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Structure and Infrastructure Engineering:

Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and
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Shear-flexural strength mechanical model for the

design and assessment of reinforced concrete beams
a a b a b
Antonio Marí , Jesús Bairán , Antoni Cladera , Eva Oller & Carlos Ribas
a
Department of Construction Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, c/Jordi
Girona 1-3 C1 201, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
b
Department of Physics, University of Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Published online: 07 Oct 2014.

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To cite this article: Antonio Marí, Jesús Bairán, Antoni Cladera, Eva Oller & Carlos Ribas (2014): Shear-flexural strength
mechanical model for the design and assessment of reinforced concrete beams, Structure and Infrastructure Engineering:
Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and Performance, DOI: 10.1080/15732479.2014.964735

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 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 2014
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2014.964735

Shear-flexural strength mechanical model for the design and assessment

of reinforced concrete beams
Antonio Marı́a*, Jesús Bairána, Antoni Claderab, Eva Ollera and Carlos Ribasb
a
Department of Construction Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, c/Jordi Girona 1-3 C1 201, 08034 Barcelona, Spain;
b
Department of Physics, University of Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
(Received 12 May 2014; final version received 11 July 2014; accepted 28 July 2014)

A conceptual model for the prediction of the shear-flexural strength of slender reinforced concrete beams with and without
transverse reinforcement is presented. The model incorporates the shear transferred by the un-cracked concrete chord, along
the crack’s length, by the stirrups, if they are, and, in that case by the longitudinal reinforcement. After the development of
the first branch of the critical shear crack, failure is considered to occur when the stresses at any point of the concrete
compression chord reach the assumed biaxial stress failure envelope. A physical explanation is provided for the evolution of
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the shear transfer mechanisms, and the contribution of each one at ultimate limit state is formulated accordingly. Simple
equations are derived for shear strength verification and for designing transverse reinforcement. The method is validated by
comparing its predictions with the results of 1131 shear tests, obtaining very good results in terms of mean value and
coefficient of variation. Because of its accuracy, simplicity and theoretical consistency, the proposed method is considered
to be very useful for the practical design and assessment of concrete structures subjected to combined shear and bending.
Keywords: reinforced concrete; concrete beams; design; shear strength; assessment; shear failure

Notations v c: dimensionless contribution to the shear strength

of the un-cracked concrete chord
a: shear span vl: dimensionless contribution to the shear strength
b: width of concrete section of the longitudinal reinforcement
d: effective depth to main tension reinforcement vs: dimensionless contribution to the shear strength
dmax: maximum aggregate size of the transverse reinforcement
fcc: uniaxial concrete compressive strength v u: dimensionless ultimate shear force
fck: characteristic value of the cylinder concrete vu,0: dimensionless ultimate shear force of beams and
compressive strength one-way slabs without transverse reinforcement
fcm: mean value of the cylinder concrete compressive v w: dimensionless shear force resisted along the crack
strength w: crack width
fct: uniaxial concrete tensile strength wmax: maximum crack width
fctm: mean value of the concrete tensile strength wx: crack opening in the horizontal direction
fyw: yield strength of the transverse reinforcement wy: crack opening in the vertical direction
h: overall depth of concrete section x: neutral axis depth
lsw: crack length x w: vertical projection of lw
l w: length along the crack where the tensile stresses y: vertical coordinate from the top fibre of the
are extended concrete element
nb: number of longitudinal bars z: lever arm
s: longitudinal coordinate from the support As : longitudinal reinforcement area
scr: location of the section where the critical shear Asw: area per unit length of the transverse
crack starts reinforcement
smx: average crack spacing of inclined cracks along the C: compression force in the un-cracked concrete chord
beam axis Ec: modulus of elasticity of concrete
s m u: average crack spacing of inclined cracks Es: modulus of elasticity of steel
st: stirrups spacing Gc: modulus of shear deformation for the un-cracked
s u: location of the shear critical section concrete chord

*Corresponding author. Email: antonio.mari@upc.edu

q 2014 Taylor & Francis
 2 A. Marı́ et al.

Gf: concrete fracture energy 1. Introduction

Is: modulus of inertia of the longitudinal reinforcement The strength of reinforced concrete beams subjected to
bar combined shear and flexure is affected by complex
Kl: constant phenomena, such as existing multi-axial states of stresses,
M: bending moment the anisotropy induced by the diagonal concrete cracking,
Mcr: cracking moment the interaction between concrete and reinforcement and the
Rt: ratio between the principal tensile stress and the brittleness of the failure mode. Trying to obtain valuable
tensile strength information about the shear transfer mechanisms, a large
S: strut force number of shear tests have been performed during the last
T: tensile force in the longitudinal reinforcement 60 years, as summarised in Collins, Bentz, and Sherwood
V: shear force (2008) and Reineck, Kuchma, Kim, and Marx (2003).
Vc: contribution to the shear strength of the un-cracked Refined theoretical models have been developed
concrete chord (Bairán & Marı́, 2006; Ceresa, Petrini, & Pinho, 2007;
Vl: contribution to the shear strength of the longitudinal Ferreira, Bairán, & Marı́, 2013; Mohr, Bairán, & Marı́,
reinforcement 2010; Navarro-Gregori, Miguel-Sosa, Fernández-Prada, &
Vpred: predicted value of the ultimate shear force Filippou, 2007; Petrangeli, Pinto, & Ciampi, 1999; Saritas
Vs: contribution to the shear strength of the transverse & Filippou, 2009; Vecchio & Collins, 1986) which are
reinforcement
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capable of tracing the nonlinear response of these

