Punching strength of flat slabs with varying shear reinforcement ratios

With the introduction of Eurocode 2 in Germany, the punching shear design provisions of flat slabs were revised. Since then, the punching shear strength with shear reinforcement is calculated from the combination of a constant concrete contribution and a steel contribution, which results from a strut inclination of 33 degrees. Besides, a reduced steel strength depending on the effective depth of the flat slab is assumed for the calculation of the steel contribution to consider the anchorage conditions of the shear reinforcement elements. Due to a database analysis and an evaluation of the level of safety compared to the former DIN 1045-1, additional factors have been implemented in German Annex to Eurocode 2 (EC2+NA(D)) for the first and second row of shear reinforcement leading to almost twice the amount of required shear reinforcement. Various test series on reinforced concrete flat slabs without shear reinforcement and with high amounts of shear reinforcement are available and can be used for the evaluation of the current provisions. Nevertheless, the evaluation of the code equations for the design of the shear reinforcement (failure inside the shear-reinforced zone) is still not possible since only very few systematic punching tests with a varying amount of shear reinforcement have been conducted. To investigate the punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete flat slabs with stirrups as shear reinforcement, three systematic test series (eleven specimens) with varying shear reinforcement ratios were performed. Each test series included one reference test without shear reinforcement. In the tests, the shear reinforcement ratio was varied by changing the stirrup diameter only. Further investigated influences were the shear span-depth ratio and the effective depth. In this paper, the results of the tests are presented, discussed and compared to the predictions according to Eurocode 2 and EC2+NA(D). Moreover, the punching design provisions according to Model Code 2010 are evaluated.