Mechanical model for punching shear capacity of rectangular slab-column connections

This paper investigates the punching behavior of reinforced concrete flat slabs supported on rectangular columns under concentric loading. Based on the critical shear crack theory, a new model is proposed to determine the punching shear strength of slabs. In this model, a rectangular slab is replaced with an elliptical surface with the same area. The efficiency of the model is validated through comparisons made with experimental studies in the literature. Furthermore, results are compared with three different codes, namely, ACI, Eurocode 2, and FIB Model Code 2010. Finally, an alternative approach is introduced to facilitate the calculation of the punching shear capacity of slabs with column rectangularity considerations. For the experimental tests available in the literature, good shear strength predictions were obtained by the two proposed models.