A Simple Approach to Predict the Shear Capacity and Failure Mode of Fix-ended Reinforced Concrete Deep Beams based on Experimental Study

Abstract

ReinforcedConcrete (RC) deepbeamsare commonlyusedin structural design totransfervertical loads when there is a vertical discontinuity in the load path. Due to their deep geometry, the force distribution withinthe RCdeep beamsisvery different than the RC shallow beams. There are some strut andtie model (STM)already beendevelopedfor RCdeep beams. However, most of these models are developedfor RCdeep beamswith the simplysupportedboundarycondition, which do not apply for RCdeep beamswith the fix-endedcondition. In this paper, five fixed-end RC deep beams have been testedexperimentallywhich were subjectedtomonotonic andcyclic loads. Also, a simple STM was proposed to simulate the load capacity and failure mode of fix-ended RC deep beams. The proposedSTM hasthemainstrut andsubstrutstosimulate the force distribution within the RC deep beams. This STM were verified using five fixed-end RC deep beams subjected to monotonic and cyclic loadsandcomparedtothe response of 31additional independent experimental tests. The result showsthe newly proposedSTM cansimulate the loadcapacity andfailuremode offix-ended RC deep beams very well.