VSd: design shear force structures, but are too expensive and time consuming for
Vtest: experimental value of the ultimate shear force daily engineering practice and design. Thus, simple semi-
Vu: ultimate shear force empirically based equations have been also developed,
Vu,0: ultimate shear force of beams and one-way slabs some of which have been adopted by design codes (ACI
without transverse reinforcement Committee 318, 2008; European Committee for Standard-
Vw: shear force resisted along the crack ization (CEN), 2002), although their applicability might be
a: inclination angle of shear reinforcement or ties limited to the range of experiments used to derive them.
ae: modular ratio (Es /Ec) Consequently, in some cases, the scatter of the predictions
dw: crack opening in the vertical direction when compared with the experimental results is too large
dv: crack sliding in the vertical direction as reported in (Reineck et al., 2003) in relation to ACI.
f: diameter of reinforcement bar Furthermore, recent studies (Sagaseta & Vollum, 2011)
1ct,cr: concrete strain at the beginning of macro-cracking reported that EC-2 overestimates or underestimates the
1ct,u: ultimate tensile strain shear strength, depending on the type of aggregate or the
1s: strain at the longitudinal reinforcement type of cross section, and neglect some key contributions
1sx: axial strain at the longitudinal reinforcement (Cladera & Marı́, 2007). These facts suggest that there is
1sw: tensile strain normal to the crack still no universally accepted simplified mechanical model
1x: strain in the longitudinal direction for shear design of reinforced concrete (RC) members,
z: size effect factor especially without shear reinforcement.
g: distortion Because code provisions should cover all possible
l: distance from the neutral axis cases within their respective scope, they are expected to be
u: inclination angle of the strut conservative. However, the needed level of conservatism
m: dimensionless bending moment (M/( fct·b·d)) depends on scatter and dispersion of the formulation with
mcr: dimensionless cracking moment (Mcr/( fct·b·d)) respect to observed experimentation, requiring larger
j: dimensionless neutral axis depth safety factors for formulations with large scatter. These
jw: dimensionless vertical projection of lw factors allow keeping traditional formulations in codes for
r: longitudinal tension reinforcement ratio the sake of global simplicity of code use and avoiding
rw: transverse reinforcement ratio abrupt approach variations, which is, in general,
s1, s2: principal stresses convenient for new designs. However, when assessing
sst: stress in the transversal reinforcement existing structures, they may falsely be considered unsafe.
sx: normal stress in the longitudinal direction Recently, it was demonstrated how adequate filament
sx,max: maximum normal stress in the longitudinal nonlinear models with shear capabilities are suitable for
direction assessing this type of cases (Ferreira et al., 2013).
sy: normal stress in the transverse direction Although adequate numerical models are a valuable
sw: normal stress in a horizontal fibre in the cracked web assessment tool for existing structures, it is of paramount
t: shear stress importance to develop rational mechanical models capable
tmax: maximum shear stress of reproducing as accurately as possible the physical
tl: shear stress at y ¼ l·x
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
behaviour of concrete structures in order to safely and
economically assess existing structures. Furthermore,
these models allow, after some simplifications, deriving
simple equations which are suitable for codes provisions
or for their use in daily engineering practice. Among them
are the ‘Tooth model’ developed by (Reineck, 1991),
simplified models based on the Modified Compression
Field Theory (Bentz, 2010; Féderation International du
Beton, 2013), the Critical Shear Crack theory (Muttoni,
2008; Muttoni & Ruiz, 2008), the Splitting Test Analogy
(Desai, 2004; Zararis, 2003; Zararis & Papadakis, 2001)
and the theories based on the shear resisted by the un-
cracked compression chord (Choi, Park, & Wight, 2007;
Khuntia & Stojadinovic, 2001; Kotsovos, Bobrowski, &
Eibl, 1987; Park, Choi, & Wight, 2006; Park, Kang, &
Choi, 2013; Ruddle, Rankin, & Long, 1999; Tureyen
& Frosch, 2003; Tureyen, Wolf, & Frosch, 2006; Wolf &
Frosch, 2007; Zanuy, Albajar, & Gallego, 2011). On the
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other hand, methods based entirely on the theory of
plasticity have also been applied with good results (Marti,
1999; Nielsen & Hoang, 1999; Recupero, D’Aveni, &
Ghersi, 2003; Spinella, Colajanni, & Recupero, 2010).
The above models were developed from different
approaches, emphasising the contribution of different shear
transfer actions and proposing different expressions with
different governing parameters. Nevertheless, their strength
predictions are similar and fit generally well with the
experimental results. This fact suggests that beyond
possible adjustments of factors to fit experimental results,
a reason for this coincidence is that successive mechanisms
are activated as the load level increases and the structure
becomes damaged, so that when equilibrium in a region is
no longer possible with a governing shear transfer action,
another action is activated. These redistributions of stresses
may occur suddenly, given the brittle nature of cracking, but
in some cases may produce small changes in the resultant
internal forces, so that similar ultimate shear-flexural
capacity can be obtained from different approaches.
In this paper, a mechanically-based model for the
prediction of the shear-flexure strength of reinforced
concrete beams without and with stirrups is proposed,
which incorporates, in a simplified manner, the most
important shear transfer actions that take place in beams
without and with transverse reinforcement. The method
has been validated by comparing its predictions with the
results of a large shear tests data base on beams with and
without stirrups, obtaining very good results in terms of
mean value and low dispersion.
2. Principles of the proposed method
2.1. Shear transfer mechanisms
In slender beams subjected to shear and bending, flexural
cracks initiate at the tensile face, and subsequently develop
3
inclined through the web. As the load increases, damage
concentrates around the so-called shear critical crack
(Muttoni & Ruiz, 2008), which arrives to the neighbour-
hood of the flexural neutral axis. Under incremental
loading, a second branch of the crack develops inside the
concrete chord, which eventually connects the first crack
and the point where the load is applied, producing failure,
see Figure 1.
It is commonly accepted that the shear strength in a RC
beam is provided by several transfer actions, whose
relative contribution changes as the load increases, as
reported by (Campana, Ruiz, Anastasi, & Muttoni, 2013):
(a) the shear resisted by the un-cracked concrete chord; (b)
the friction forces developed along the crack length, which
are contrary to the relative displacement of both crack
surfaces (aggregate interlock); (c) the residual tensile
stresses crossing the inclined cracks, which act as a tie of a
truss jointly with the compression chord, the tensile
reinforcement and the concrete struts; (d) the shear
strength provided by the transverse reinforcement, if it
exists, and in that case (e) the shear strength provided by
the longitudinal reinforcement (dowel action).
In a simplified manner, the shear transfer action of a
beam without stirrups can be represented by a truss model
as that of Figure 2, in which the equilibrium is guaranteed
by the existence of the inclined concrete ties which may
cross the cracks up to a certain load level (Figure 2(a)).
These ties, which represent the resultant of the residual
tensile stresses and the frictional stresses along the crack,
provide the necessary support to the inclined strut in order
to develop a shear resisting truss. The upwards vertical
component of the ties balances the downwards vertical
component of the struts, while the horizontal components
of the struts and the ties must be balanced by the increment
of tensile force in the longitudinal reinforcement, DT ¼ S
cosu þ T cosa, as shown in Figure 2(b).
The inclination of the ties depends on the capacity of
the crack to carry residual tensile and frictional stresses
and, therefore, on the crack opening. As the load increases,
the crack width also increases, especially in the tensioned
part of the beam, where longitudinal tensile strains are
bigger. Then, tensile and frictional stresses concentrate in
the upper part of the crack where the crack width is
smaller. For this reason, as the load increases, the angle of
concrete tie with respect to the horizontal (Figure 2(c))
tends to increase, thus reducing both the contribution of
the shear resisted along the crack (Vw) and the increment of
force at the longitudinal reinforcement, DT. The reduction
of DT must be accompanied by a reduction of the DC, C
being the compression force in the un-cracked concrete
chord. The reduction in the shear resisted across the crack
is, then, compensated by an increment in inclination of the
compression chord (strut BD in Figure 2) or, in other
words, by a certain arch action, which increases the shear
taken by the compression chord, Vc.
 4 A. Marı́ et al.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
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Figure 1. Evolution of cracking under increasing load up to failure: (a) initiation of second branch, apparently from near the tip of first
branch; (b) formation of a parallel inclined crack; (c) initiation of horizontal crack along the longitudinal reinforcement and (d) failure
(Ferreira, Oller, Bairán, Carrascón, & Marı́, 2014).

Figure 2. Strut and tie models for moderate and large crack widths.

As a consequence, the actual shear stresses distribution
in a section of a beam will be similar to that schematically
shown in Figure 3(d), which results from a combination of
a pure bending action (Figure 3(b)) and a pure arch action
(Figure 3(c)), taking into account, in addition, the
inclination of the cracks in the web. Such shear stress
distribution is similar to that obtained theoretically by
(Bairán & Marı́, 2006; Mohr et al., 2010). Slip of the
longitudinal reinforcement could also decrease DT,
enhancing the arch action (Carmona & Ruiz, 2014).
The presence of stirrups provides the necessary tensile
forces to satisfy the equilibrium of the truss, without the need
of the concrete ties. However, in addition to the direct
contribution of the stirrups to the shear strength, they provide
the following favourable effects: (a) a constraint to the
diagonal crack opening, increasing the friction and the
residual stresses; (b) vertical confinement stresses on the
compressed concrete chord, increasing its strength and (c) a
support to the longitudinal bars, constraining their vertical
displacement and enhancing their capacity for shear transfer.
2.2. Assumptions of the method
(1) At the ultimate load level, shear and bending are
resisted by the joint contributions of the un-
cracked concrete zone (Vc), the transverse
reinforcement crossing the diagonal critical shear
crack (Vs), the tensile stresses transferred along the
crack, (Vw), depending on its width and the shear
that the longitudinal reinforcement can transfer in
the presence of stirrups (Vl), see Figure 4.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 5

Figure 3. Stresses distributions in diagonally-cracked reinforced concrete members.

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Figure 4. Shear transfer mechanisms considered.

(2) The following distributions of stresses along the
concrete chord depth have been assumed, see
Figure 5: (a) linear distribution of sx, which is
consistent with the moderate level of normal
stresses that exist in the critical section, as will be
shown later; (b) bi-linear distribution of vertical
normal stress, being sy ¼ 0 at the top fibre,
where no loads are applied and sy ¼ constant
below mid-height of the chord. In this way, a
simplified anchorage length of the stirrups is
considered, trying to take into account that they
are not continuous but spaced and introduce a
local pressure; (c) a parabolic distribution of the
shear stresses, with t ¼ 0 at the top fibre and at
the neutral axis and with its maximum at y ¼ x/2.
According to Figure 5, a certain value of the
shear stress at the neutral axis must exist and,
therefore, the maximum of the parabola should be
closer to the neutral axis. However, the shear
stress resultant at the compression chord (i.e. the
shear force Vc) obtained by the simplified
distribution assumed is very similar to the actual
one but allows a much easier formulation, see
Figure 5.
(3) The depth of the un-cracked concrete zone is
equal to the neutral axis depth in pure bending.

