SRC343 Topic 3 Part 2

Topic 3: Beams (Part 2 – Shear)

3.6: General
 Flexural members (members subject to bending) are also subject to shear
 Shear failure in concrete structures is brittle and must be avoided
 Design should ensure shear capacity exceeds flexural (bending) capacity
 Shear reinforcement for beams or girders usually in the form of stirrups (Typically
10M or 15M)
 Two design methods offered by A23.3:
a. Simplified Method (simpler method and applies to most practical
applications)
b. General Method (much more complex but more accurate and required for
beams with significant axial tension – beyond the scope of this course)

3.6.1 Simplified Method of Shear Design (Clause 11.3.6.3; see 11.3);

 Factored shear resistance, Vr, must be greater than or equal to the factored shear
force, Vf due to applied loads.

Vr  Vf

 Total shear resistance is made up of concrete shear resistance, Vc and steel

shear resistance, Vs, (where required). An upper limit of 0.25c fcbwdv ensures
that the stirrups will yield before crushing the web concrete and that diagonal
cracking at specified loads are controlled.

Vr  Vc  Vs  0.25c fcbwdv

 Transverse reinforcement (contribution of Vs) is required if Vf  Vc and if the beam

depth is greater than 750mm. (Clause 11.2.8.1)

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 Concrete shear resistance, Vc

Vc  c  fcbw dv
  1 for normal density concrete
  factor accounting for shear resistance of cracked concrete (see Cl. 11.3.6)
dv  effective shear depth taken as greater of 0.9d and 0.72h.
bw  minimum beam width within the depth d.

Equation Design Application

  0.18 Section has minimum transverse reinforcement
230 The section contains no transverse reinforcement &

1000  dv amax ≥ 20 mm
230 Section has no transverse reinforcement (applies to all

1000  sze aggregate sizes)
See A23.3 Equation 11.10

  0.21 may be used for special member types (Clause 11.3.6.2):

slabs where h  350mm
beam web width
beams cast integrally with slabs where the depth of the beam below slab is  or 350mm
2

 Steel shear resistance, Vs

 A f d cot 
Vs  s v y v
s
s  spacing of shear reinforcement measured parallel to longitudinal axis of member
(note however, the stirrups are placed perpendicular to the axis of the member)
Av  area of shear reinforcement perpendicular to the axis of the member
  35 if using clause 11.3.6.3 to find .
  42 if   0.21 (for special member types - see Clause 11.3.6.2)
Note that s can be determined by rearranging the above equation

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Image: Reinforced Concrete Design: A practical Approach, Svetlana Brzev, John Pao, Pearson, 2009

 Max. spacing of transverse reinforcement (Clause 11.3.8.1):

600mm
s
0.7dv

 Minimum area of shear reinforcement, Av,min (Clause 11.2.8.2)

Where shear reinforcement is required, then the minimum shear reinforcement
is:

bw s
Av ,min  0.06 fc
fy

s = spacing of stirrups
bw = width of beam

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3.7 Analysis of Rectangular Beam with Shear Reinforcement

Example 3.7 (Analysis of a given cross section) A typical cross-section of a reinforced
concrete beam is shown in the figure below. The beam is reinforced with 10M stirrups at
250 mm spacing on centre (10M@250). The clear cover to stirrups is 40mm. Determine
the shear resistance, Vr, according to A23.3-14. Also complete all the design checks to
determine if the specified shear reinforcement meets the requirements prescribed by
A23.3-04. (Example adapted from (Brzev and Pao, 2009))

Given:

fc’ = 25 MPa d 10M@250

h
fy = 400 MPa
b = 300 mm
h = 500 mm 4-25M

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3.8 Shear Design Considerations

The following must be considered in shear force design:

 Shear force distribution

 Critical Section for shear design
 Variable stirrup spacing

Shear force Distribution:

 In a simply supported beam, the shear force “envelope” (considering live load
can exist on only half of the beam span) due to uniformly distributed loads is
taken as: Vf = wfln/2 at the supports and Vf=1.5L.L. (ln)/8 at midspan (LL =
specified live load).

