DESIGN FOR SHEAR

There are two methods used:

(i) The Standard Method
(ii) The variable Strut Inclination Method
The ultimate design shear force VEd is resisted by shear reinforcement and shear resistance of concrete

VRd ,c .

Shear reinforcement takes the form of:

(a) Vertical Links
(b) A combination of Vertical Links and bent up bars
Shear resistance of concrete without links VRd ,c is carried by a combination of three components

(i) Concrete in the compression zone

(ii) Doweling action of tensile reinforcement
(iii) Aggregate interlock across flexural cracks.

Variable strut Inclination Method of Shear Design

This is the method given in Eurocode 2;
Advantages:
By choosing the inclination of the compressive struts within the analogous truss, it is possible to design for
lower areas of shear reinforcement and using the standard method
Disadvantage
Additional longitudinal reinforcement is necessary

Consider the analogous truss shown in the Figure below in the truss:
(i) Vertical stirrups act as transverse ties
(ii) Longitudinal bottom reinforcement provides a tension chord
(iii) Concrete acts as a top compression member and as diagonal compression members inclined
at a variable angle 
In the analogous truss;
Asw is the cross –sectional area of the two legs of the stirrup

f ywd is the design yield strength of the stirrup reinforcement

Page 1 of 13
f yk is the characteristic strength of the stirrup reinforcement

VEd is the design shear force due to ultimate loads

Vwd

VEd

Using the method of sections; cutting a section (X-X) and equating the forces in the vertical direction, the
force in the vertical stirrup must equal the shear force
f yk Asw
VEd  Vwd  f ywd Asw   0.87 f yk Asw
1.15
In this case the contribution of concrete is neglected;
If the links are spaced a distance s apart then the force in each link is given by
s
VRd ,s  f ywd Asw
z cot 

Page 2 of 13
 Asw
VRd ,s  z f ywd cot  (6.8)
s
This is given as equation (6.8) in the code
The shear force applied to a section must also be limited such that excessive compressive stresses do not
occur in the diagonal compressive struts which could lead to compressive failure of concrete. Using the
method of sections at section (Y-Y) the vertical component of force in the compressive strut must equal the
shear force VEd , if is taken as the limiting shear force for compressive failure;

VRd ,max

VEd

VRd ,max
Force in strut 
sin 
Area of strut  bw z cos  

Force VRd ,max  f 

Stress in strut    f cd   ck 
Area bw z sin  cos   1.5 
Therefore;
f 
VRd ,max  bw z ck  sin  cos 
 1.5 
This can also be expressed as;
bw zfck
VRd ,max 
1.5cot   tan 
The code modifies this equation by adding an efficiency factor v to give equation (6.9)
bw zvfck
VRd ,max  (6.9a)
1.5cot   tan 
The code also requires that

Page 3 of 13
Asw f ywd 1
 vfcd (6.12)
bw s 2
Expressed in terms of characteristic strength
Asw f yk
 0.383vfck
bw s
In this method, it is necessary to increase the amount of longitudinal reinforcement above that required for
resisting the ultimate design moment
Resolving forces horizontally for section (Y-Y) the longitudinal component of the force in the compressive
strut is given by;
VEd
Longitudin al Force  x cos 
sin 
If it is assumed that half of this force is carried by the reinforcement in the tension zone of the beam, then
additional tensile force Ftd to be provided in the tensile zone is given by;

Ftd  0.5VEd cot   0.87 f yk As1

(6.18)

For inclined bars

zf yk cot   cot  sin 

Asw
VRd ,s  0.87 (6.13)
s
bw zvfck cot   cot  
VRd ,max  (6.14)
 
1.5 1  cot 2 
Check the maximum effective cross sectional area of shear reinforcement Asw,max , for cot   1.0

Asw,max f ywd 1  vf 
  cd  (6.15)
bw s 2  sin  

Ftd  0.5VEd cot   cot    0.87 f yk Asl (6.18)

 M Ed   F should not be greater  M Ed ,max  , where M

   z  Ed ,max is the maximum moment
 z 
td

along the beam.

