ACI STRUCTURAL JOURNAL
Title no. 85-S47
Shear Design Consideration for Pretensioned
Prestressed Beams
by Kyuichi Maruyama and Sami H. Rizkalla
Typical cross sections commonly used for pretensioned precast con ~
crete beams are the thin-webbed tees or channels. For beams with {ow
shear span-to-depth ratio, where shear could be dominant, the pres-
ence of shear cracks may cause premature failure due to slippage 0/
the prestressing strands and alter the mode of failure.
This paper discusses the influence of slippage of the prestressing
strands on the beam behavior oj pretensioned prestressed concrete tee
beams, tested staticaffy up to failure. Contribution of various shear
reinforcement configuration, crack behavior, overall de/ormation,
and mode of failure are discussed. Based on the test results, a prOM
posed mechanism is introduced to describe the overall behavior of
such beams, and design recommendations are presented.
Keywords: beams (supports); cracking (fracturing); deformation; failUre; pre-
cast concrete; prestressed concrete; pretensloningi shear properties; slippage;
strains; stresses; structural design.
Precast prestressed concrete structural members have
become very popular due to the high-quality control
that can be achieved and the saving of construction
time. The typical cross sections commonly used for
beams are the thin-webbed tee and channel sections.
For beams with relatively low ratio of shear span-to-
depth ratio, where shear stresses become dominant,
initiation of shear crack could cause premature failure
due to slippage of the prestressing strands. Induced
tensile forces based on the truss analogy, '" in addition
to the presence of cracks, will deteriorate the bond
stresses and result in insufficient development length of
the strands according to the current American Con-
crete Institute (ACI) and Canadian Standards Associa-
tion (CSA) codes.'" Slippage of the strands could alter
the overall behavior and the mode of failure of such
beams. Premature failure could also influence the con-
tribution of the shear reinforcement of the various
types commonly used for such beams.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
This experimental program investigates the behavior
of pretensioned prestressed beams with low shear span-
to-depth ratio. The study includes the effect of the
sqear cracks on the development length recommended
492
TECHNICAL PAPER
by the ACI Building Code (ACI 318-83) that could lead
to premature failure of such beams. Based on the test
results, a proposed concept to describe the failure mode
for non prestressed and prestressed members is intro-
duced. Design recommendations for this category of
beam are presented.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
Test specimen
A total of nine pretensioned prestressed and two
nonprestressed tee beams with identical flexural rein-
forcement and shear span-to-depth ratio were tested
statically up to failure. The prestressed beams were
reinforced with various types of shear reinforcement
including two beams without web reinforcement, as
given in Table I. The different types of shear rein-
forcement were conventional double-legged, single-
legged, and three different types of commercially avail-
able welded wire fabric (WWF). For a constant stirrup
spacing s of 152 mm, * the steel area of the shear rein-
forcement A, was selected according to the yield
strength /y and the concrete strength /: to have similar
steel contributionA,/ylb.s/; as close as possible for all
the beams tested in this program, where b w is the web
width of the beam. All beams were designed with a
nominal flexural strength higher than the shear
strength. Typical dimension and cross-sectional details
of the test specimen are shown in Fig. I. Material
properties of the concrete and the steel used for shear
reinforcement are given in Table 1. A tension rein-
forcement ratio of 1.24 percent was used for all beams,
and the longitudinal bars were anchored using standard
90-deg bends at the ends of the beams.
·1 mm - 0.039 in.
Rec~ived June 17, 1987, and reviewed under Institute publication policies.
COPYright © 1988, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, including
the making of copies unless permission is obtained from thc copyright propri M
ctOfS. Pertinent discussion wHi be published in the )ulYMAugust 1989 ACI
Structural Journal if received by Mar. I, 1989.
ACI Structural Journal I September-October 1988
 Symm.
Kyuichi Maruyama is an associate professor, Civil Engineering Department,
University of Nagaoka, Japan. He received his ESc and MSc degrees from the ¢.
Applied Locd !
University of Tokyo, Japan, and his PhD from the University of Texas at Aus-
tin. He is a member of the Japan Concrete Institute. His research interests are
reinforced and prestressed concrete structures.

