 Two types of cracks can be seen. The vertical
cracks occurred first, due to flexural stresses. The
start at the bottom of the beam where the flexural
stresses are the largest.
 The inclined cracks near the ends of the beam are
due to combined shear and flexure. These are
commonly referred to as inclined cracks,
shear cracks, or diagonal tension cracks.
Such a crack must exist before a beam can fail in
shear.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Cracking pattern (Contd.)
10

 Some of the inclined cracks have extended

along the reinforcement toward the
support, weakening the anchorage of the
reinforcement.
 It can be seen from the preceding equation
that at the neutral axis the principal
stresses will be located at a 450 angle with
the horizontal.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Average shear Stress between Cracks
11
The equilibrium of the section between two such cracks can be written as
M
T
jd
M  M
T  T 
jd
M Vx
 T  
jd jd

v  average shear stress below the top of the crack is

Vx V
vbw x   T  v
jd bw jd
where jd  0.9d and bw is the thickness of the web.

The SBC/ACI design procedure arbitrarily replaced jd

with d to simplify the calculations, giving
V
v
bw d Note: In some of the more recent design methods, jd is retained
but is renamed the depth for shear calculations, dv.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Beam Action and Arch Action
12
Vx T V dT V
T     
jd x jd dx jd
d Tjd 
V  ( jd  constant)
dx
d T  d  jd 
V  jd  T
dx dx

Two extreme cases can be identified.

Case 1 : If the lever arm, jd , remains cosntant, as assumed in normal elastic beam
theory, then
d  jd  d T 
 0 V  jd
dx dx
d (T ) / dx  shear flow across any horizontal plane between the reinforcement
and the compression zone. For a beam action to exist, this shear flow must exist.
This occurs if the shear flow can not be transmitted, because the steel is
Case 2 : If the shear flow d T /dx  0, then unbonded, or if the transfer of shear flow is disrupted by an inclined crack
extending from the load to the reactions.
d  jd  d  jd  In such as case, the shear is transferred by arch action rather than beam
V T or V C
dx dx action.
In this member, the compression force C in the inclined strut and the
tension force T in the reinforcement are constant over the length of the
shear span.
CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017
 Shear Reinforcement
13

 A horizontal reinforcement is required to

restrain the opening of a vertical flexural
crack.
 An inclined crack opens approximately
perpendicular to itself and either a
combination of horizontal or vertical
reinforcement is required to restrain it from
opening too wide.
 The inclined or vertical reinforcement is
referred to as shear reinforcement or web
reinforcement and may be provided by
inclined or vertical stirrups.
 Most often vertical stirrups are used.
 Inclined stirrups are not effective in beams
resisting shear reversal, such as seismic
loads, because the reversals will cause
cracking parallel to the inclined
reinforcement, rendering it ineffective.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Effect of a/d ratio on shear strength of
beams without stirrups
14

 The shear spans can be divided into three types: short,

slender, and very slender shear spans.
 The term “deep beam” is also used to describe beams with
short shear spans.
 Very short shear spans, with a/d from 0 to 1, develop
inclined cracks joining the load and the support.
 These cracks, in effect, destroy the horizontal shear flow
from the longitudinal steel to the compression zone, and
the behavior changes from beam action to arch action.
 Because the moment at the point where the load is applied
is M = Va for a beam loaded with concentrated loads, the
second figure can be replaced in terms of shear capacity.
 The shaded area indicates the loss in capacity due to shear.
 In the case of slender beams, inclined cracking causes an
immediate shear failure if no web reinforcement is
provided.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Behavior of beams failing in shear (Contd.)
15

 Short shear spans with a/d from 1 to 2.5 develop

inclined cracks, and after a redistribution of internal
forces, are able to carry additional load, in part by arch
action.
 The Final failure of such beams will be caused by a bond
failure, a splitting failure, or a dowel failure along the
tension reinforcement, or by crushing of the
compression zone over the top of the crack called shear
compression failure. Because the inclined crack
generally extends higher into the beam than does a
flexural crack, failure occurs at less than the flexural
capacity.
 In slender shear spans, those having a/d from about 2.5
to about 6, the inclined cracks disrupt equilibrium to
such an extent that the beam fails at the inclined
cracking load.
 Very slender beams, with a/d greater than about 6, will
fail in flexure prior to the formation of inclined cracks.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 B-regions and D-regions
16

 Longer shear spans carry load by beam action

and are referred to as B-regions.
 B-stands for beam or for Bernoulli, who
postulated the linear strain distribution in
beams
 Shorter shear spans carry load primarily by
arch action involving in plane forces. Such
regions are referred to as D-regions, where the
D stands for discontinuity or disturbed
 St. Venant’s principle suggests that a local
disturbance, such as a concentrated load or
reaction, will dissipate within about one beam
depth from the point at which the load is
applied.
 On the basis of this principle, it is customary to
assume that D-regions extend about one
member depth each way from concentrated
loads, reactions, or abrupt changes in section or
directions.
 The regions between D-regions can be treated
as B-regions.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 B-regions and D-regions (Contd.)
17