Figure 5. Considered distributions of stresses at the un-cracked concrete chord.

 6 A. Marı́ et al.

(4) The un-cracked concrete zone is subjected to a where tension is considered positive. The shear stress (t)
biaxial state of stresses. It is considered that that takes place at any point, is related to the normal and to
failure occurs when the principal stresses (s1,s2) the principal tensile stresses by Equation (2), obtained
reach the Kupfer’s compression –tension branch from Equation (1):
of the failure surface (Kupfer & Gerstle, 1973). sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
(5) The horizontal projection of the critical shear s x þ s y s x ·s y
crack is considered to be equal to 0.85·d, as t ¼ s1 1 2 þ 2 : ð2Þ
s1 s1
indicated in Figure 4. This value is in accordance
with experimental observations made by the Consider that at a certain point inside the un-cracked
authors (Cladera & Marı́, 2004a, 2004b, 2005; concrete chord, placed at a distance from the neutral axis
Marı́, Cladera, Oller, & Bairán, 2014). In fact, the l·x, the value of the shear stress tl is known, where x is the
inclination of the cracks is affected by the neutral axis depth. Then, the shear stress distribution t(y)
longitudinal and transverse reinforcement ratios r along the un-cracked concrete zone (y is measured from
and rw, respectively, which influence the strains the neutral axis) can be obtained by imposing the boundary
state. However, as observed by other researchers conditions t(0) ¼ 0, t(x) ¼ 0 and t(l·x) ¼ tl resulting in:
(Karayannis & Chalioris, 2013), in general, this
 
influence is moderate, the effect of longitudinal tl y y2
tðyÞ ¼ 2 2 : ð3Þ
reinforcement ratio being more important (Col- l
ð1 2 lÞ x x
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lins, Bentz, Sherwood, & Xie, 2008). In addition,

when designing a shear test, in order to avoid a The resulting shear force at the concrete chord Vc,
flexural failure, those beams with transverse assuming a constant width b, is obtained by integration of
reinforcement – which are subjected to higher the shear stresses along the un-cracked zone:
bending moments – have usually higher longi-
tudinal reinforcement ratios than beams without ðx
tl
b
x
stirrups. Therefore, although the angle of the V c ¼ tðyÞ·b·dy ¼ : ð4Þ
6
l
ð1 2 lÞ
compression struts changes, u being generally 0
lower for beams with stirrups than for beams
without shear reinforcement, the horizontal Substituting tl from Equation (3), into Equation (4), the
projection of the critical shear crack does not shear force taken by the un-cracked concrete chord, Vc,
change as much because the increment of can be expressed in terms of s1, s2, sx and sy at a point
longitudinal reinforcement ratio increases the y ¼ l·x:
neutral axis depth, x. As a consequence of this sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
   
assumption, the mean angle of inclination of the sx þ sy s x ·s y
V c ¼ K l
b
x
s1 1 2 þ ; ð5Þ
critical crack decreases as the longitudinal s1 s21
reinforcement ratio increases, which is consistent
with the fact that for the same shear strain, g, the where:
longitudinal tensile strain, 1x, is lower.
(6) At ultimate limit state, stirrups, when they exist, 1
Kl ¼ : ð6Þ
are yielded. 6
l
ð1 2 lÞ
(7) It is assumed that the longitudinal reinforcing bars
are effectively anchored, so that all reinforcement It is assumed that the neutral axis depth, x, of Equation
is effective at the shear critical section. (5) can be obtained by standard analysis of cracked
reinforced concrete sections under pure flexure. For
sections without compressive reinforcement, the
3. Formulation of the method expression of the neutral axis depth is:
3.1. Contribution of the un-cracked concrete chord to sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
x 2
the shear-flexural strength j ¼ ¼ ae
r
21 þ 1 þ ; ð7Þ
d ae
r
According to the Mohr’s circle for stresses, the principal
tensile (s1) and compressive (s2) stresses produced by a
where ae ¼ Es/Ec is the modular ratio between steel and
state of normal (sx, sy) and shear (t) stresses at any point
concrete and r ¼ As/(b·d) is the longitudinal reinforce-
of the un-cracked concrete zone are:
ment ratio, b being the section width.
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
s 2 s 2
It is considered that failure occurs at any point of the
sx þ sy x y compression chord when the principal stresses (s1, s2)
s1;2 ¼ ^ þt 2 ; ð1Þ
2 2 reach the Kupfer’s biaxial failure envelope, in the
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering
Figure 6. Kupfer’s failure envelope for the tension– compression sector (adapted from Kupfer and Gerstle (1973)).
compression-tension branch, as indicated by Figure 6.
In this branch, the envelope is considered to be a straight
line for compression stresses less than 0.8·fcc, fcc being
the uniaxial concrete compressive strength. This straight
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line passes through the point corresponding to uniaxial
tensile stress (0, fct), has a slope m ¼ – 0.8 and is given by:
s1 s2
þ 0:8
¼ 1; ð8Þ
f ct f cc
where the left hand side is named the damage existing at
any point subjected to principal stresses (s1, s2) which is,
obviously, equal to 1 for any point pertaining to the failure
envelope. For s2 . 0.8·fcc, the envelope is a curved line
which connects the straight line with the point correspond-
ing to uniaxial compressive strength ( fcc, 0). Because
failure takes place in the tension-compression region for
compressive stresses less than 0.5·fcc, the equation of the
curved part of the envelope is not relevant in this study.
This aspect will be confirmed in the following sections,
after defining the location of the critical section, which is
placed in a zone of the beam where low bending moments
are acting, thus producing low compressions.
3.2. Shear transferred along the crack
Consider a portion of the beam placed over the critical
shear crack, as indicated in Figure 4. The shear transferred
along the crack is due to the residual tensile stresses and
Figure 7. Tensile stress –strain curve for concrete and tensile residual stresses at the crack.
7
the frictional stresses, both related to the three-
dimensional irregularities of the crack surface. The
residual stresses are the tensile stresses that the concrete
can resist in tension, up to a maximum crack width.
Frictional stresses are those which oppose the slip between
both surfaces of the crack, and decrease as the crack width
increases. Both types of stresses are interrelated as crack
opening and crack slip are related. In this work, the
residual and the frictional stresses are considered jointly in
a simplified manner, by assuming that the resulting
principal stress is normal to the average crack surface. This
assumption is consistent with the Disturbed Stress Field
Model, (Vecchio, 2000, 2001), which sets that such
principal direction cannot deviate more than 158,
approximately, from the crack direction, unless another
crack is formed.
In order to evaluate the residual forces transferred
along the crack, the following procedure has been adopted:
(1) compatibility of strains normal to the crack (see
Figure 7) is set by assuming that the plane section
hypothesis is valid for the plane of inclination of the crack;
(2) a tensile stress –strain relationship with a post-peak
linear softening branch is considered, as indicated by
Figure 8, in which the ultimate tensile strain, 1ct,u, depends
on the fracture energy; (3) a linear relationship is adopted
for the relationship between the tensile residual stress
along the crack and the crack opening, so that the fracture
energy Gf is obtained by the area of the triangle shown in
Figure 9 and (4) the crack opening is obtained by
 8 A. Marı́ et al.
Figure 8. Compatibility of strains in a direction normal to the
crack.
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Figure 9. Assumed tensile stress – crack width diagram.
multiplying the tensile strain of concrete by the average
inclined crack spacing smu. The mean spacing between
inclined cracks, smu, varies from one point to the other of
the crack and is affected by bonding with the longitudinal
and transverse reinforcements. Because not all the flexural
cracks develop into shear cracks, the distance between
shear cracks is, especially when no stirrups exist, greater
than the distance between flexural cracks, see Figure 10.
For these reasons, in this work, the average crack spacing,
smu, is considered equal to the effective depth, d, which is a
conservative value.
According to the previous assumption, the following
expression (9) is obtained for the dimensionless shear
transferred along the crack, which is derived in detail in
Appendix 1. This equation has been derived by setting the
strain compatibility and the constitutive equations of
concrete in tension, by relating the fracture energy and the
ultimate concrete strain and by integrating the residual
tensile stresses along the crack length:
Figure 10. Diagonal crack spacing.
Vw
vw ¼
f ct
b
d
 
