SHEAR REINFORCEMENT DESIGN

Concrete beam can fail due to excessive shear as shown below.

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 below , which also
shows how reinforcement can assist in resisting the shear.

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 Typical failure mode due to shear for a simply supported
beam

Shear reinforcement is either in the form of :

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

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 below:

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 Beam carrying shear: links in tension and concrete in
compression

The angle of concrete strut varies depending on the shear force

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

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 Fig: Choice of

EC2 allows the designer to vary the angle of the strut to obtain the
most economical solution. However an angle 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 below:

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

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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 below:
(c) the requirements for minimum reinforcement should be
checked and a suitable arrangement of links should be
chosen.

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 Figure: Critical sections for a beam carrying shear

Design Procedures 1 (For = 220)

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

2. Find vEd1=shear stress at the face of the support = V Ed1 /

(0.9 bwd).

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

Table: Rd concrete strut capacities for calculations of shear

in beams

4. If v Ed1 is greater than vRd then see the design procedure 2

for use
of other values of up to 45 . In some cases it may be
necessary
to use a larger beam or a higher class of concrete.

5. If v Ed1 is not greater than v Rd then use = 22 and follow

steps 6
11.

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

support.

7. Find v Ed2 = shear stress at a distance d from the face of

the
support = V Ed2 /(0.9 bwd ).

8. Calculate the area of shear reinforcement required:

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 Asw/s = 0.4v Ed2 b w / 0.87 f yk .

Since f yk is always 500 N/mm2 , this gives Asw/s = 0.00092 v

Ed2 bw .

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

Table: 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.

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 below
may be used for single links, and other arrangements
using multiple links are shown in Figure 3.13 .

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Table 3.22 : Area of shear links Asw /s (mm2 /mm) for various link
sizes and spacings (based on two legs per link)

Figure 3.13 : 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 .

EXAMPLE

A simply supported reinforced concrete beam with an

effective span of 7.0 m is 500 mm deep overall by 250 mm

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wide (see Figure below). It supports the following
characteristic loads:

Permanent dead loads: 12.0 kN/m plus 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.

SOLUTIONS

Beam width b= bw = 250 mm

Beam overall height h = 500 mm

Effective span L = 7.0 m

F = 1.35 G k + 1.50 Q k, = 1.35 x 105.9 + 1.50 x 77.0 =

258.5 kN

Concrete strength f ck = 40 N/mm2

Effective depth d = 500 25 10 12.5 = 452.5 mm

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

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

Width of support =150 mm, so distance from centre of

support
to 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

v Ed1 = V Ed1 /(0.9 bw d ) = 126.5 x 103 /(0.9 x 250 x 452.5)

= 1.24 N/mm2

From Table with f ck = 40 N/mm2 ; v Rd = 4.63 N/mm2

Check v Ed1 is not more than v Rd OK

Effective depth d = 0.4525 m, so

V E d2 = 126.5 258.5 x 0.4525/7.0 = 109.8
kN

v Ed2 =V Ed2 /(0.9 b w d )= 109.8 x 103 /(0.9 x 250 x 452.5)

= 1.08 N/mm2

Asw / s = 0.00092 v Ed2 b w = 0.00092 x 1.08 x 250 = 0.248

mm2 /mm
From Table , with f ck = 40 N/mm2 ,
Min. A sw / s = 0.0010 b w = 0.0010 x 250 = 0.25 mm 2 /mm

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

From Table, with A sw /s not less than 0.25 mm 2

/mm,
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by interpolation.
Use H8 links at 325 mm centres
A sw /s = 0.309 mm2 /mm

(alternatively, 2x x d2/4 /325 = 0.25, d=7.19 mm (Use H8)

DESIGN PROCEDURE 2 ( 220 < < 450)

If v Ed1 is greater than vRd then use the following procedure

for use of other values of up to 45 .

1. Calculate the ultimate design shear forces VEd along the

beams span.
2. Check the crushing strength VRd,max of the concrete diagonal
strut at the section of maximum shear, usually V Ef at the face
of the beams support.

For most cases the angle of inclination of the strut is = 22 o

(cot 2.5) and tan = 0.4, so that VRd,max can be calculated
using the expression:

0.36bw d (1 f ck / 250) f ck
V Rd ,max -------(1)
(cot tan )
And if VRd,max VEf with = 220 and cot = 2.5 then go
directly to step 3. However, if VRd,max < VEf then >220 and
therefore must be calculated from the following
expression:

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 VEf
}
0.5 sin 1 { f ck 450 --------(2)
0.18bw d (1 ) f ck
250

V
Or 0.5 sin V 45 0
1 Ef

Rd , max( 45)

If this calculation gives a value of > 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:

Asw V Ed
-------(3)
s 0.78df yk cot

where Asw is the cross-sectional area of the legs of the links

2
(2x for single stirrups)
4

For a predominantly Uniformly Distributed Load the shear V ED

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

Asw
Vmin = x0.78df yk cot -------(4)
s

4. Calculate the minimum links required by EC2 from:

0.5
Asw, min 0.08 f ck bw
----------(5)
s f yk

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

Ftd 0.5V Ed cot ------(6)

EXAMPLE

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)

175

2H25

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 200x0.3/2 = 770 kN
Shear, VEd distance d from face of support= 770 200x0.65 = 640 kN

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STEP 1

v Ed1 = V Ed1 /(0.9 bw d ) = 770x103/(0.9x350x650) = 3.76

N/mm2

STEP 2

From Table, for fck = 30 N/mm2 v Rd = 3.64 N/mm2

Since v Ed1 >v Rd proceed to Procedure 2

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

the face of the beam support.

Using equation 1 with =220

V Rd ,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 =450

V Rd , max( 45 ) 0.18bw d (1 f ck / 250) f ck

= 0.18 x 350 x 650( 1 - 30/250)30
= 1081 kN (>VEf = 770 kN)

Therefore, 220 < <450

STEP 2

Determine angle using equation 2,

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 V Ef
0.5 sin 1
45 0
VRd , max( 45)

= 0.5 x sin-1( 770/1081 )= 22.70

And cot = 2.39

STEP 3

Determine the shear resistance of the links

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

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
V Rd , 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 0.5V Ed cot

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 = 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.

TUTORIAL

Q1. Design the shear reinforcement for the simply supported beam
which is supported on 300 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
225
300
200

Q2. 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.

d = 550

425

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 b = 300

Given, fck =40 N/mm2, fy = 500 N/mm2

ASSIGNMENT

Rajah di bawah menunjukkan pelan lantai tingkat kedua sebuah bangunan.

Data berikut diberi,
Ketebalan papak konkrit = 125 mm
Beban kenaan di atas papak = 3.0 kN/m2
Berat konkrit = 25 kN/m3
fyk = 500 N/mm2
fck = 30 N/mm2
Berat dinding bata di atas rasuk = 2.0 kN/m
Kemasan lantai = 1.5 kN/m2
Reinforcement Cover = 25 mm

Dengan mengandaikan rasuk sekunder 2/B-C sebagai tupang mudah,

(i) Kirakan beban rekabentuk pada rasuk.

(ii) Kirakan daya ricih rekabentuk untuk rasuk.
(iii) Rekabentuk tetulang ricih bagi rasuk tersebut.

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 125

450

300
All dimensions in mm

Beam D/1-3

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