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UNIT6

SHEAR REINFORCEMENT DESIGN

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic, student should be able to:

1. Describeshear failure in beam.(PLO1,C2,K)

2. Explain the Variable Strut Inclination Method used in the design of shear
reinforcement.(PLO1, C3, K)

3. Design the shear reinforcement for a simply reinforced concrete beam.(PLO1,

C4, K)

Contents

6.1 Shear Failure

Concrete beam can fail due to excessive shear as shown in Figure 6.1.

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Figure 6.1: Typical shear failure

Shear failure in reinforced concrete beams is complex and can occur in several ways. A
typical failure mode for a simply supported beam is illustrated in the Figure 6.2, which
also shows how reinforcement can assist in resisting the shear.

Figure 6.2: Shear failure can be prevented using links or links plus bend-up bars

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Shear reinforcement is either in the form of:

1) Stirrups (links)
2) Inclined bars (used together with stirrups)

6.2 The Variable Strut Inclination Method

In EC2 the method of shear design is known as The Variable Strut Inclination Method.In
a reinforced concrete beam with vertical links, shear forces are considered to be carried
by the links in tension acting with diagonal concrete struts in compression, as shown
Figure 6.3.

Figure 6.3: Beam carrying shear(links in tension and concrete in compression)

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The angle of concrete strut varies depending on the shear force applied. Usually
designer choose any value of Ө, between 22 and 45 o (i.e cot Ө between 1 and 2.5)
depending on the applied shear. It can be noticed that if the value assumed for Ө is
small then the requirement for shear reinforcement is also small. Thus, to be
economical use the smallest value of Ө as possible as shown in Figure 6.4.

Figure 6.4: Choice of Ө

EC2 allows the designer to vary the angle θ of the strut to obtain the most economical
solution. However an angle θ of 22° (the minimum allowed in EC2) will give practical
designs in most cases.

Note that for a rectangular beam the breadth bw used in the shear calculation is equal to
the overall breadth b. For T and L beams bw is the breadth of the web, as shown in
Figure 6.5.

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Figure 6.5: b and bw for rectangular, L and T beams in shear

6.3 Design Procedures

The procedure for checking the shear resistance of a concrete beam involves:
a) Verifying that the concrete has sufficient capacity at the face of the support.
b) Reinforcement design is based on the shear force at a distance equal to one effective
depth from the face of the support as shown in the Figure 6.6.
c) The requirements for minimum reinforcement should be checked and a suitable
arrangement of links should be chosen.

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Figure 6.6: Critical sections for a beam carrying shear

6.3.1 Design Procedures 1 (For Ө = 220)

1. Find VEd1 = shear force at the face of the support.

2. Find vEd1=shear stress at the face of the support = VEd1/(0.9bwd).

3. Find the concrete strut capacity vRd, from Table 6.1.

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Table 6.1: νRd concrete strut capacities for calculations of shear in beams

4. If vEd1 is greater than vRd then see the design procedure 2 for use of other values of

θ up to 45°. In some cases it may be necessaryto use a larger beam or a higher

class of concrete.

5. If vEd1 is not greater than vRd then use θ = 22 ° and follow steps 6 – 11.

6. Find VEd2 = shear force at a distance d from the face of the support.

7. Find vEd2 = shear stress at a distance d from the face of the support = VEd2/(0.9bwd ).

8. Calculate the area of shear reinforcement required:

Asw/s = 0.4vEd2bw/0.87fyk.

Since fyk is always 500 N/mm2, this gives Asw/s = 0.00092vEd2bw.

9. Find the minimum Asw/s from Table 6.2.

Table 6.2: Minimum shear reinforcement in beams

10. Consider the following limits to the spacing of the links along the beam:

Minimum spacing 75 mm

Maximum spacing 0.75 d but not more than 600 mm

Economy will be achieved by having as few links as possible, so in step 11 it is best

to choose a spacing s close to the maximum permitted value.

