STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE FOR WIDE-SHALLOW BEAM IN SHEAR (COMPARATIVE STUDY)

Abstract

Many floor systems contain wide shallow beams to carry floor loads and transfer it to columns. For example, in bridge construction, a system of wide shallow beams (WSBs) may provide a simple and economical system to transfer loads from the slab deck to columns. In many of these design situations, it is often advantageous to use different member widths to minimize reinforcement conflicts and reduce overall congestion. This geometrical peculiarity deserves some attention and caution while dealing with the behaviour at ultimate limit states for shear and flexure. Seven wide-shallow beams with edge columns specimens were used to investigate the effect of width to depth ratios (b/d) and column width to beam width ratios (c/b) on the performance of shear capacity. The performances were measured in terms of deflection, ultimate loads, crack patterns, web reinforcement strains, and shear strain distribution a cross width. The results revealed that, the contribution of concrete formals of the international codes must be recalibrated.

Keywords

• floor systems
• wide shallow beams
• floor loads
• bridge construction
• reinforcement conflicts