0:425
sin 2 u
f ct 2
Gf
Ec
¼ 1þ 2 ; ð9Þ
Ec
1s f ct
smu
where u is the angle of inclination of the crack which,
according to the assumptions of the method, is:
0:85
d 0:85 x
cot u ¼ ¼ ; j¼ : ð10Þ
ðd 2 xÞ ð1 2 jÞ d
Equation (9) suggests that the lower the steel strain and
the higher the concrete fracture energy, the higher is the
shear transferred across the crack. The steel strain
depends, among other factors, on the amount of
longitudinal reinforcement and on the bending moment
acting at the considered section, which is not known ‘a
priori’. Therefore, in order to arrive to a practical design
equation, it is assumed that the strain at the longitudinal
reinforcement when shear failure occurs is 1s ¼ 0.0009,
which is between the service and yielding strains.
By substituting this value of 1s into Equation (9) and
assuming a mean value of the longitudinal reinforcement
ratio (r ¼ 1.5%), which provides a neutral axis depth
x/d ¼ 0.38, and a mean angle of the crack, u ¼ 368,
the following simplified equation for the shear
transferred by the crack is obtained:
 
Vw f ct 2
Ec
Gf
vw ¼ ¼ 167

1 þ 2 : ð11Þ
f ct
b
d Ec f ct
d
Note that in Equation (11), the higher the effective
depth, the lower is the shear transferred by the crack
because the crack width is bigger, thus taking the size
effect into account for this term.
3.3. Contribution of the longitudinal reinforcement to
the shear strength
As a consequence of the crack slip and the crack opening,
the longitudinal reinforcement is subjected to a relative
vertical displacement between the two surfaces of the
crack. In the case of beams without stirrups, the
longitudinal bars are only supported by the concrete
cover, which has a very limited capacity to resist tensile
stresses. Then, longitudinal cracks along the reinforcement
appear even for low load levels, see Figures 1(c) and 11(a),
and eventually, spalling of the concrete cover takes place.
Therefore, the shear carried by the longitudinal reinforce-
ment in slender beams without stirrups is small, (Kotsovos
et al., 1987; Zararis & Papadakis, 2001), and will not be
considered in this work. However, stirrups provide a
constraint to the vertical movement of the longitudinal
bars, enabling them to transfer a certain shear. In order to
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 9
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Figure 11. Dowel action in longitudinal reinforcement.

evaluate such shear force, it is considered in this work that design. In addition, the contribution of the longitudinal
the longitudinal bars are doubly fixed at the two stirrups reinforcement is less than 5% of the shear strength and,
adjacent to the crack initiation, and subjected to bending therefore, such complex expression is not justified. Then a
due to a relative imposed displacement between their ends. simplified equation is proposed, obtained by assuming
In this manner, the relative displacement between the two usual values of f/st ¼ 0.15, d/st ¼ 2, 1sx ¼ 0.0009 and
crack surfaces is smeared along the stirrups spacing Ec/fct ¼ 10,000, which results to be an almost linear
(Figure 11(b)). function of j ¼ x/d:
The vertical relative displacement between the crack
surfaces is considered as the sum of two components: one Vl ae
r
vl ¼ < 0:23
< 0:25
j 2 0:05: ð13Þ
due to the crack opening dm (see Figure 11(c)) plus f ct
b
d 12j
another one due to the crack sliding dv. (Figure 11(d)).
In Appendix 1, the expressions for the vertical
displacements due to crack opening and crack sliding
are presented, as well as the derivation of the shear 3.4. Contribution of the transverse reinforcement to the
resisted by the longitudinal reinforcement, whose shear strength
expression is:
In this model, it is considered that at failure, the transverse
Es f 2
d 1sx reinforcement is yielded (sst ¼ fyw). Then the direct
V l < 0:64

r
3
; ð12Þ contribution of the stirrups to the shear strength will be, in
f ct st 12j
non-dimensional terms, (see Figure 4):
where f is the diameter of the bars, st the longitudinal
spacing between the stirrups, r the longitudinal Vs 0:85
d
Asw
f yw
vs ¼ ¼
reinforcement ratio, j ¼ x/d the relative neutral axis f ct
b
d f ct
b
d
depth and 1sx the strain at the longitudinal reinforcement.
Equation (12) indicates that the shear transferred by the f yw
¼ 0:85
rw
; ð14Þ
longitudinal reinforcement, Vl, increases as the amount of f ct
longitudinal reinforcement, the bars diameter and the
beam depth increase and when the stirrups spacing where Asw is the area per unit length of transverse
decreases. Nevertheless, this equation is not useful reinforcement, rw is the transverse reinforcement ratio and
because the stirrup spacing is not known a priori in the fyw is the yield strength.
 10 A. Marı́ et al.

3.5. Positions of the critical point inside the un-cracked section in front of a combined shear-bending failure is not
concrete chord and critical section placed at a fixed distance from the support. On the
The critical point inside the compression chord, where contrary, it is considered to be placed at the tip of the first
failure will initiate, will be that with the maximum branch of the critical diagonal crack, see Figure 13.
damage, given by the left hand side of Equation (8), and Actually, any other section closer to the zero bending
will depend on the distributions of normal and shear moment point has a bigger depth of the compression
stresses along the concrete un-cracked chord. Studies chord, produced by the inclination of the crack and,
carried out by the authors (Marı́ et al., 2014) showed that therefore, will resist a bigger shear force. Any other
for the linear and parabolic distributions assumed for the section placed farther from the support will have the same
normal and shear stresses, respectively, the critical point is depth of the compression chord but will be subjected to
placed at a distance from the neutral axis x around higher normal stresses and, therefore, will have a higher
y ¼ 0.425·x, for ratios s/d ¼ M/(V·d) , 3.0, which are shear transfer capacity.
values of s/d where usually the critical crack develops. In order to obtain the position of the critical section,
Such values are very similar to those obtained by (Swamy the critical crack is assumed to start where the bending
& Qureshi, 1974). The relative damage index, given by the moment diagram at failure reaches the cracking moment
ratio between the damage at any fibre of the compression of the section, (scr ¼ Mcr/Vu), which is a conservative
chord and the damage at the compressed top fibre, is assumption. Then, according to the assumption made for
the horizontal projection of the crack, the critical section
Downloaded by [Gazi University] at 04:06 05 February 2015

plotted along the un-cracked concrete chord depth for

different values of M/(V·d) in Figure 12. will be placed at a distance from the support equal to
Furthermore, for beams with constant geometry and s ¼ Mcr/Vu þ 0.85·d. The position of the critical crack was
reinforcement amount along their length, the weakest also obtained by (Park et al., 2006), assuming an angle of
the crack inclination in the tensile zone of 458 and relating
the bending moments at sections B and C (Figure 13) by
estimating the increment of shear needed to make the
1.0 tensile crack reach the neutral axis.
Relative distance to neutral axis (y/x)

ρ= 1.5%
0.8 Vs/V= 0.25
M/(V·d)=4 4. Derivation of the shear-flexural strength equations
M/(V·d)=5 M/(V·d)=1 for beams subjected to point loads
0.6 M/(V·d)=2
4.1. General equations
y= 0.425·x
0.4 In order to obtain the beam strength, the shear capacity
M/(V·d)=3 must be calculated at the critical section, placed at the tip
of the first branch of the critical shear crack. For this
0.2
purpose, equilibrium between the internal forces (V, M)
and the stress resultants at the concrete chord (C, Vc) along
0.0 the crack (Vw), at the stirrups (Vs) and at the longitudinal
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
reinforcement (T, Vl) is taken in the portion indicated by
Relative damage D(y)/D(x)
Figure 4. Equilibrium of moments is taken with respect to
Figure 12. Position of the critical point inside the compression the point A, where the critical crack reaches the
concrete chord. reinforcement.

Figure 13. Position of the shear critical section in the beam.