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11. Choose a link size Asw and link spacing s so that Asw/s is not less than the values

from steps 8 and 9. Table 6.3 may be used for single links, and other arrangements

using multiple links are shown in Figure 6.7 .

Table 6.3: Area of Shear Links Asw/s (mm2/mm) for Various Link Sizes and
Spacings (based on two legs per link)

Figure 6.7: Examples of shear reinforcement in the form of links

This procedure determines the shear reinforcement needed at the support. In many
beams it is possible to use less shear reinforcement towards the centre of the span
where the shear force is lower, and this can often be achieved by using the same size
of links but increasing the links spacing s.

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Example 6.1

A simply supported reinforced concrete beam with an effective span of 7.0 m is 500 mm
deep overall by 250 mm wide. Width of support =150 mm. It supports the following
characteristic loads:

Permanent dead loads: 12.0 kN/m not including beam self-weight

Variable imposed loads: 11.0 kN/m.

The concrete is grade C40/50, and 25-mm cover is required to all reinforcement.
Determine the shear reinforcement required.

Solution:

Beam width b= bw = 250 mm

Beam overall height h = 500 mm

Effective span L = 7.0 m

F = 1.35 Gk + 1.50 Qk = 1.35 X 105.9 + 1.50 X 77.0 = 258.5 kN

Concrete strength fck = 40 N/mm2

Effective depth d = 500 – 25 – 10 – 12.5 = 452.5 mm

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The figure below shows part of the Shear Force diagram. The values in the diagram are
calculated below:

Reaction = F/2 = 258.5/2 = 129.3 kN

Width of support =150 mm,

so distance from centre of supportto face of support = 0.15/2 = 0.075 m

VEd1 = 129.3 – 258.5 X 0.075/7.0 = 126.5 kN = 126.5 X 103 N

vEd1 = VEd1/(0.9bwd) = 126.5 X 103 / (0.9 X 250 X 452.5) = 1.24 N/mm2

From Table 6.1 with fck = 40 N/mm2; vRd = 4.63 N/mm2

Check v Ed1 is not more than vRd OK

Effective depth d = 0.4525 m,

soVEd2 = 126.5 – 258.5 X 0.4525/7.0 = 109.8 kN

vEd2 = VEd2/(0.9bwd)= 109.8 X 103 /(0.9 X 250 X 452.5) = 1.08 N/mm2

Asw/s = 0.00092vEd2bw = 0.00092 X 1.08 X 250 = 0.248 mm2/mm

From Table 6.2, with fck = 40 N/mm2,

Min. Asw/s = 0.0010bw = 0.0010 X 250 = 0.25 mm2/mm

Max. link spacing = 0.75d = 0.75 X 452.5 = 339 mm

From Table 6.3, with Asw/s not less than 0.25 mm2/mm,by interpolation.

Use H8 links at 325 mm centres

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Asw/s = 0.309 mm2/mm

Alternatively, 2 X π X d2/4 /325 = 0.25, d =7.19 mm (Use H8)

6.3.2 Design Procedure 2 (220<Ө < 450)

If vEd1 is greater than vRd then use the following procedure for use of other values of θ
up to 45 °.

1. Calculate the ultimate design shear forces VEd along the beam’s span.

2. Check the crushing strength VRd,max of the concrete diagonal strut at the section of

maximum shear, usually VEf at the face of the beam’s support.

For most cases the angle of inclination of the strut is Ө = 22o (cot 2.5) and tan Ө = 0.4,
so that VRd,max can be calculated using the expression:

And if VRd,max ≥ VEf with Ө = 220 and cot Ө = 2.5 then go directly to step 3. However,
if VRd,max <VEf then Ө>220 and therefore Ө must be calculated from the following
expression:

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or

 VEf 
  0.5 sin 1    45 0

 VRd ,max( 45 ) 

If this calculation gives a value of Ө > 450 then the beam should be re-sized or a higher
class concrete could be used.

3. The shear link required can be calculated using the expression:

 2
where Asw is the cross-sectional area of the legs of the links (2 X 4 for single stirrups)

For a predominantly Uniformly Distributed Load the shear VED should be calculated at a
distance d from the face of the support and the shear reinforcement should continue to
the face of the support.

