Out-of-Plane Shear Strength of

Reinforced Concrete Walls and Slabs

Greg Mertz
Carl J Costantino and Associates

October 18, 2016 1

 Shear Capacity of Walls and Slabs
Focus on One Way Shear
ACI Beam Equation, Vn= 2 f ' c bd
ACI 318-14 R7.6.3.1
Solid slabs and footings have less stringent minimum shear reinforcement
requirements than beams because there is a possibility of load sharing
between weak and strong areas.
ACI 426
Slab research focuses on punching shear
However, research (Angelakos et al. 2001; Lubell et al. 2004; Brown et al.
2006) has shown that deep, lightly reinforced one-way slabs, particularly if
constructed with high-strength concrete or concrete having a small coarse
aggregate size, may fail at shears less than Vc calculated from Eq.
(22.5.5.1). One-way slabs subjected to concentrated loads are more likely
to exhibit this vulnerability.
Beam tests are used to obtain one-way shear capacity
October 18, 2016 2
 DOE-STD-1020 and ASCE 43
Probabilistic Basis
Median Strength Conservatism Ratio
Presumed code ultimate strength
98% Exceedance probability
Additional 1.33 factor of conservatism for low ductility failure modes
2.054 S
Rs=e for Ductile Failure
2.054
Rs=1.33 e for Low Ductility Failure
S

RC Walls and Slabs Out of plane shear

Low ductility failure mode
Code Capacity Vn= 2 f ' c bd , =0.75
Test Capacity V Test 2.054 V Test 2.054
=1.33 e S
=e S

VTest/Vn < 2% Pf Vn Vn

October 18, 2016 3

 Concrete Beam Shear Database
without stirrups

Reineck, K.H., Kuchma, D.A., Kim, K.S. and Marx, S., Shear Database for
Reinforced Concrete Members Without Shear Reinforcement, ACI Structural
Journal, V. 100, March-April 2003.
439 Test specimen
Noted Equation 11-3 (2f'c bd) of ACI 318-99 is clearly unsafe
318-08 included modifications to limit beams without shear reinforcement.

Reineck, K.H., Bentz, E.C., Fitik, B., Kuchma, D.A. and Bayrak, O., ACI-
DAFStb Database of Shear Tests on Slender Reinforced Concrete Beams
Without Stirrups, ACI Structural Journal, V. 110, September-October 2013.
784 Test specimen
Noted Equation 11-3 (2f'c bd) of ACI 318-11
when used by itself, is unconservative.
Equation 11-3 becomes increasingly unsafe as members become larger and more lightly
reinforced

October 18, 2016 4

 2013 Shear Database
ACI Structural Journal, 110-S72 Data extracted from shear database
September-October 2013

Note:
Extracted data matches ACI Journal

Strength is a function of depth

Members with light longitudinal reinforcing have lower shear strength

October 18, 2016 5

 Effect of Reinforcing
on Shear Capacity b
4 foot thick wall c
#11 @ 12, d=44.4, =0.3%, c=2.7 N.A.
2#11 @ 6, d=43, =1.2%, c=10.8 d
Increase reinforcing ratio
Increases depth of compression
zone, c
Reduces tensile strain
Reduce tensile crack width
Increased aggregate interlock
Increases dowel action

October 18, 2016 6

 Simple Statistics
Vn=2 f ' c bd

d<12 Inches d<24 Inches

566 Specimen 706 Specimen
29 Failures 53 Failures
Pf=29/566= 5.1% Pf=53/706= 7.5%

October 18, 2016 7

Simple Statistics
Vn=2 f ' c bd

ACI Vn has 98% EP for d<24 inches

ACI Vn does not meet ASCE 43
performance goal for d>10 inches
Can this problem be solved by
additional testing?
115
0.02=
N 784
N =4966 Additional Test w/ o Failure

October 18, 2016 8

 Simple Statistics, 1%
Vn=2 f ' c bd

d<12 Inches d<24 Inches

93 Specimen 124 Specimen
22 Failures 36 Failures
Pf=22/93= 24% Pf=36/124= 29%
All Depths, 1%, Pf=69/157= 44%
October 18, 2016 9
2013 Shear Data, Log-Log
Vn=2 f ' c bd

Median = 1.405
= 0.39

Curve fit:
4.39
4.39 e.475 ln (d )
d

October 18, 2016 10

2013 Shear Data with Effective
Depth Transformation
2.8
Vn Mod =( )2 f ' c bd
d

Median = 1.67
= 0.272

Note reduction in

October 18, 2016 11

2013 Shear Data with Effective
Depth Transformation
2.8
Vn Mod =( )2 f ' c bd
d
Shear strength is
proportional to
4
100

October 18, 2016 12

2013 Shear Data with both
d and Transformations
4
2.8 100
Vn Mod =( )2 f ' c bd
d
Simple Statistics:
32/784 samples with
Vtest/VnMod<1,
Pf=4.1%
Was Pf=14.7%
<1%, 6/157
samples with
Vtest/VnMod<1,
Pf=3.8%
Was Pf=44%

October 18, 2016 13

 Modified Shear Strength
Vn Mod =2 f ' c bd

4
2.8 100
= , d5 inches
d

October 18, 2016 14

 2013 Shear Database
vs Modified Capacity
ACI Shear Capacity Modified Shear Capacity

Data from Modified vs ACI capacity

ACI Structural Journal, 110-S72 Small change in median strength

September-October 2013 Significant reduction in variability

Removes bias with large d and low

October 18, 2016 15

 Probability of Failure in Buildings

In-situ concrete strength

In-situ concrete is typically at least 1.2 times the minimum design strength.
Median VTest/VnMod = 1.61 Pf=2.3%

In-situ concrete strength + aging

Aging typically increases concrete strength by a factor of at least 1.2.
Median VTest/VnMod = 1.76 Pf=1%

The modified shear capacity is consistent with DOE-STD-1020 and

ASCE 43
98% Exceedance probability
VnMod includes 1.33 factor of conservatism for low ductility failure modes

October 18, 2016 16

 Summary
Out-of-plane shear capacity for slabs and walls
Current ACI capacity does not support DOE-STD-1020
or ASCE 43 performance goals.
Modified capacity supporting performance goals is
proposed.
Path Forward
Owners and owners representative
Regulators and peer reviewers
Engineers

October 18, 2016 17