 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 11

C ¼ T þ V w
tan u; ð15Þ

V ¼ V c þ V w þ V l þ V s; ð16Þ

M ¼ C
z ¼ M þ V c
0:85
d
V w
ð0:85
d 2 0:5
xw
cot uÞ
þ ð17Þ
cos 2 u
þ 0:5
V s
0:85
d:

In addition, the normal longitudinal and vertical

stresses at the critical point of the compression concrete
chord due to bending and to the presence of stirrups must
be calculated in order to obtain the shear transferred by the Figure 14. Non-dimensional shear resisted by the un-cracked
compression concrete chord (Equation (5)). The longi- concrete chord.
tudinal normal stresses, sx, are approximated by those
obtained through a classical flexural analysis of cracked
sections, while the vertical stresses, sy, are obtained by axis depth depends on the longitudinal reinforcement ratio,
Downloaded by [Gazi University] at 04:06 05 February 2015

setting the equilibrium of vertical stresses in a horizontal r, and on the modular ratio, ae ¼ Es/Ec, see Equation (7),
cut, (Figure 5). The expressions for such stresses are the higher the longitudinal reinforcement amount, the
included in Appendix 1. higher the shear resisted by the concrete chord. In addition,
Subsequently, the shear carried by the un-cracked it is observed that vc depends also on the shear carried by the
concrete chord, obtained by substituting Equations transverse reinforcement, vs, as was observed experimen-
(A1.16), (A1.18) and (A1.19) into Equation (5): tally (Cladera & Marı́, 2004b, 2006).

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
  
Vc l
0:4 þ 1:7
vc þ 2
vw
ð0:852cos jw
cot uÞ
þ vs
0:85 vs vs
vc ¼ ¼ Rt ·K l ·j
12   2 2 ; ð18Þ
2u
1
f ct ·b·d j
1 2 3j
Rt 0:85
Rt 0:85
Rt

where Rt is the ratio between the principal tensile stress s1 Such a relationship between the concrete contribution
and the tensile strength fct at the failure point which, and the stirrups was first highlighted in 1927 by (Richart,
according to the assumed failure envelope failure 1927): ‘The value of C (the concrete contribution), . . . ,
(Equation (8)), is: probably depends upon the percentage of web reinforce-
ment used and also on the quality of the concrete’. This
  phenomenon is clearly explained by the model because the
s1 s2
Rt ¼ ¼ 1 2 0:8
: ð19Þ more the transverse reinforcement ratio, the more shear
f ct f cc
force the stirrups can take and, therefore, more bending
moment (associated to the shear force) acts on the critical
Because Rt depends on the principal stresses and,
section, helping the concrete to resist shear. This fact is
consequently, on the shear force Vc, Equation (18) must be
mathematically taken into account by means of Equation
solved iteratively. An initial value Rt ¼ 1 is assumed and,
(17). Furthermore, the transverse reinforcement introduces
for each iteration, Equation (18) is solved for nc. Then, the
vertical compressive stresses that confine the un-cracked
normal, shear and principal stresses are obtained and the
concrete chord, increasing its strength.
factor Rt is re-calculated from Equation (19). The iterative
The dimensionless shear transferred by the un-cracked
process continues until convergence is reached. Figure 14
concrete chord, vc, must be modified to account for the
depicts the solution of Equation (18) for different values of
size effect due to the brittle character of the failure that
the neutral axis depth and transverse reinforcement
takes place when the second branch of the critical crack
contribution vs.
develops. For this purpose, the empirical model proposed
It is observed that the shear transferred by the un-
by (Zararis & Papadakis, 2001), based on the splitting test
cracked concrete chord depends linearly on the neutral axis
analogy, is adopted. According to such model, the size
depth, as previously obtained by (Tureyen & Frosch, 2003)
effect on the shear failure of slender beams seems to
using a similar approach, and by (Zararis & Papadakis,
depend on the size of the shear span a, that would be
2001), using the splitting test analogy. Because the neutral
 12 A. Marı́ et al.
proportional to the diameter of the specimen of a
hypothetical splitting test that occurs at the beam
compression zone, between the point where the load is
applied and the tip of the first branch of the critical shear
crack:
a nc ¼ z
ð0:88 þ 0:70
ns Þ
þ 0:02 0:94 þ 0:3
m ;
z ¼ 1:2 2 0:2
a ¼ 1:2 2 0:2

d $ 0:65; ð20Þ
d ð24Þ
with a and d in metres. In this paper, the tensile splitting
strength and the axial tensile strength have been
considered equal, as it is the compromise solution
recommended in Model Code 2010 (Fédération Inter-
nationale du Béton, 2013).
Figure 14 presents a very clear linear dependency of
the shear strength from the neutral axis depth. Then, after
taking into account the size effect factor given by Equation
(20), the dimensionless shear force transferred by the un-
cracked concrete chord can be approximated by:
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h x i (Vu,0 þ Vl) can be obtained in dimensionless form, by
vc ¼ z ð0:88 þ 0:70
vs Þ
þ 0:02 : ð21Þ
d Equation (25). This equation is derived from Equations
4.2. Simplified strength verification equations
The total shear resisted is given by:
V ¼ V c þ V w þ V l þ V s ¼ f ct
b
d
ðvc þ vw þ vl þ vs Þ;
ð22Þ
where vc,vw,vl and vs are given by Equations (21), (11),
(13) and (14), respectively. Seting vs ¼ 0 and vl ¼ 0 in
Equations (21) and (22), the following expression for the
shear strength of beams and one-way slabs without
transverse reinforcement, Vu,0, is obtained:
V u;0
V u;0 ¼ f ct
b
d
ðvc þ vw Þ; vu;0 ¼ ¼ vc þ vw :
f ct
b
d
ð23Þ
The model also provides the position where the critical
shear crack starts, scr ¼ Vu/Mcr, the position of the critical
shear section, su ¼ scr þ 0.85·d, and the bending moment
concomitant with the ultimate shear, Vu, which is M ¼
Vu·su. Then, the normal and shear stresses existing at the
critical section, when failure occurs, can be obtained by
Equations (A1.16), (A1.18) and (A1.19) of Appendix 1, as
well as the principal stresses, given by Equation (1) which
must satisfy the failure surface given by Equation (8).
When the cross section geometry, the longitudinal or
the transverse reinforcements change along the beam
length, strength verifications are sometimes necessary at
intermediate sections, different from the assumed as the
weakest section, su ¼ scr ¼ Mcr/Vu, see Figure 13. For this
purpose, in Equation (17), M will not be the cracking
moment, Mcr, but the moment existing at a distance from
the support scr ¼ s – 0.85·d, where the critical crack would
initiate, s being the abscissa of the design section. Thus,
the following generalised non-dimensional equation for
the concrete chord contribution, vc, is obtained:
 x  
d
where m ¼ M/( fct·b·d 2) is the dimensionless moment
existing at that section. For the case that M ¼ Mcr,
m ¼ 0.20, Equation (24) is identical to Equation (21).
4.3. Transverse reinforcement design equations
When the design shear force, VSd, exceeds the shear which
the beam can resist without transverse reinforcement, Vu,0,
given by Equation (23), the amount of transverse
reinforcement necessary to resist the difference VSd –
(22) and (23), taking into account that the concrete
contribution, Vc, depends on the contribution of the
stirrups, Vs, and that in the presence of stirrups, the
contribution of the longitudinal reinforcement, Vl, is not
zero. It is remarkable to notice that Equation (25) is a direct
design equation and does not require iterations to obtain vs:
If vSd . vu;0 ;
 
vSd 2 z
0:88
dx þ 0:02 2 vw 2 vl
vs ¼
1 þ 0:70
z
dx ð25Þ
 
vSd 2 vu;0 þ vl
¼ ;
1 þ 0:70
z
dx
where vSd is the dimensionless design shear force, which is
a data of the problem. In this case, the critical shear section
can be considered to be placed at a distance d from the
support, unless the transverse reinforcement has to be
obtained at other sections, i.e. when changes in geometry
or reinforcement take place along the beam.
5. Comparison with experimental results
5.1. Database
The database published by (Collins et al., 2008) has been
used for concrete beams without stirrups. It reports 1849
tests on RC simply supported beams. In total, 892
experimental tests out of the 1849 have been used in this
report, corresponding to all the cases from the database in
which the failure was reported as shear failure, whose
relation a/d was higher or equal than 2.5, with rectangular
cross section and tested under one or two point loads. For
elements with stirrups, two databases previously published
(Cladera & Marı́, 2007; Yu & Bažant, 2011) have been
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 13

