Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)

co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
1. About coupling beams
2. Design procedure in ACI318-14M
&EC8
3. Examples

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)

co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
1.About coupling beams
. Coupling beams are a very important member of a lateral force
resisting system. It couples two independent systems.
. When you have two independent shear walls or concentric braced
frames or anything that is helping you to resist lateral loads and
you want to connect them to reduce the overturning effect or
increase the overall stiffness of the system then you will use a
coupling beam to connect both the systems.
. As shown in image below, it is connecting two individual piers of
shear core. Imagine the deformation of the shear wall when a
lateral load is applied from left to right and they were not coupled
(connected). Both piers will move independently without any
harmony and this will further complicate the behavior so to make
them as a solid core we use the coupling beam to transfer force
from one pier to another
Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)
co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
1.About coupling beams

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)

co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
1.About coupling beams
. In order for the desired behavior of the coupled wall system to be
attained, the coupling beams must be sufficiently strong and stiff.
The
coupling beams, however, must also yield before the wall piers,
behave in a
ductile manner, and exhibit significant energy absorbing
characteristics

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)

co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
1.About coupling beams
There are two different types of coupling beams:
a. Conventionally reinforced coupling beam:
This is just a regular type of beam with horizontal top and bottom
reinforcement and shear ties. This beam is used when the aspect
ration of the beam is large or the beam is pretty long compared to
its depth. A long beam is a flexible one which means it can form
moment hinges at the ends and the failure is ductile failure.
b. Diagonally reinforced coupling beam
When the beam's aspect ratio is small, say depth of beam is very
similar to length, then the failure of beam is shear governed and the
beam will see a brittle failure. To resist brittle failure we provide
diagonal bars in coupling beam which will help in resisting shear
and it will also reduce the amount of shear reinforcement required
Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)
co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
2. Design procedure in ACI318ACI 318-14M
Eurocode 8 (clause
14M
&EC8 (clause
Conditions

ln
4
h

18.10.7)

5.5.3.5)

Types
Conventionally
reinf.

Types

ln
3
h

Ved f ctd bwd

Conventionally
reinf.

If not satisfied,
check this equation:

Diagonally
reinf.

Diagonally reinf.
ln
'
2 & Vu 0.33 f c Acw
h
CB not governed
Both
by 2 conditions
conventionally &
above
diagonally reinf.
Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong
(Vietnam) co.,ltd.

Conditions

Ved 2 Asi f yd sin

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
3. Examples and detailing

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)

co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Design coupling beams based on

ACI318-14M & Eurocode 8
3.1. Detailing based on ACI

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong (Vietnam)

co.,ltd.

11/1/16

Confinement of
individual diagonals

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong

(Vietnam) co.,ltd.

10

11/1/16

Confinement of
diagonally RC beam section

Pham Quang Chien C&S Engineer Tham & Wong

(Vietnam) co.,ltd.

11

11/1/16