ACI member Saml H. Rizkal/a is a professor and Head of the Structures Divi-
sion of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Manitoba, Can-
ada. He received his ESc degree from Alexandria University, Egypt, and his
MSc and PhD degrees from North Carolina State University. He is afel/ow of
I
Support 1150 I 350
ASCE, and a member of the Prestressed Concrete Institute and the Canadian
Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE). He is also a member of the Executive
Totol span 3 500 mm
Committee of the Structures Division ofCSCE. His research activities are rein-
forced and prestressed concrete structures.

INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING APPARATUS 650mm

Prestressing forces were measured by load cells and
electrical resistance strain gages attached to the strands. ....,
co

The strain gages attached to the strands were moni" ~ 140

tored up to the time of testing to evaluate the prestress- 55
E
ing losses. The distribution of prestress losses in the
prestressing strand after 30 days of casting is shown in
Fig. 2. Measured values agreed very well with the
. ....,
.,E
~
co

o
Z-~13 Prestressed
stronds
transfer length recommended by the codesY The re- o
sults indicate an average loss at midspan of 18 percent, •• Z-15M
slightly higher than the predicted value recommended
by the Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI).'
All beams were loaded with two concentrated loads, 0.039 in.)
Fig. 1 - Test specimen (1 mm
as shown in Fig. 3, in increments of 30 kN* up to fail-
ure. At each load increment, strains of the longitudinal
bars, prestressing strands, and stirrups were measured
the tested beams at an average value of 70 and 90 kN,
and recorded. Deflection at midspan and at load loca-
respectively, as given in Table 2.
tions were also measured using linear variable deflec-
Additional shear cracks were observed by increasing
tion transducers (LVDTs). Average concrete strain and
the applied load, as typically shown in Fig. 5, for Spec-
crack width were measured by demec gages arranged on
imen PS6-WD. Typical load deflection curves for a
both shear spans of the beam, as shown in Fig. 4.
beam without web reinforcement, a beam with conven-
tional stirrups, and a beam reinforced with WWF is
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
shown in Fig. 6.
The loads corresponding to the first flexural crack
Based on strain readings of the gages attached to the
and first diagonal shear crack V" were identical for all strands, it was observed that slippage of the strands oc-
*I kN _ 0.225 kip. curred prematurely, as shown in Fig. 6. After slippage,

Table 1 - Overview of variables considered in the experimental program

Size of shear Yield Ultimate
Type of f: , Type of Percent of shear reinforcement, strength, strength, Elongation,
beam Mark MP, shear reinforcement reinforcement mm MP, MP, percent
Prestressed PSI-O 44.4 No - - - - -
PS2-S6M 43.5 Single-legged stirrups 0.176 6.08 536 697 23.5
PS3-D2 44.7 Dougle-legged stirrups 0.378 6.30 335 506 28.5
PS4·M2 43.2 Conventional steel mesh 0.189 6.30 393 517 26.0
PS5-0 40.5 No - - - - -
PS6-WD 38.1 Deformed wire mesh 0.155 5.74 645 645 4·6
PS7-WSH 39.2 Smooth wire mesh with 0.183 6.24 564 618 6·"
longitudinal wire at
midheight
PS8-WS 40.2 Smooth wire mesh 0. 183 6.24 558 570 7-8
PS9-WDH 41.5 Deformed wire mesh with 0.155 5.74 676 676 6
longitudinal wire at
midheight
Nonprestressed RSI-O 41.3 No - - - - -
RS2-WD 40.1 Deformed wire mesh 0.155 6.2 645 645 4-6
1 mm = 0.039 In.; 1 MPa - 0.145 ksl.

ACI Structural Journal I September-October 1988 493

 Symm. rmmJ
It.
Applied Load ~ !

