DIAGONAL TENSION FAILURE OF RC BEAMS WITHOUT STIRRUPS

The shear failure of reinforced concrete beams is one of the fundamental problems in civil engineering; however, the diagonal tension strength of reinforced concrete (RC) beams without stirrups is still in question. This paper focuses on the prediction of diagonal cracking strength of RC slender beams without stirrups. In slender beams, flexural cracks develop in the tension zone prior to a diagonal cracking. Using the basic principles of mechanics, but cracking included, and theory of elasticity, a diagonal cracking strength equation is proposed for both normal and high strength concrete beams. The proposed equation, the requirements of six codes of practice and seven equations proposed by different researchers are compared to the experimental results of 282 beams available in the literature. It is found that the predictions from the proposed equation are in good agreement with the experimental results.