Table 1. Range of variables in the used database. strength given by ACI 318-08 Code, which is also
empirically based, has been calculated using its Equation
892 beams
without 239 beams 11-5, both for elements with and without stirrups.
stirrups with stirrups In addition, the stirrup contribution of the ACI 318-08
formulation is a fixed 458 truss model.
Min Max Min Max The shear strength formulation in the Model Code
b (mm) 21 3000 76 457 2010 is based in a ‘level of approximation’ approach.
d (mm) 41 2000 95 1890 In this paper, the level of approach with lower dispersion
fc (MPa) 6 127 13 125 has been used to compare with the empirical results. For
r (%) 0.1 6.6 0.5 7.0
this reason, for members without stirrups, the Level of
rw ¼ Ast
fyw /b (MPa) – – 0.1 8.1
a/d 2.5 8.5 2.4 5.1 Approximation II has been used; meanwhile, the Level of
Vtest (kN) 2 1295 14 2239 Approximation III has been used when calculating the
shear strength of members with stirrups. These two
methods are directly based on the Modified Compression
Field Theory (Vecchio & Collins, 1986). Within this
merged and refined to develop a new database with 239 theory, the concrete contribution is predicted to be carried
experimental tests of slender simply supported beams, all by aggregate interlock.
of them reported as failing in shear and published in 30 The tensile concrete strength, fctm, a basic parameter of
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references (Adebar & Collins, 1996; Anderson & Ramirez,
1989; Angelakos, Bentz, & Collins, 2001; Bhal, 1968;
Bresler & Scordelis, 1963, 1966; Cladera & Marı́, 2005;
Collins & Kuchma, 1999; Elzanaty, Nilson, & Slate, 1986;
Etxeberria, Marı́, & Vázquez, 2007; Frosch, 2000;
González-Fonteboa & Martı́nez-Abella, 2007; Johnson &
Ramirez, 1989; Karayiannis & Chalioris, 1999; Kong
& Rangan, 1998; Krefeld & Thurston, 1966; Leonhardt &
Walther, 1962; Lubell, Sherwood, Bentz, & Collins, 2004;
Mattock & Wang, 1984; McGormley, Cleary, & Ramirez,
1996; Mphonde & Frantz, 1985; Ozcebe, Ersoy, & Tankut,
1999; Placas & Regan, 1971; Roller & Russell, 1990;
Sarsam & Al-Musawi, 1992; Swamy & Andriopoulos,
1974; Tan, Teng, Kong, & Lu, 1997; Tompos & Frosch,
2002; Yoon, Cook, & Mitchell, 1996; Zararis & Papadakis,
1999). The range of the variables of the different tests is
presented in Table 1.
the proposed model, has been evaluated using Eurocode 2
equations, as shown in Equations (26) and (27), but
limiting the concrete compressive strength to 60 MPa for
the elements without stirrups does not increase signifi-
cantly the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams
without stirrups for high-strength concrete beams due to
the fracture of the aggregates, as has been previously
shown (Cladera & Marı́, 2004a, 2004b). In this section, the
mean concrete compressive strength, fcm, has been used in
Equation (26) instead the characteristic value, fck. The
concrete modulus of elasticity has also been evaluated
according to EC-2, see Equation (28):
qffiffiffiffiffiffi
f ctm ¼ 0:30
f 2ck ; if f ck # 60 N=mm2 ; ð26Þ
3
 
f cm
f ctm ¼ 2:12
ln 1 þ ; if f ck . 60 N=mm2 ; ð27Þ
10

5.2. Code shear design formulation used for the  0:3

comparison
In this paper, three shear design procedures will be used to
compare their predictions with the experimental results of
reinforced concrete beams with and without stirrups. They
are the formulations given in Eurocode 2 (European
Committee for Standardization (CEN), 2002), ACI 318-08
(ACI Committee 318, 2008) and in Model Code 2010
(Fédération Internationale du Béton, 2013). All explicit
partial safety factors have been removed from the original
formulations.
For members without stirrups, the Eurocode 2
procedure is an empirically derived method. However,
for members with shear reinforcement, Eurocode 2
formulation is based on a truss model, with a variable
angle of inclination of the struts and without any concrete
contribution. The concrete contribution to the shear
f cm
Ec ¼ 22
: ð28Þ
10
The fracture energy, Gf, is another important parameter
of the model and it depends primarily on the water –
cement ratio, the aggregate type, the maximum aggregate
size, the age of concrete and the curing conditions.
According to the Model Code 2010 (Fédération Inter-
nationale du Béton, 2013), Gf can be expressed as a
function which depends only on the concrete mean
compressive strength, fcm. However, Wittmann (Wittmann,
2002) proposes an expression which only depends on the
maximum aggregate size dmax. Because the Wittmann
proposal predicts too high fracture energy values,
especially for low and moderate strength concretes,
when compared with the experimental results (Figure 15),
a new expression has been developed which takes into
 14 A. Marı́ et al.

obtained is similar to that of Equations (26) and (27) to

model the splitting tensile strength, so that the scatter due
to other aspects is probably small. In a recently published
database of 78 splitting tensile tests (Severcan, 2012), the
coefficient of variation (COV) for the prediction of the
tensile strength was 15.06%. This fact indicates, therefore,
that the shear transfer mechanisms at failure have been
well captured by the model.

5.4. Comparison with different subsets of beams

Figure 15. Relation between compressive strength and fracture
energy: experimental results and corresponding relations
(adapted from fib Task Group 8.2 (2008)).
Downloaded by [Gazi University] at 04:06 05 February 2015
The experimental correlations for different subsets of
beams are presented in Table 3. In general terms, it is
observed that the proposed equations present the lowest
values of the coefficient of variation for most studied
subsets (in bold letters in Table 3). It is observed that as the
effective depth of the element increases, the average of the

ratio Vtest/Vpred for the different code predictions decreases

account the influence of the concrete compressive strength
and the maximum aggregate size:
Gf ¼ 0:028 · f 0:18
cm · d max :
0:32
ð29Þ
According to experimental results reported in the Fib
Bulletin 42 (fib Task Group 8.2, 2008), the proposed
Equation (29) offers very good results, giving identical
values to the expression given in MC-2010 for dmax ¼ 20
mm, increasing or decreasing this value according to the
maximum aggregate size, as proposed by Wittmann
(Wittmann, 2002).
5.3. Global comparison
A comparison of the performance of the new developed
Equation (Equation (22)) with respect to the considered
code formulations is given in Table 2. As can be seen, the
proposed equation correlates better with the empirical
results than any of the considered Code formulations, as it
presents the lowest dispersion for the two databases.
In addition, it is remarkable to notice that the scatter
(see Table 3 and Figure 16). For instance, for the
predictions according to EC-2 (Figure 16(a)) for elements
without stirrups, it passes from 1.10 for beams under 300
mm of effective depth to 0.86 for the beams over 600 mm
of effective depth. For the level III of Approximation of the
MC-2010 (Figure 16(c)), it decreases from 1.33 to 1.00 for
elements with stirrups. This safety decrement is not
appreciated for the proposed Equation (Figure 16(d)).
When increasing the amount of shear reinforcement,
rw, it is also observed that the ratio Vtest/Vpred decreases
for the EC-2 formulation (Figure 17(a)), going from 1.95
for lightly reinforced beams (rw # 0.70 MPa) to 0.97 for
highly shear reinforced beams (rw $ 1.50 MPa). The
response of the proposed equation is much more stable as
a function of the amount of shear reinforcement (Table 3
and Figure 17(d)). The comparison of results presented
in Figures 16 and 17 and in Table 3 for the Model Code
2010 formulations and the proposed equations supports
the idea presented in the Introduction section of this
paper about the sudden changes in the relative
contribution of each shear transfer mechanism at ultimate
conditions.

Table 2. Verification of the different shear design procedures for the beams with and without stirrups.

