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Shear and diagonal tension

Introduction
When a beam is loaded, bending moments and shear forces develop along the beam. To carry the loads safely, the beam must be designed for both types of forces. Flexural design is considered first to establish the dimensions of the beam and the main reinforcement needed. The beam is then designed for shear. If shear reinforcement is not provided, shear failure may occur. Shear failure is characterized by small deflections and lack of ductility, giving little or no warning before failure.

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Shear stresses in concrete beams

Bending and shear stresses in homogeneous beam based on elastic theory

Shear stresses in concrete beams

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Diagonal tension

Shear distribution in RC beam

Diagonal tension
The state of pure shear results in principal tensile stresses acting on plane at 45 deg., which is called diagonal tension.

The shear failure in concrete beam is most likely to occur where shear forces are maximum. The first evidence of impending failure is the formation of the diagonal cracks.

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Beams without shear reinforcement

Concrete is weak in tension. For the combined action of normal and shear stresses, maximum diagonal tension may occur at about a distance d from the face of the support. An inclined crack occurring in an uncracked beam is referred to as web-shear crack. If the inclined crack starts at the top of an existing flexural crack and propagates into the beam, it referred to as flexural-shear crack. These are the most commonly found cracks in beams. In regions of high shear, beams must be reinforced by stirrups or bent bars to produce ductile beams that do not rupture at failure. To avoid shear failure before flexural failure, a greater factor of safety must be provided against shear failure. ACI code specifies a capacity reduction factor of 0.75 for shear.

Beams without shear reinforcement