-----== _ -=""--+"""4Jo.IlJ4..JilI..!4-I1 0 0
Support

r,10
""
v \
, Fig. 4 -
in.)
Demec measurement range (l mm = 0.039

...'"'"
co
'-{>. t;.
\
M84) code' equation in terms of the strand diameter of
~ 50 \$ t;. ~ db

~ ACI &\ "

10 14.6 CSA ':T:.-------ir----+
, ,
fd = 0.145 (j" - 0.67 L) db (1)

o 100 500,, 1000 1500 1750 slippage should not occur before an applied load of 150
kN, which is higher than the nominal shear capacity of
50db the beam, as given in Table 2. However, it was found
Span (mm)
that the measured load-carrying capacity of all beams
Fig. 2 - Distribution 0/ prestress losses (J mm = 0.039 corresponds to the development length measured from
in.) the point where the large shear crack crossed the pre-
stressing strands rather than the maximum moment lo-
cation.
The two nonprestressed beams, RSI -O and RS2-WD,
failed in shear as a result of propagation of the diago-
nal shear crack into the top flange, as shown in Fig. 7.
According to the strain compatibility and the actual
embedment length e, provided for 1400-mm beams,
from the maximum moment location, slippage should
not occur before an applied load of 115 kN, according
to Salmons and McCrate'

e, = 0.337 j, + 8.0 (in.) (2)

Even though the slippage load was less than or approx-

Fig. 3 - Test setup
all beams exhibited significant increase in the crack
widths, accompanied by extensive deflection without
reduction of the load-carrying capacity. Tests were ter-
minated based on the stroke limitation of the testing
machine of 100 mm. At this stage, the major shear
crack widths, for all beams, were more than 1.0 mm.
The concrete in the compression zone was neither
punched nor crushed .
The actual development length f d for all tested beams
is 1400 mm . Using the current CSA (CAN3-A23.3-
494
imately equal to the nominal shear capacity of the
tested beams as given in Table 2, shear failure occurred
before slippage .
The observed behavior confirms that the recom-
mended embedment length measured from the maxi-
mum moment location is quite adequate. However, the
current code recommendation for the development
length for pretensioned strands should be modified to
include the shear crack effect, or the length should be
measured from the point where shear crack crosses the
strands.
Contribution of the shear reinforcement
The presence of large shear cracks certainly reduced
the provided development length of the strands, caus-
ing premature failure of all pretensioned beams. How-
ACI Structural Journal I September-October 1988
 V(KN)
150

...e-- PS5-0
100

----vcr
50 • slippage
Fig. 5 - Typical specimen behavior reinforced with of strand Vslip
WWF

ever, reading of the strain gages attached to the stir-

rups indicated that at least two or more stirrups have o 5 10 15 20
yielded before slippage occurred, as given in Table 2.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the different shear tf (mm)
reinforcement configurations used in this program, the
steel contribution measured by the difference between Fig. 6 - Load deflection curve (l mm 0.039 in.; J
kN = 0.225 kip)
the load corresponding to the initiation of the first di-
agonal crack V" and the load at slippage of strand V'IiP
is compared to the calculated value V, in Fig. 8. The
calculated steel contribution was based on the truss
analogy with compression strut angle of 45 deg. Fig. 8
L __
suggests that conventional stirrups are more effective in
confining cracked concrete in comparison to WWF up ///
to slippage. This behavior could be attributed to possi-
ble enhancement of the confinement of the concrete by
the conventional stirrups and / or due to the lack of
ductility of the welded wire fabric to redistribute the
stresses. However, due to the premature failure of the
beam rather than the shear failure, no general conclu-
sion could be made at this stage regarding the effec-
tiveness of the WWF as shear reinforcement. Fig. 7 - Failure of nonprestressed beam

Table 2 - Test results and predicated values

Test results Predicted values
Fist yield Slip of
of stirrup, strand . V., V_, Vrt kN
V"
Type Mark kN kN kN kN ACI CSA JSCE kN
Prestressed PSI ·O - 113 90 121 95 69 66 -
PS2·S6M 135 136 98 151 95 69 66 38.9
PS3·D2 135 145 95 156 95 69 66 52. I
PS4·M2 120 133 96 146 95 69 66 31.1
PS5·0 - II 3 87 114 94 68 64 -
PS6·WD 120 135 101 139 93 68 63 41.2
PS7·WSH II3 120 90 134 94 68 64 42.5
PS8·WS II3 120 98 123 94 68 64 42.0
PS9·WDH 120 120 94 128 94 68 64 43.2

Nonprestressed
RSI·O - - 45 68 94 36 43 -
RS2·WD 90 - 45 126 94 36 43 41.2
I kN := 0.225 kip.