Page 4 of 13
Procedure for design of shear reinforcement in Beams
(1) Check that the design shear force VEd , f at the face of the support is not greater than the shear

resistance VRd

VEd , f  VRd

Where;
VEd , f is the design shear force at the support face obtained from the shear force diagram

For members with vertical shear reinforcement, the shear resistance VRd is the smaller of
expression in equations (6.8) and (6.9)
Asw
VRd ,s  z f ywd cot  (6.8)
s
 cwbw z 1 f cd
VRd ,max  (6.9)
cot   tan 
VRd ,max is the design value of the maximum shear force which can be sustained by the member

limited by crushing of the compression strut.

s is the spacing of the stirrups
Asw is the cross –sectional area of the shear reinforcement

f ywd is the design strength of the shear reinforcement

 cw is a coefficient taking account of the state of stress in the compression cord

 cw  1.0 for non prestressed structures
 1 is a strength reduction factor for concrete cracked in shear. v1  v

  0.61 
 f ck 
250 
f ck in N / mm2  (6.6N)

z is the lever arm assumed to be the distance between the top and bottom reinforcement
z  0.9d
f ck
f cd 
1.5
 is the angle of inclination of the compression strut to the axis of the beam,
Thus;

Page 5 of 13
 bw zvfck
VRd ,max  (6.9a)
1.5cot   tan 
Check the maximum effective cross sectional area of shear reinforcement Asw,max , for cot   1.0

Asw,max f ywd 1
 vfcd (6.12)
bw s 2

For members with inclined shear reinforcement, the shear resistance VRd is the smaller of

expression in equations (6.13) and (6.14)

zf ywd cot   cot  sin 

Asw
VRd ,s  (6.13)
s
bw zvfcd cot   cot  
VRd ,max  (6.14)

1  cot 2  
Check the maximum effective cross sectional area of shear reinforcement Asw,max , for cot   1.0

Asw,max f ywd 1  vf 
  cd  (6.15)
bw s 2  sin  

(2) Calculate the shear resistance of concrete without links VRd ,c


VRd ,c  CRd ,c k 1001 f ck  3  k1 cp bwd
1
 (6.2a)

The expression k1 cp applies to prestressed concrete. Therefore for reinforced concrete equation

(6.2a) reduces to;


VRd ,c  CRd ,c k 1001 f ck  3 bwd
1

The minimum value of VRd ,c is given by equation

VRd ,c,min  vmin bwd (6.2b)

3 1
vmin  0.035k 2
f ck 2 (6.3N)
Where:
f ck is in N / mm2

200
k  1  2.0, with d in mm
d
0.18 0.18
CRd ,c    0.12
c 1.5

Page 6 of 13
 As1
1   0.02
bw d

As1 is the area of the tensile reinforcement, which extends  lbd  d  beyond the section
considered as shown in Figure 6.3 of EC2

(3) If VEd  VRd ,c shear reinforcement is required and is calculated from equation (6.8)

Asw
VRd , s  z f ywd cot   VEd
s
Asw V Ed

s zf ywd cot  
Considering; z  0.9d , and f ywd  0.87 f yk

Where;
  2 
Asw is the cross sectional area of the legs of the stirrups; Asw  2  for sin gle stirrups
 4 
s is the spacing of stirrups
(4) Provide minimum shear reinforcement in the central part of the beam span where the design shear
is small
The ratio of shear reinforcement is given by equation 9.4;
Asw
w  (9.4)
s bw sin  
Where;

Page 7 of 13
  w is the shear reinforcement ratio; which should not be less than  w,min

Asw is the area of shear reinforcement within length s

s is the spacing of shear reinforcement measured along the longitudinal axis of the member
bw is the breadth of the web of the member

 is the angle between shear reinforcement and the longitudinal axis

 w,min 
0.08 f ck  (9.5N)
f yk

Therefore
Asw
  w,min bw
s

(5) For members with vertical shear reinforcement, provide additional tensile reinforcement of area;
VEd cot 
As1 
0.87 f yk

(6) For members with inclined shear reinforcement, provide additional tensile reinforcement of area;
VEd cot   cot  
As1 
0.87 f yk

(7) Check maximum spacing of links in the longitudinal direction.

sl ,max  0.75d 1  cot  

(8) Check maximum spacing of links in the transverse direction

st ,max  0.75d  600mm

Shear between the web and flange of a flanged section

 The shear strength of the flange may be calculated by considering the flange as a system of
compressive struts combined with ties in form of tensile reinforcement
 The longitudinal shear stress vEd at the junction between one side of the flange and the web is

determined by the change of the normal (longitudinal) force in the part of the flange considered.
Fd
vEd  (6.20)
h f x 
Where;
Page 8 of 13
 h f is the thickness of the flange at the junction

x is the length under consideration as given in Figure 6.7

Fd is the change of the normal force in the flange over length x

The maximum value of x is half the distance between the section where the moment is zero and the
section where the moment is maximum as shown in the figure below;

x x

For point loads x  the distance between point loads

Page 9 of 13
 x

The transverse reinforcement per unit length Asf s f  is given by equation 6.21

 Asf f yd  vEd h f
  (6.21)
 s  cot 
 f 
To prevent crushing of the compressive struts in the flange, equation (6.22) must be satisfied.
VEd  vfcd sin  cos  (6.22)