892 beams without stirrups 239 beams with stirrups

Vtest/Vpred EC-2 ACI 318-08 MC10 Lev II Proposal EC-2 ACI 318-08 MC10 Lev III Proposal
Average 1.07 1.28 1.20 1.04 1.72 1.25 1.21 1.02
Median 1.03 1.27 1.16 1.01 1.61 1.24 1.20 1.01
Standard deviation 0.226 0.346 0.223 0.179 0.638 0.262 0.225 0.169
COV (%) 21.12 27.11 18.61 17.28 37.13 21.04 18.58 16.60
Minimum 0.66 0.38 0.74 0.68 0.62 0.65 0.75 0.68
(Vtest/Vpred)5% 0.79 0.71 0.91 0.80 0.97 0.85 0.92 0.80
Maximum 2.26 2.40 2.28 1.84 5.53 2.34 2.20 1.73
(Vtest/Vpred)95% 1.53 1.90 1.62 1.38 2.77 1.65 1.60 1.28
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 15

The Model Code 2010 formulation is mainly based on

16.60
17.66
15.20
12.63
14.93
13.79
20.48
9.24
16.44
17.77
15.03
18.26
13.11
COV
Proposal
the shear friction across the crack which, according to the
present model, is a relevant shear transfer mechanism only

Mean
1.02
1.05
0.98
1.03
1.01
1.00
1.07
1.12
1.02
1.02
0.99
1.06
1.04
in case of moderate-crack widths. Conclusively, ACI 318-
08 and EC-2 formulations are in general conservative,
although Table 3 reveals that they may be partially unsafe
18.58
16.79
14.50
11.85
16.99
15.19
22.92
21.80
18.62
17.61
17.23
19.58
15.38
COV
MC10 Lev III

in some particular regions of the design variables which

implies that large safety factors are needed. In contrast, the
239 beams with stirrups

conservatism of the proposed formulation is more uniform

Mean
1.21
1.33
1.13
1.00
1.20
1.19
1.27
1.24
1.19
1.27
1.18
1.28
1.14
for the different range of design values considered in the
database.
21.04
17.60
16.63
17.74
18.86
18.08
26.20
26.13
20.91
17.46
20.31
20.61
14.46
COV
ACI318-08

6. Conclusions and perspectives

Mean
1.25
1.38
1.18
0.94
1.23
1.24
1.29
1.04
1.21
1.38
1.17
1.34
1.28
Verification of the different shear design procedures for subsets of beams. In bold letters, the lower COV for each group.

A conceptual model for the prediction of the shear-flexural

strength of slender reinforced concrete beams and one-way
37.13
39.63
30.96
25.51
44.51
24.99
32.45
16.65
36.29
40.15
34.49
28.84
28.12
COV

slabs with and without transverse reinforcement has been

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presented. The shear strength is considered to be the sum

EC-2

of the shear transferred by the concrete compression chord,

Mean
1.72
1.89
1.55
1.58
1.73
1.65
1.78
1.34
1.73
1.72
1.95
1.54
0.97

along the crack, due to residual tensile and frictional

stresses, by the stirrups and, if they exist, by the
longitudinal reinforcement. Failure is assumed to occur
239
117
93
29
111
65
63
7
175
57
130
91
18
#

when the principal stresses at the compression concrete

chord reach the Kupfer’s biaxial failure envelope.
17.28
18.07
13.39
17.36
15.68
19.54
20.99
14.29
16.80
17.59
COV

–
–
–

A mechanical-based formulation has been developed

Proposal

in which the contribution of each shear transfer

Mean

mechanism has been quantified for the ultimate limit

1.04
1.03
1.06
1.06
1.04
0.99
1.10
0.99
1.03
1.05
–
–
–

state. Simplified direct equations both for design and

verification have been derived and checked with a large set
18.61
18.57
14.21
15.79
16.41
19.79
21.23
13.21
17.71
21.66
COV
MC10 Lev II

of experimental results. The following conclusions can be

–
–
–

drawn from the studies made:

892 beams without stirrups

Mean

(1) The shear-flexural response of slender RC beams

1.20
1.23
1.14
1.02
1.18
1.17
1.40
1.16
1.20
1.30
–
–
–

without shear reinforcement can be explained in a

simplified way by means of a truss model in
27.11
22.11
18.76
26.41
25.31
29.11
34.86
26.50
23.44
18.95
COV

which the ties, made of concrete, cross the cracks

ACI318-08

–
–
–

in the regions with less the crack opening. As the

load and the cracks width increases, the concrete
Mean
1.28
1.38
1.09
0.71
1.29
1.24
1.29
0.88
1.32
1.50
–
–
–

ties become weaker and rotate, the variation of

tensile force at the reinforcement, DT, decreases
21.12
21.08
15.05
18.30
18.94
23.67
28.31
16.05
19.50
22.00

and the compression concrete chord inclines in

COV

–
–
–

order to absorb the variation of moment along the

EC-2

beam.
Mean
1.07
1.10
1.03
0.86
1.06
1.10
1.09
0.94
1.06
1.24

(2) The contribution of each shear transfer mechanism

–
–
–

to the shear strength depends on the load level and

especially on the crack opening. The higher the
72

83
892
665
155

626
183

139
627
126
#

–
–
–

crack width, the lesser is the shear transferred

along the cracks and the higher is the shear taken
0.70 – 1.50
300– 600

by the un-cracked concrete chord, which has its

40 – 70

, 0.70

. 1.50
, 300

. 600

shear transfer capacity enhanced thanks to the

, 40

. 70

1–3
,1

.3

presence of normal stresses.

(3) In beams without transverse reinforcement, the
rw (MPa)
Criterion

fc (MPa)

un-cracked concrete chord contribution has been

Table 3.

d (mm)

r (%)

found to depend on the tensile concrete strength

All

fct; on the cross section dimensions b, d and on the

 16 A. Marı́ et al.

EC-2 ACI 318-08

(a) 4.0 (b) 4.0
3.5 Without stirrups 3.5 Without stirrups
With stirrups With stirrups
3.0 3.0
2.5 2.5

Vtest/Vpred
Vtest/Vpred

2.0 2.0
1.5 1.5
1.0 1.0
0.5 0.5
0.0 0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 500 1000 1500 2000
d (mm) d (mm)

MC-2010 Proposal
(c) 4.0 (d) 4.0
3.5 Without stirrups 3.5 Without stirrups
Downloaded by [Gazi University] at 04:06 05 February 2015

With stirrups With stirrups

3.0 3.0
2.5 2.5
Vtest/Vpred

Vtest/Vpred
2.0 2.0
1.5 1.5
1.0 1.0
0.5 0.5
0.0 0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 500 1000 1500 2000
d (mm) d (mm)

Figure 16. Correlation between the predictions and the experimental results in terms of the beam depth.

relative flexural neutral axis depth x/d, which is a
function of ae·r, ae ¼ Es/Ec being the modular
ratio and r ¼ As/(b·d) the longitudinal reinforce-
ment ratio.
(4) In beams with transverse reinforcement, the role of
the concrete ties becomes secondary as the stirrups
take the tensile forces of the truss. In these beams,
it has been found that the contribution to the shear
strength of the un-cracked concrete chord, Vc,
increases as the amount of the transverse
reinforcement ratio increases.
(5) The shear transferred by the longitudinal
reinforcement has been found to be a direct
function of the longitudinal reinforcement ratio,
the square power of the bar diameter, the beam
effective depth and inversely proportional to the
cubic power of the stirrups spacing.
(6) The model assumes that the critical section of a
beam is placed where the first branch of the critical
shear crack reaches the neutral axis. Such a section
is placed approximately at a distance 0.85·d of the
initiation of the critical crack, where the bending
moment diagram at failure reaches the cracking
moment. Such assumption has found to fit the
observed experimental crack patterns well.
(7) The predictions of the present model fit the
available experimental results very well, both for
beams without and with shear reinforcement. The
mean value (MV) and the COV of the ratio
between the predicted and the experimentally
measured shear strength obtained are MV ¼ 1.04,
COV ¼ 17.28% for beams without stirrups and
MV ¼ 1.02, COV ¼ 16.60% for beams with
stirrups. These results present a better approxi-
mation and less scatter than those obtained by
using the EC-2, MC-2010 and ACI 318-08
provisions.
(8) The proposed model explicitly incorporates the
most important parameters that, according to the
experimental observations, govern the shear-
flexural strength. The model, derived from the
principles of structural mechanics, provides
physical explanations to the influence of each
parameter included in the proposed equations, thus
resulting very useful for design and assessment
purposes.
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 17

(a) EC-2 (b) ACI 318-08

4.0 4.0

3.5 3.5

3.0 3.0

2.5 2.5
Vtest/Vpred

Vtest/Vpred
2.0 2.0

1.5 1.5

1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

0.0 0.0
0.0 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5 9.0 0.0 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5 9.0
ρw(MPa) ρw(MPa)
(c) MC-2010 (d) ProposaI
4.0 4.0
3.5 3.5
Downloaded by [Gazi University] at 04:06 05 February 2015

3.0 3.0
2.5 2.5
Vtest/Vpred
Vtest/Vpred

2.0 2.0
1.5 1.5
1.0 1.0
0.5 0.5
0.0 0.0
0.0 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5 9.0 0.0 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5 9.0
ρw(MPa) ρw(MPa)

Figure 17. Correlation between the predictions and the experimental results in terms of the amount of stirrups.