ACI Structural Journal I September·October 1988 495

 VCKN)
( %) ~: ~
100 -S-~ :::-------- 150

~50
=-
ca
..,u
----;:::
jljltL?i iii ...
=- u

L. .- -"' '- ' ' ' -=-. . Lo:.l~:' '-:

, I I
0.5 1.0 2.0
~ } 0 ,', _""::.::"--1:.:"",1.:_ WmaxCmml
Ii:
CD
N N
CI IE
CI
:!I
:z:
'" =
'" :!I CI Fig. 10 - Maximum shear crack width (1 mm ; 0.039

I I
CO)
I
..".
I =r= I
CDr0- C
;= OJ
in.; 1 kN ; 0.225 kip)

V (K N!
'"
IL '" a.. '"
a.. '" a.. '"
a.. '"
a.. '"
a..
150
Fig. 8 - Contribution oj stirrups

100 xPS6-WD
CI .. PS7-WSH
CI <»PSB-WS

J
N
III PS 9-WDH

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

W max (mm)
(mm)
Fig. 11 - Maximum shear crack width Jor beam with
WWF (1 mm ; 0.039 in.; 1 kN ; 0.225 kip)

Shear crack width

The measured concrete surface deformation in three
directions, as shown in Fig . 9, and angle of cracks were
used to evaluate the crack width Wand the slide along
the crack S. The maximum shear crack widths of beams
without web reinforcement and with conventional stir-
rups were compared to Beam PS6-WD reinforced with
deformed WWF in Fig. 10. The maximum crack width
for beams with different types of WWF are shown in
Fig. II. Fig. 10 and 11 indicate that the crack width
was not influenced by the type of web reinforcement
until yielding of the stirrups.

Shear resistance mechanism

Typical premature failure due to slippage of strands,
W: Crack Width after yielding of a few stirrups, prevented failure of the
pretensioned beam in shear. After slippage, all beams
S: Slide exhibited large crack widths and excessive deformation
before failure. This behavior suggested that failure of
Fig. 9 - Shear crack width and slide (1 mm ; 0.039 beams is mainly controlled by the condition of the con-
in.) crete in the compression zone.
496 ACI Structural Journal I September-October 1988
 V (KN) V (KN)
150
150

100 -I- PS6-WD

Ii PS7-WSH
100 0
• PSI-O
PS2-S6M
PS8-WS
(I
PS9-WDH ... PS3-D2
10I t;,.
t;,. PS4-M2
oI _ _ _--'-_ _....I.I_ _- ' -_ _--1..
1 -
X PS6-WD
L

5 10 15 20 T I
o 20
r CW+S) mm 5 10 15
[CW+S) mm
Fig. 12 - Total movement for beams with different
shear reinforcement configuration (1 mm = 0.039 in.;
1 kN = 0.225 kip) Fig. 13 - Total movement for beams with various
WWF (l mm = 0.039 in.; 1 kN = 0.225 kip)

Due to the difficulty in measuring the strain condi-

tion of the concrete in the compression zone, in addi-
tion to the fact that the strain is not uniform across the
v (KN)
top flange, the deformation of the web elements was
considered in this study. The overall movement of the 150
beam based on the summation of width and slide of the
shear crack in all demec measurement ranges, for spec-
imens reinforced with different types of WWF, is
shown in Fig. 12. Specimen PS6-WD, with deformed
WWF, is compared to the other conventional rein-
forcements, including Beam PS1-0 without web rein-
forcement, in Fig. 13 . Due to the limited range of the il.
/

/
mechanical gage devices used, the total movement for ,..:
some specimens was extrapolated, as shown in Fig. 14. I
I
The behavior suggests that the strain condition of the / RS2-WD
c0mpression zone, for nonprestressed and prestressed, II
I
is unique at ultimate regardless of the web reinforce- X
/
ment ratio or configuration. Other parameters such as )t
confinement of concrete, percentage of reinforcement,
and prestressing effect will mainly affect the service- /----RS1-0
ability and the load-carrying capacity. of the beam be-
fore reaching a unique ultimate movement. Fig. 14 in-
dicates also that the effectiveness of prestressing on the
confinement is constant for both beams with and with-
out web reinforcement.

