JAES_1(14)_2_2011 SECTION

CONSTANTINESCU H. et. all, pp.77-82 Civil Engineering and Installations

STUDY OF SHEAR BEHAVIOUR OF HIGH

PERFORMANCE CONCRETE USING PUSH-OFF TESTS
CONSTANTINESCU Horia1,
MĂGUREANU Cornelia2

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history:
Accepted: May 2011
Available online: July 2011
High Performance Concrete has great potential according to recent
studies conducted around the world. The paper presents push-off
tests conducted to determine the influence of transversal
reinforcement on the shear behaviour of High Performance
Concrete with a compressive strength of 100MPa. Three elements
were tested, two of them had shear reinforcement in the form of
closed stirrups made of S500 steel, with a characteristic yield
strength, fyk = 500MPa, spaced 100mm apart. The third element
had no shear reinforcement.

Keywords: High
Performance Concrete,
shear, Push-off

INTRODUCTION
The paper deals with the behaviour of High Performance Concrete
(HPC) subjected to shear forces. The effect of shear on HPC is considered
to be substantially different from that of normal strength concrete (NSC)
mainly due to the strength of the concrete matrix being the same or higher
than that of the aggregate. This leads to shear cracks forming through the
aggregate rather than around it generating smoother crack surfaces thus
reducing the ability of transmitting shear between faces of the crack.
Previous studies regarding this phenomenon have generally used pre-
cracked specimens and/or external restraint bars [1], [2]. The current study
does not use either pre-cracking or external restraint in order to study both
the formation of shear cracks in monolithically cast specimens as well as the
behaviour of said elements after cracking occurs.

1
Ph.D. Student Eng., Technical University of Cluj Napoca, Department of Civil
Engineering, Romania, e-mail: Horia.Constantinescu@bmt.utcluj.ro, Romania
2
Ph.D. Prof. Eng., Technical University of Cluj Napoca, Department of Civil Engineering,
Romania, e-mail: Magureanu.Cornelia@bmt.utcluj.ro, Romania
 STUDY OF SHEAR BEHAVIOUR OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE
USING PUSH-OFF TESTS

MATERIAL AND METHOD

1. Experimental Program
The experimental program comprised of push-off tests on special
specimens cast using HPC.
Constituents of the mix were: Portland Cement CEM I 52.5R, grey
silica fume with high content of SiO2, commercially available as Elkem
Microsilica Grade 940V, the aggregates were locally acquired, river sand
(particle size 0-4mm), crushed quarry stone (dacite, particle size 4-16mm).
The HPC mix proportion was: cement (1 part), silica fume (0.1 parts),
aggregates (3.3 parts), and superplasticizers (0.03 parts). The water/binder
ratio was 0.26.
Compressive strength determined on 150mm cubic specimens was of
fc= 100 MPa.
There were 2 types of elements, with and without transversal
reinforcement crossing the shear plane.
In the case of the elements with reinforcement crossing the shear
plane, the bar diameter was 8 mm and the spacing 100 mm. The stirrups
were made of grade S500 steel, with a characteristic yielding strength of
fyk= 500 MPa. The detailing of the test specimens is shown in Figure 1.

Fig.1. Reinforcement details for Push-off specimens without transverse

reinforcement (left) and with transverse reinforcement (right)

2. Testing Procedure of HPC Elements in Shear

Three specimens were tested in shear: 1 element had no transverse
reinforcement, 2 elements each had 3 stirrups of 8 mm in diameter with
spacing of 100 mm (grade S500 steel).
JAES_1(14)_2_2011 SECTION
CONSTANTINESCU H. et. all, pp.77-82 Civil Engineering and Installations

During testing the load was applied gradually. Each loading stage
consisted in 100 kN increments for reinforced specimens and 50 kN for the
unreinforced specimen, up to the failure of the element. This test method
was used in order to allow the necessary time for distribution of efforts
throughout the element and visual inspection. The test setup is shown in
Figure 2 for both types of elements.