 In general, arch action enhances the

“shear” strength of a section.
 As a result, B-regions tend to be weaker
than corresponding D-regions, as shown
by the lower line that governs for shear
strength in the figure when a/d is
greater than 2 or 2.5
 If a shear span consists entirely of D-
regions, as shown by the left end of Fig.
(a), its behavior will be governed by arch
action. This accounts for the increase in
shear strength when a/d is less than 2.
 For longer shear spans, such as the
right-hand end of the beam in Fig. (a),
the shear strength of the right end is
governed by B-region and is relatively
constant, as shown in Fig. (c)

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Inclined Cracking
18

 Inclined cracks must exist before a shear failure can

occur.
 There are two types of inclined cracks:
 Web-shear cracks
 Flexure-shear cracks

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Web-shear cracks
19

 Such cracks occurs under large shear force and less bending moment.
These cracks are normally at 450 with the horizontal and form near the
mid-depth of sections and move on a diagonal path to the tension
surface.
 Occur at ends of beams at simple supports and at inflection points at
continuous beam

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Flexure-shear cracks
20

 For flexure-shear cracks to occur, the moment must be larger than the
cracking moment and the shear must be rather large. The cracks run at
angles of about 450 with the beam axis and probably start at the top of
the flexural cracks.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Forces acting on beam when resisting shear forces
21

 Studies have shown that shear force is resisted by:

 the uncracked concrete in compression region
 The aggregate interlocking
 Shear acting across the longitudinal steel bars. (The shear force
across the steel bars is also known as dowel force.)
 Shear reinforcement, if present, will also resist the shear force.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Internal forces in a Beam without Stirrups
22

The forces transferring shear

across an inclined crack in a
beam without stirrups are
shown in Figure.

The shear failure of a slender

beam without stirrups is
sudden and dramatic. This is
evident from the figure.
Although this beam had
stirrups (which have broken
and are hanging down from
the upper part of the beam,)
they were so small as to be
useless.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Factors affecting shear strength of beams without
web reinforcement
23

 Beams without web reinforcement will fail when inclined cracking occurs or
shortly afterwards.
 For this reason, the shear capacity of such members is taken equal to the
inclined cracking shear.
 The inclined cracking load of a beam is affected by five principal variables,
some included in design equations and others not.
 Tensile strength of concrete
 Longitudinal reinforcement ratio
 Shear Span-to-Depth Ratio (a/d)
Self Study
 Lightweight Aggregate Concrete
 Size of Beam
 Axial forces
 Coarse Aggregate
CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017
 Behavior of Beams with Web Reinforcement
24

 Inclined cracking causes the shear strength of beams to drop

below the flexural capacity.
 The purpose of web reinforcement is to ensure that the full
flexural capacity can be developed.
 Prior to inclined cracking, the strain in the stirrups is equal
to the corresponding strain of the concrete. Because concrete
cracks at a very small strain, the stress in the stirrups prior to
inclined cracking will not exceed 20 to 40 Mpa.
 Thus stirrups do not prevent inclined cracks from forming
they come into play only after the cracks have formed.

In design, the contributions of Vcy , Vd , and Vay are lumped together as Vc

Traditionally Vc is taken
referred to somewhat incorrectly as : the shear carried by the concrete."
equal to the failure
The nominal or theoretical shear strength of a member Vn is provided
capacity of a beam
by the concrete and by the shear reinforcement. That is
without stirrups, which in
Vn  Vc  Vs
turn, is taken equal to the
inclined cracking shear.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Note
25

 Diagonal or Inclined cracks will occur in beams with

shear reinforcement at almost the same loads that they
occur in beams of the same size without shear
reinforcement.
 The shear reinforcement makes its presence known
only after the cracks begin to form. At that time, beams
must have sufficient shear reinforcing to resist the
shear force not resisted by the concrete.
 After a shear crack has developed in a beam, only a
little shear can be transferred across the crack unless
web reinforcing is used to bridge the gap. When such
reinforcing is present, it keeps the pieces of concrete on
the two sides of the crack from separating.
CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017
 Shear Reinforcement
Stirrups - Types
26

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Behavior of Beam with web reinforcement
(Truss Analogy)
27

 Concrete in compression is top chord

 Longitudinal tension steel is bottom chord
 Stirrups form truss verticals
 Concrete between diagonal cracks form the truss diagonals

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Positioning of Stirrups
28

 Inclined or diagonal stirrups lined

up approximately with the
principal stress directions are
more efficient in carrying the
shears and preventing or delaying
the formation of diagonal cracks.
Such stirrups, however, are not
usually considered to be very Inclined stirrups
and bent up bars
practical because of the high labor are not very
costs for positioning them. practical because
of the high labor
 Bent up bars (usually at 450 costs for
positioning them.
angles) are another satisfactory Nowadays,
stirrups are often
type of web reinforcement. vertical

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Benefits of Stirrups
29

 Stirrups carry shear across the crack directly

 Promote aggregate interlock
 Confine the core of the concrete in the beam thereby increasing
strength and ductility
 Confine the longitudinal bars and prevent cover from prying off the
beam
 Hold the pieces on concrete on either side of the crack together and
prevent the crack from propagating into the compression region

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Further Reading
30

Read more about the shear in RC beams from:

1. Reinforced concrete, Mechanics and Design by
James K. Wight and James G. Macgregor, Fifth
Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, USA.
2. Design of Reinforced Concrete by Jack C.
McCormac and Russell H. Brown, Eighth Edition,
John Wiley & Sons.

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017

 Thank You
31

CE 370 (RC Design- I) : Dr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui May 28, 2017