Design considerations
Based on the observed behavior and the measured, . .'_
o 5 10 15 20
response, tIie following conditions should be consid- CW+S) r: mm
ered in designing pretensioned prestressed thin web
beams:
1. The development length for the strands should be Fig. 14 - Total movement for nonprestressed and pre-
measured from the point where major shear cracks in- stressed beams (l mm = 0.039 in.; 1 kN = 0.225 kip)
ACI Structural Journal I September·October 1988 497
tersect the prestressing strands rather than the maxi-
mum moment location as recommended by the codes.
2. If welded wire fabrics are used as shear reinforce-
ments, a minimum ductility should be specified to in-
sure adequate effectiveness similar to conventional stir-
rups.
CONCLUSION
Behavior of commercially used pretensioned pre-
stressed tee beams reinforced with different types of
shear reinforcement was tested. All beams failed pre-
maturely due to slippage of the prestressing strands.
Test results indicated that the development length for
pretensioned strands should be measured from the
point where shear cracks intersect the strands rather
than the maximum moment location as recommended
by the codes. Failure of two beams reinforced with
nonpretensioned strands confirms the validity of the
embedment length proposed by Salmons and Mc-
Crate'
Based on the behavior of prestressed and nonpre-
stressed beams reinforced with different types of shear
reinforcement, a proposed concept for the role of all
reinforcement is introduced. The proposed concept may
not be used directly for design but could be helpful in
understanding the load-resistant mechanism of beams.
498
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The experimental program was conducted at the University of
Manitoba, and the project was supported financially by the Natural
Science and Engineering Research Council o f Canada. Steel bed
forms and material provided by Con-Force Ltd., Winnipeg, and
DUR-O-WAL Ltd., Chicago, Ill., are greatly appreciated. The au-
thors wish to express their appreciation to Messrs . Arunachal Ray and
Xiao Yi Xuan for their help in the construction and testing of the
specimens tested in this program. Special thanks are given to Messrs.
Moray McVey, Ed Lemke, and Dave Fedorowich, Structural Lab,
University of Manitoba, for technical assistance.
REFERENCES
1. Grob, J., and Thurlimann, B., "Ultimate Strength and Design
of Reinforced Concrete Beams under Bending and Shear," Publica-
tions No. 36(11), International Association for Bridge and Structural
Engineering, Zi.irich, 1976, p. IS.
2. Collins, Michael P., and Mitchell, Denis, "Shear and Torsion
Design of Prestressed and Non-Prestressed Concrete Beams," Jour-
nal. Prestressed Concrete Institute, V. 25, No.5, Sept. -Oct. 1980, pp.
32-100.
3. ACI Committee 318, "Building Code Requirements for Rein-
forced Concrete (ACI 318M-83)," American Concrete Institute, De-
troit, 1983, 111 pp.
4. "Code for the Design of Concrete Structures for Buildings,"
(CAN3-A23.3-M84), Canadian Standards Association, Rexdale, 1984,
281 pp.
5. PCI Committee on Prestress Losses, "Recommendations for
Estimating Prestress Losses," Journal, Prestressed Concrete Insti-
tute, V. 20, No.4, July-Aug. 1975, pp. 43-75.
6. Salmons, John R., and McCrate, Timothy E .• "Bond Charac-
teristics of Untensioned Prestressing Strand," Journal, Prestressed
Concrete Institute, V. 22, No.1, Jan. -Feb. 1977, pp. 52-65.
ACI Structural Journal I September-October 1988