The present model is currently being extended to
structures with different geometry, support conditions,
load types or new concrete and reinforcement materials.
Nevertheless, improvements of the model are desirable in
order to: (1) account for the size effect when the second
branch of the critical shear crack propagates, in
consistency with the formulation developed for the first
branch; (2) automatically derive a more realistic shear
stress distribution at the compressed concrete chord, and
better capture the position of the critical point and (3)
calibrate the corresponding set of partial safety factors to
be used in a semi-probabilistic format for shear design and
assessment.
Acknowledgements
This work has been developed under the framework of the
Research Projects ‘BIA2012-36848’ and ‘BIA2012-31432’, both
funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitive-
ness (MINECO) and co-funded by the European Regional
Development Funds (ERDF). A part of this investigation was
developed during the stay of Prof. A. Marı́ at the Faculty of
Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), funded by the
Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports through the
National Human Resources Mobility Program of the R&D
National Plan (project PRX12/00341).
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Vw 0:425
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f ct 2
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Ec
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f ct
b
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Appendix 1. Derivation of the shear taken by the The mean spacing between inclined cracks, smu, varies from one
point to the other of the crack and is affected by bond with the
different transfer mechanisms longitudinal and transverse reinforcements. Because not all the
A1.1. Shear transferred along the crack flexural cracks develop into shear cracks, the distance between
The expression of the shear force resisted along the crack, Vw, is: shear cracks is, especially when no stirrups exist, greater than the
distance between flexural cracks, see Figure 10. For these reasons,
ð lw in this work, the average crack spacing, smu, is considered equal to
xw the effective depth, d, which is a conservative value.
Vw ¼ sw
b
cos u
dl <
sw
b
cos u
0 sin u

¼ xw
sw
b
cot u; ðA1:1Þ

A1.2. Shear transferred by the longitudinal
reinforcement (dowel action)
where sw ¼ fct/2 is the adopted constant concrete tensile stress,
extended to a length ‘lw,’ of the crack, which is energetically The crack opening produces a vertical displacement that can be
equivalent to the actual triangular distribution (Figure 8). The length evaluated approximately as:
of the tensile zone, xw, is obtained by setting the compatibility of
deformations in a direction normal to the crack, and taking into 1sx
dm ¼ wx · cot u ¼ 1sx
smx
cot u < 0:72
d
; ðA1:8Þ
account the geometrical relationships indicated in Figure 7: 12j

1ct;u
xw ¼ ðd 2 xÞ

sin 2 u; ðA1:2Þ where 1sx is the axial strain at the longitudinal reinforcement, smx
1s is the average distance along the beam axis between shear cracks,
which can be assumed as 0.85·d, j ¼ x/d and cotu is given by
where 1s is the strain in the longitudinal reinforcement. Substituting Equation (10). The crack sliding is considered to be produced by
Equation (A1.2) in Equation (A1.1), and taking into account the the distortion of the un-cracked concrete chord because,
value of cot(u) given by Equation (10), Vw can be expressed as: according to the present model, most shear stresses concentrate
there. The value of the vertical displacement due to distortion is
1ct;u given by the following equation:
V w ¼ 0:425
f ct
b
d

sin 2 u: ðA1:3Þ
1s
dv ¼ g
0:85
d: ðA1:9Þ
The fracture energy, which is the area of the triangle of
Figure 9, can be expressed as a function of the concrete strains at
Adding the vertical components dm and dv, and adopting the
the beginning of the macro-cracking, (1ct,cr ¼ fct/Ec, see Figure 8)
following value for the ratio between the shear and the axial
and the ultimate tensile strain (1ct,u), as follows:
tensile strains, g/1sx,:
ðw
1
Gf ¼ Gf ¼ sðwÞ·dw <
f ct
w max 6
V c  
0 2 g 5
b
x
Gc V c
d ae
r
1 2 j=3
¼ < 2:64

: ðA1:10Þ
1   1sx M
x M 12j
<
f ct
1ct;u 2 1ct;cr
smu ; ðA1:4Þ Es
As
ðd 2 Þ
2 3

where it has been assumed that, in the crack propagation phase, The following value is obtained for the total vertical
the maximum crack opening is: displacement:
 Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 21

forces as Equation (A1.15) by means of a classical flexural

d ¼ dm þ dv analysis of a cracked section:
   which, can be expressed in dimensionless terms by dividing both
1sx V c
d j members by fct·b·d 2:
¼ 0:72
d
1 þ 3:1

ae
r
1 2 ;
12j M 3
   
ðA1:11Þ 0:85 2 jw
cot u
l
2
m þ 1:7
vc þ 2
vw
þ vs
0:85
sx cos 2 u
where a value Gc ¼ Ec /2.2 has been adopted for the modulus of ¼ ;
shear deformation of the un-cracked concrete chord. In the case
f ct j
ð1 2 3Þ
j

of beams with stirrups, a value Vc < 0.4·V can be assumed. ðA1:16Þ

In addition, a value V·d/M ¼ d/x ¼ 1 can be generally adopted,
according to Section 3.5 and Figure 11. Then, for a conservative
value of r ¼ 1.2% (j ¼ 0.325 and ae ¼ 6.5), the second term
inside the parenthesis, results to be less than 10% of the first one.
Then, Equation (A1.11) can be approached by:
1sx
d ¼ 0:8
d· : ðA1:12Þ
12j
Such imposed relative displacement between the two ends of
a doubly fixed bar produce a shear force Vl:
Downloaded by [Gazi University] at 04:06 05 February 2015
where jw ¼ xw /d, xw is the depth of the tension zone, nc, nw and ns
are the dimensionless shear forces transferred by the concrete
compression chord, by the crack (Equation (11)) and by the
transverse reinforcement (Equation (14)), respectively, and m is
the dimensionless moment existing at failure the section where
the critical crack initiates.
According to Section 3.5 (Figure 13), the moment to be
considered in the calculation of sx, is the cracking moment, Mcr,
which in non-dimensional terms is:

 2
M cr b
h 2
f ct 1 h
12
Es
nb
I s
d 12
Es
nb
p
f 4
d mcr ¼ ¼ ¼
. 0:2: ðA1:17Þ
Vl ¼ ¼ f ct
b
d 2 6
f ct
b
d 2 6 d
s3t s3t
64

Es f 2
d 1sx The normal vertical concrete stress at the compression chord can
< 0:64

r
3
; ðA1:13Þ be obtained by setting the equilibrium in a horizontal cut,
f ct st 12j
(Figure 5), between the tensile force in the stirrups and the
vertical concrete stresses sy, which confine the un-cracked
where f is the diameter of the bars, nb the number of bars and st concrete chord, given by:
the spacing of stirrups. A simplified equation is proposed,
obtained by assuming usual values of f/st ¼ 0.15, d/st ¼ 2,
1sx ¼ 0.0009 and Ec/fct ¼ 10000, which results to be almost a sy Asw
f yw Vs vs
¼ ¼ ¼ ; ðA1:18Þ
linear function of j ¼ x/d: f ct f ct
b 0:85
f ct
b
d 0:85

 
2
l
M þ V
0:85
d þ V w
ð0:85
d 2 0:5
xw
cot uÞ þ 0:425
V
d
2
l
M c 2 s
sx ¼ ¼  cos u ; ðA1:15Þ
b
x
ðd 2 3xÞ b
x
d 2 3x

where Asw is the area per unit length of transverse reinforcement

and fyw is the yield strength. The shear stress at the critical point
Vl ae
r of the un-cracked concrete chord (l ¼ 0.425·x) is given by:
vl ¼ < 0:23
< 0:25
j 2 0:05: ðA1:14Þ
f ct
b
d 12j

6
V c   1:47
V c
A1.3. Normal and shear stresses at the critical point of tl ¼
l 2 l2 ¼ : ðA1:19Þ
b
x b
x
the concrete compression chord
The normal stress sx at the critical point (y ¼ l·c) of the
compression chord can be expressed as function of the internal