Andor Windisch

Shear Strength of Reinforced Concrete Slender Beams with or without Axial Forces: A Generalized Theory

A theory for the shear strength of reinforced concrete rectangular and T-section beams, with or without axial forces, is described. This theory is an extension of the theory for slender rectangular and T-beams without axial forces described in previous work. This generalized theory results in a simple expression for the shear strength, which is equally applicable to rectangular and T-beams with or without axial forces. An effective width suitable for predicting the shear strength of T beams is used in this expression. The effect of the action of axial forces is taken into account by a suitable determination of the depth of the compression zone. A correction factor to account for the size effect is also included. The proposed generalized formula has been verified in previous works for slender rectangular and T beams without axial forces. Now, it is verified for rectangular and T-beams with axial forces. The comparisons of the theoretical results with the experimental results from the literature obtained on slender rectangular and T beams with various magnitudes of axialforces-compressive and/or tensile-are in very good agreement.