The shear resistance for the links actually specified is

4. Calculate the minimum links required by EC2 from:

5. Calculate the additional longitudinal tensile force caused by the shear.

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Example 6.2

The beam shown below spans 8.0 m on 300 mm wide supports. It carries a uniformly
distributed ultimate load of 200 kN/m. Check if the shear reinforcement in the form of
vertical links shown is sufficient. Given fck = 30 N/mm2)

Solution:

Total ultimate load on beam = 200 X 8.0 = 1600 kN

Support Reaction = 1600/2 = 800 kN

Shear, VEf at face of support = 800 – (200 X 0.3/2) = 770 kN

Shear, VEd distance d from face of support= 770 – (200 X 0.65) = 640 kN

Step 1

vEd1 = VEd1/(0.9bwd) = 770 X 103/(0.9 X 350 X 650) = 3.76 N/mm2

Step 2

From Table 6.1, for fck = 30 N/mm2 VRd = 3.64 N/mm2

Since vEd1>VRd proceed to Procedure 2

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Check the crushing strength VRd,max of the concrete diagonal strut at the face of the
beam support.

Using equation 1 with Ө=220

VRd ,max( 22 )  0.124bw d (1  f ck / 250) f ck

= 0.124 x 350 x 650(1 - 30/250)30

= 745 KN (<VEf = 770 kN)

Using equation 1 with Ө=450

VRd ,max( 45 )  0.18bw d (1  f ck / 250) f ck

= 0.18 X 350 X 650 X (1 – 30/250) X 30

= 1081 kN (>VEf = 770 kN)

Therefore, 220< Ө <450

Step 2

Determine angle Ө using equation 2,

 VEf 
  0.5 sin 1    45 0

 VRd ,max( 45 ) 

Ө = 0.5 X sin-1(770/1081)= 22.70

And cot Ө = 2.39

Step 3

Determine the shear resistance of the links

Asw of a 12 mm bar = 113 mm2 = 2 X 113 = 226 mm2

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s = 175 mm (max spacing = 0.75d = 0.75 X 650 = 487 mm) OK

ASW 226
  1.29
s 175

The shear resistance of the links can be calculated using equation 3:

ASW
VRd , s  x0.78df yk cot 
s

= 1.29 x 0.78 x 650 x 500 x 2.39 x 10-3 = 781 kN

Design shear, VEd distance d from the face of the support = 640 kN (<781 kN)

Therefore, the beam can support the ultimate UDL of 200 kN/m in shear.

Step 4

Additional longitudinal tensile force in the tensile steel using equation 6.

Ftd  0.5VEd cot

= 0.5 x 640 x 2.39 = 765 kN

Ensure there is sufficient curtailment of the tension reinforcement and its anchorage
bond length at the supports.

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Problems

1. Design the shear reinforcement for the simply supported beam which is
supported on300 mm wide supports at shown below. Given:

fck = 50 N/mm2

characteristic dead load = 2.25 kN/m

characteristic imposed load = 200 kN/m

DL=2.25 kN/m; IL=200kN/m

d=400

2000
2ф25
300
200

2. An RC beam section is shown below, and resists an ultimate factored shear of

200 kN at the face of support. Use EC2 to determine the shear reinforcement to
be provided. Given, fck =40 N/mm2,fy = 500 N/mm2

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Assignment

The figure shows a floor plan of a two storey building. The following data are given:

Thickness of floor slab = 125 mm

Characteristic imposed load on slab = 3.0 kN/m2

Concrete weight = 25 kN/m3

fyk = 500 N/mm2

fck = 30 N/mm2

Weight of brick wall on beam = 2.0 kN/m

Floor finishes = 1.5 kN/m2

Reinforcement Cover = 25 mm

Assuming that the secondary beam 2/B-C is simply supported,

i) Determine the design load of the beam.

ii) Calculate the maximum design shear force.

iii) Design the shear reinforcement for the beam.

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