Fig.2. Test setup for Push-off specimens without transverse reinforcement

(left) and with transverse reinforcement (right)

3. Results and Discussions of HPC Elements Tested in Shear

The following RILEM relation was used in order to evaluate the shear
resistance of the HPC elements tested in the study. The first formula (1) is
generally used to evaluate tensile resistance in concrete using splitting tests
[3].
2 F
f ct , sp = ⋅ [N ] (1)
π l⋅d
where:
F- applied force;
l - length of specimen, in this case 120mm;
d - height of shear zone, 300mm.
 STUDY OF SHEAR BEHAVIOUR OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE
USING PUSH-OFF TESTS

Based on equation (1), the value of the expected failure force may be
calculated by considering the value of fct,sp=5.4 MPa, value determined on
150 mm cubes, according to RILEM testing procedures [3].
f ct , sp ⋅ π ⋅ l ⋅ d
F= [N ] (2)
2

In order to evaluate the shear resistance of the reinforced elements,

the ACI 318-08 relation for shear friction (3) was used [4]. Due to the fact
that the elements were monolithically cast, the formula was used
considering the friction coefficient, µ = 1.4. [4]

V n = µ ⋅ Av ⋅ f y (3)
where:
µ - friction coefficient;
Av - area of reinforcement crossing the shear plane;
fy - characteristic yield strength of reinforcing steel.

Overall shear strength of reinforced specimens was considered to be

the sum of relations (2) and (3).
f ct , sp ⋅ π ⋅ l ⋅ d
Vt = F + V n = + µ ⋅ Av ⋅ f y [ N ] (4)
2
Figure 3 shows the experimental load-transversal deformation curve
for the three specimens.

Fig.3. Load – Transversal deformation curves of Push-Off specimens

JAES_1(14)_2_2011 SECTION
CONSTANTINESCU H. et. all, pp.77-82 Civil Engineering and Installations

Table 1 shows the results of the experiments, as well as the results of

theoretical shear strength evaluations.

Table 1. Experimental and theoretical results

Experimental
Result type Experimental Theoretical
Theoretical
Specimen Without With Without With Without With
type Stirrups Stirrups Stirrups Stirrups Stirrups Stirrups
700 2.30
Fcr [kN] 305.4
500 1.60
751.2 305.4 2.46
1170 2.26
Fu [kN] 516.8
1190 2.30

The appearance of elements after testing is shown in Figure 4.

Fig.4. Appearance of Push-Off specimens after testing, without stirrups

(left) and with stirrups (right)

CONCLUSIONS
The load values at which shear cracks developed (Fcr) represent, on
average, 51% of the failure loads of the elements (Fu), in the case of the
 STUDY OF SHEAR BEHAVIOUR OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE
USING PUSH-OFF TESTS

reinforced elements. For the unreinforced element, the formation of the

shear crack coincided with the elements failure.
When comparing the reinforced elements to the unreinforced element,
the load values at which the shear cracks appear are similar. After shear
cracking occurs, the shear load is supported by the steel reinforcement
crossing the shear plane.
The values obtained using relations (2), (3) and (4), give conservative
results in estimating shear resistance for HPC elements. In the case of HPC,
the contribution of the concrete in resisting shear forces is significantly
greater than what is currently being considered in structural design.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper was supported by the project "Doctoral studies in
engineering sciences for developing the knowledge based society-SIDOC”
contract no. POSDRU/88/1.5/S/60078, project co-funded from European
Social Fund through Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources
2007-2013. Also, the authors would like to express their gratitude to
CNCSIS for financing the research program within the PCE-PN II-IDEI
Program, code 1053/2007. Both authors had equal contributions in the
preparation of this paper.

REFERENCES
1. CEB-FIP (2008), Constitutive modelling of high strength/high performance
concrete, State-of-art report.
2. NISTIR (1996), Shear Design of High-Strength Concrete Beams: A Review of
the State-of-the-Art, NISTIR 5870.
3. RILEM (1975), Tension by splitting of concrete specimens, RILEM Technical
Recommendations.
4. *** (2008), American Concrete Institute, Specification ACI 318-08.