 In a continuous beam, the shear force coefficients are given by the approximate
frame analysis (see p 305 N9.3)

Critical Section for Shear Design (see also11.3.2):

 In general, the max. shear force occurs at the face of a support.

 If the support introduces compression, then the critical shear force is taken
dv away from the face of the support. (Compression increases shear resistance)

 If the support introduces tension, the critical shear force is taken at the face
of the support.

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Variable Stirrup Spacing:

 In most applications, shear force varies along the length of the beam and in most
cases, the beam can be divided into three regions of shear reinforcement (not all
three are always necessary… this is only discovered through calculations). When
there are three regions:
o Region 0: where shear reinforcement is not required
o Region 1: where the minimum shear reinforcement is used
o Region 2: where the full shear reinforcement is used
Note, oftentimes two regions would suffice. In this case, use Region 0 as no
reinforcement and Region 1 as the full shear reinforcement.

Shear Force Range Stirrup Spacing A23.3-04 Clause

Region Vf ≤ Vr Stirrups not required 11.2.8.1
0
Region Vc < Vf< Vr,min Spacing s1 (max permitted 11.2.8.2
1 stirrup spacing)
Vr,min = Vc +Vs,min 11.3.8.1
Vs,min corresponds to max.
permitted stirrup spacing,
s1
Region Vr,min < Vf< Vf,max Spacing s2 (full shear 11.3.5.1
2 reinforcement is required)
Vs = Vfmax - Vc

s Av fy dv cot 
s2 
Vs

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Summary Shear Design According to A23.3 Simplified Method (adapted from:

Reinforced Concrete Design: A Practical Approach, Updated Edition, Svetlana Brzev, John
Pao, Pearson, 2009)

Step Description Handbook Reference

1 Determine shear force envelope.
Simply supported beam:
- Determine Vf at face of support
- Determine Vf at centre of beam due to LL on half of beam only
- Determine Vf at a distance dv from face of support (if support
introduces compression) (CL 11.3.2)

Continuous Beam:
- Determine coefficients per Approximate frame analysis *Approximate frame analysis
- Determine Vf at a distance dv from face of support (if support see p. 305
introduces compression
2 Determine the concrete shear resistance Vc 11.3.4

3 Determine whether shear reinforcement is required and identify 11.2.8.1

the regions in which reinforcement is required:
- If Vf < Vc, shear reinforcement is not required
- If Vf ≥ Vc, shear reinforcement is required

4 If Vf ≥ Vc determine the required steel shear resistance Vs 11.3.5.1

V s ≥ Vf - V c
(Set Vf = Vr)
Determine the required stirrup spacing, s
5 Check if spacing of reinforcement is within max. limits set by A23.3 11.3.8.1
smax ≤ 600mm or 0.7dv
confirm that s ≤ smax
6 Determine the minimum required shear reinforcement area Av,min 11.2.8.2
or calculate the spacing corresponding to Av,min
7 Determine Vr
Vr = Vc + Vs 11.3.3

8 Sketch a beam elevation showing distribution of shear

reinforcement

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Example 3.8 (Design for Shear). A simply supported reinforced concrete beam of
rectangular cross-section is shown in the figure below. The beam supports a uniform dead
load of 70kN/m and a uniform live load of 30kN/m. Use 25M flexural rebars, 10M stirrups
and a 40mm clear cover to the stirrups. Design the shear reinforcement for this beam and
provide all checks. (Example adapted from (Brzev and Pao, 2009))

amax = 20mm
fc’ = 25 MPa
fy = 400 MPa
700 mm

600 mm
400 mm
(Typ.)
6000 mm (c/c)

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Use the following as practice (homework) questions. Solutions are posted on

blackboard.

Practice question:

Example 3.9 (Design for Shear). (Same as Example 3.8 but the loads are now dead
load (including self weight)= 24kN/m and live load= 10kN/m).

Practice question:

Example 3.10 (Design for Shear). (Same as Example 3.8) but the loads are now dead
load (including self weight)= 100kN/m and live load= 60kN/m).

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