Range of  f

(i) 1.0  cot  f  2.0 for compression flange

(ii) 1.0  cot  f  1.25 for tension flange

For combined shear and, transverse bending between the flange and the web the area of steel should be
greater than that given in equation (6.21)

If vEd  kfcd no extra reinforcement above that fo flexure is needed

k  0.4

A beam 300mmx600mm deep with material strength f ck  25N / mm2 , f yk  460 N / mm2 for

longitudinal steel and f wyk  250 N / mm2 for links. The design shear force supported by the beam at the

column face is 342kN and the beam effective depth is d=550mm design shear reinforcement. Assume
cot   1.0 and 10 mm links, the area of longitudinal bars at the support is As  942mm2 , ultimate load is
q  114kN / m
Solution
Maximum Shear Resistance
Page 10 of 13
 bw zvfck
From equation (6.9) maximum design shear resistance is given by; VRd ,max 
1.5cot   tan 
Where
 f ck   25 
  0.61    0.61    0.54 (6.6N)
 250   250 
z  0.9d  0.9x550  495mm
therefore
bw zvfck  300 x495 x0.54 x25  3
VRd ,max     x10  668.25kN  VEd  342kN
1.5cot   tan   1.5x1  1 
Shear links are given by:
Asw V Ed

s zf ywd cot  

The shear resistance of concrete without links VRd ,c


VRd ,c  CRd ,c k 1001 f ck  3  k1 cp bw d
1
 (6.2a)
The expression k1 cp applies to prestressed concrete. Therefore for reinforced concrete equation (6.2a)

reduces to;


VRd ,c  CRd ,c k 1001 f ck 
1
3 b d
w

The minimum value of VRd ,c is given by equation

VRd ,c,min  vmin bwd

(6.2b)
3 1
vmin  0.035k 2
f ck 2
(6.3N)
Where:

200 200
k 1 1  1.603  2.0, ok
d 550
0.18 0.18
CRd ,c    0.12
c 1.5
As1 942
1    0.00571  0.02 ok
bw d 300 x550

Page 11 of 13
 
VRd ,c  CRd ,c k 1001 f ck 
1
3 b d  0.12x1.603100x0.00571x25  x300x550x10
w
1
3 3
 77kN

Check the minimum value of VRd ,c is given by equation

VRd ,c,min  vmin bwd (6.2b)

3 1
vmin  0.035k 2
f ck 2 (6.3N)
Therefore

VRd ,c , min   0.035k f ck 2 bw d   0.035 x1.603 2 x25 2  x300 x550 x10 3  58.6kN
3 1 3 1
2
   
VRd ,c min  VRd ,c ok
Since

Determine shear area

Asw VEd 342 x103

s zf ywd cot    495x0.87 x250 x1.0  3.17
For R10 links, Asw  2 x78.5  157mm2

Asw 157
  3.17
s s
157
Therefore the spacing is given by; s   49.5mm
3.17
Provide R10 at 40mm

Minimum Links
Minimum shear reinforcement is in the central part of the beam span where the design shear is small
The ratio of shear reinforcement is given by equation 9.4;
Asw
w  (9.4)
s bw sin  
Where;
  900 ;the angle between shear reinforcement and the longitudinal axis, thus sin   1.0
Therefore
Asw
  w,min bw
s
Where
Page 12 of 13
  w,min 
0.08 f ck   0.08 25   0.0016
f yk 250

Asw
  w,min bw  0.0016 x300  0.48
s
157
Therefore spacing in the beam centre is given by; s   327mm
0.48
Provide R10 at 300mm centers
Asw 157
  0.523
s 300
Shear resistance of minimum links
A 
Vmin   sw  z f ywd cot   VRd ,c  0.523x495 x0.87 x250 x1.0x10 3  77  133.2kN
 s  min

Extent of shear links

Shear links are required at each end of the beam from the face of the support up to the point at
shear Vmin
Distance x from the face of the support is given by;
VEd  Vmin 342  133
x   1.83mm
q 114
Therefore, provide R10 links at 50mm for 1.83m from the column face at each end.

For members with vertical shear reinforcement, the additional longitudinal tensile reinforcement of area is
given by
VEd cot  342 x103 x1.0
; As1    855mm2
0.87 f yk 0.87 x 460

Page 13 of 13