Reinforced concrete beams with openings - A simplified design concept

A comprehensive design concept for reinforced concrete beams with large openings was presented in Beton- und Stahlbetonbau 97, booklet 3, 2002. In recent years six laboratory tests were carried out to verify the design concept. Additionally extensive Finite Element computations with physically nonlinear material models were conducted to analyse the structural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams with opening groups. In this paper a simplified design concept for reinforced concrete beams with large openings and opening groups is presented which is based on the results of the test series and the FE-computations. © 2006 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG.