Shear strength model of reinforced concrete circular cross-section

members
I. Merta
Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Building Construction and Technology, Austria
Keywords: reinforced concrete, shear, circular section
ABSTRACT: A shear capacity model of reinforced concrete members with circular cross section transversely
reinforced with circular hoops has been developed. The proposed model is based on the truss analogy by adding
a concrete contribution term to the capacity of the shear reinforcement. An additional deviatoric shear resisting
mechanism of hoops - present solely in members with curved transverse reinforcement - was identied and
expressed analytically. It is explained by the fact that a curved reinforcing bar under tension induces compression
in radial direction as well. The component of this compressive force in the direction of external shear could thus
be considered as an additional shear enhancing mechanism of the hoops. Its magnitude is expressed through the
friction force that is present between the concrete and steel after the section is cracked and the bond partially
destroyed. The concrete shear capacity has been derived by a parameter study. The proposed model has been
compared with recently proposed models and it was found that it predicts reasonably well the shear capacity of
circular sections. By applying the strength reduction factors a sufciently conservative design equation could be
obtained suitable for incorporation in codes.
1 INTRODUCTION
Reinforced concrete (RC) structural elements of cir-
cular cross-section are preferred as columns in high
rise buildings or bridges, as secant pilings forming
diaphragm walls or in the foundations of buildings.
Columns are basically axial load carrying elements.
However, as a result of lateral loads due to wind pres-
sure or earthquake, they are subjected to considerable
shear load and should thus inevitably be designed to
suppress a possible shear failure.
Generally, the majority of design codes do not dis-
tinguish between the design of a rectangular section
and the one of a circular section under shear. It is
simply assumed that the shear capacity of a circular
sectionequals the capacityof anequivalent rectangular
section.
A very limited number of shear models for circular
section members exist in literature. Earlier experi-
ments on circular RC members loaded monotonically
in shear aimed for verication of the use of design
equations developed for rectangular sections on cir-
cular sections (Capon and Cossio 1965, Khalifa and
Collins 1981). Clarke and Bir-jandi (1993) proposed
to use for circular sections the same shear design
approach as given by the British Codes of Practice,
BS 5400 for rectangular sections with a modica-
tion of the sections effective depth as the distance
from the extreme compression bre to the centroid of
the tension reinforcement. The effective shear area is
then dened as the area corresponding to the effec-
tive depth. The shear capacity of the member is added
together from the shear carried by concrete and trans-
verse reinforcement
V = 0.27

100A
s
b
w
d

1/3

500
d

1/4
(f
cu
)
1/3
b
w
d
+
A
sv
f
yv
d
s
(1)
where A
s
is the area of longitudinal steel, b
w
the sec-
tions width, d the effective depth, f
cu
the concrete cube
strength, A
sv
the cross-sectional area of the links both
leg at the sections neutral axis and f
cu
is the links
yield strength. In a member with axial compression
load, N, the shear capacity should be multiplied by
(1 +0.05N/A
c
), where A
c
is the area of concrete.
Ang et al. (1989) proposed a model for shear
capacity of circular sections under seismic load later
extended by Priestley et al. (1994) and by Kowal-
sky and Priestley (2000). According to the model
Millpress, The Netherlands, ISBN 9789059660540 1297
the members shear capacity was thus added together
from three components, i.e., the concrete contribution
term, the transverse reinforcement capacity calculated
fromthe 45-degree truss mechanismand the axial load
enhancement
V = k

f
c

A
e
+
(2A
sh
f
yh
)D

4s
+
Dc
2a
p (2)
where k is a coefcient describing the degradation of
concrete shear strength with increasing displacement
ductility, f
c

the concrete compressive strength, A

e
the
effective shear area proposed as 0.8 times the gross
section area, A
sh
the area of the shear reinforcement
(one leg), s the hoops spacing, f
yh
their yield strength,
D the distance between the centers of the peripheral
hoop or the spiral, D is the overall section diameter,
c the depth of the compression zone and a the shear
span.
Recently about a deciency of the model was
reported (Dancygier 2001, Kim and Mander 2005).
The applied integral averaging by the reinforcement
term restricts its use only to members with diameter
at least four times the spacing of the shear reinforce-
ment. For all other ratios the formula could be even
more than 50% nonconservative.
The objective of this work was to develop a sim-
ple shear capacity model of RC circular sections. It
is based on the truss analogy by adding an empiri-
cal concrete contribution term to the capacity of the
shear reinforcement. Resulting from the continuous
improvements of the recently proposed model (Merta
2004a, Merta 2004b) a shear capacity model for mono-
tonic load has been developed.
2 THE CONCRETE SHEAR CAPACITY
The concrete shear capacity, taken as the capacity of
the section without shear reinforcement, has been pro-
posed as follows
V
c
=

3.7
l
+0.18 +0.08(
P
A
g
)0.3

f
c

0.7A
g
(3)
The inuence of the main variables on the shear capac-
ity, such as the longitudinal reinforcement ratio
l
,
axial load level P/A
g
and the shear span-to-depth ratio
a/D have been determined empirically, based on a
total of 44 data of circular cross section specimens
without shear reinforcement under monotonic load
(Merta 2006). The term 07A
g
represents the sections
effective shear area and its derivation has been pub-
lished elsewhere (Merta and Kolbitsch 2006). The
shear enhancement coefcient k due to the shear span-
to-depth ratio a/D is proposed as follows
k = 1.00 if a/D > 2.5; 1.25 if a/D 2.5 (4)
3 THE SHEAR REINFORCEMENT CAPACITY
The capacity of the shear reinforcement is based on the
truss analogy. With the appearance of the rst diag-
onal cracks the shear reinforcement is mobilized in
resisting shear by tension in it. At the ultimate state
a major diagonal crack forms and the section fails
by rupture of the shear reinforcement. In the cracked
region the bond between concrete and shear reinforce-
ment is gradually destroyed. As a result of the hoops
curved shape the change of its direction induces lat-
eral pressure (deviation stresses) on the concrete. The
component of the deviation stresses in the direction of
the external shear represents an additional shear resist-
ing mechanism of hoops. The entire shear capacity of
shear reinforcement is thus added together from: the
tension component - resulting fromthe tension in shear
reinforcement and the deviation component - resulting
from the shear enhancement of deviation stresses.
3.1 Tension component
In the limit state it is assumed that all transverse rein-
forcement crossed by a diagonal crack yields and
resists a tension force of Af
sw
yw. A
sw
is the area of
the hoops one leg and f
yw
is the hoops yield strength
(Fig. 1). The tension force acts in the hoops tangen-
tial direction and only its component in the direction
of external shear is active in resisting shear. Instead of
a smeared distribution of shear reinforcement a dis-
crete number of bars crossing the diagonal crack have
been considered. The resultant tension force resisting
external shear is obtained by summing up the tension
force components traversing the crack plane
V
st
= 2A
sw
f
yw
n
t

i=1
cos
y,i
(5)
where i is the index of the hoop that is crossed by a
crack, cp,
y,i
is the pertaining central angle (Fig. 1)
and n
t
is the number of hoops across the crack. Accord-
Figure 1. Shear carried by tension in hoops crossed by a diagonal
crack.
1298 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation 3, A. Zingoni (ed.)
ing to Kowalsky and Priestley 2000 only the hoops
outside the compression zone have been considered,
since shear cannot be transferred across the sections
compression zone by tension in hoops. The number of
hops is n
t
=INT[((Dc cov)ctg)/s], where Dis the
sections diameter, c the compressionzones depth, cov
the concrete cover and s the spacing of the hoops. The
central angle is sin
y,i
=(D/2 cov a
i
)l(D/2 cov)
where a
t
is the ordinate of the particular yield point
dened as a
i
=istg. Substituting these expressions
into the Eq. 5 as well as taking into account a typical
value of c/D=0.3 proposed by Kowalsky and Priestley
2000 and the typical values of cov/D of 1% to 20%,
the resultant shear resisting force of hoops crossed by
a crack is obtained
V
st
= 2A
sw
f
yw
n
t

i=1

1 1.5
i
n
t

2
(6)
The summation term has been replaced by the contin-
uous function k
t
=0.9n
t
. The shear resisting force in
hoops is obtained as V
st
=1.8A
sw
f
yw
n
t
.
3.2 Relation between the hoops tension and the
deviation function
Generally, shear reinforcement is active in carrying
shear by tension in it. But in the case of curved
reinforcement the change of direction of the bars ten-
sion force induces lateral pressure on the concrete
core, the so called deviation stresses, f
d
. Because of
action-reaction, the concrete section acts on hoops
with normal pressure, f
n
, of the same intensity as
the deviation stresses, f
d
, but in the opposite direc-
tion (Fig. 2a,b). From the equilibrium in radial and
Figure 2. Forces acting (a) on an innitesimal hoop element and
(b) on concrete (c) the hoops tension function, T().
tangential direction follows that
Td = dN (7)
dT = dB (8)
respectively, where T is the tension force in hoop, dB
the bond force, dened as the shear stress
b
that devel-
ops along the lateral surface of the bar of length ds, and
dN is the concrete normal force, dened as the normal
stress f
n
along ds. The second expression denes the
fundamental stress transfer mechanism between con-
crete and steel, whereby, the change of bond forces is
proportional to the change of tension force in hoops.
Simplifying, it could be assumed that bond is mainly
governed by friction between steel and concrete and
could be captured by the frictional concept, where
the friction force is related to the normal force through
the friction coefcient. The bond force, dB, will be
related to the normal force, dN, through the friction
coefcient and dB=dN. Applying the frictional
concept, Eq. 8 becomes
dT = dN (9)
where the hoops tension force is expressed through
the normal force. From the two equilibrium Equations
(7. and 9.) by eliminating dN, a differential relation of
the hoops tension force is obtained dT/T=d. By
integrating both sides, assuming that the friction coef-
cient is constant, the hoops tension force function is
obtained
T() = A
sw
f
yw
e
(
y
)
(10)
where as it has been assumed that the tension force
reaches its maximal value A
sw
f
yw
at the hoops yield
point, where f
yw
is the hoops yield stress. Substituting
further Equation 10 into the Equation 9 the hoops
deviation function is obtain
D() =
A
sw
f
yw

e
(
y
)
(11)
The deviation force has its maximum, D
max
=A
sw
f
yw
/,
at the yield point, =
y
, and decreases with the
distance from the yield point, reaching zero at the
boundary point of the cracked region, where =
0
.
In order to simplify, in this work a constant friction
coefcient of 1.5 has been assumed along the whole
length of one hoop.
3.3 Deviation component
Each hoop in the cracked region acts with a resultant
deviation force on concrete of different magnitude,
resulting froma different arc length within the cracked
region. To obtain the hoops total shear capacity the
deviation function along the hoops arc length, within
Millpress, The Netherlands, ISBN 9789059660540 1299
Figure 3. Hoops deviatoric shear carrying capacity.
the cracked region, should be integrated and then the
component of the resultant deviation force of each
hoop in the direction of the external shear summed up
along the number of all hoops in the cracked region.
The resultant deviation force is obtained by integrating
the deviation function (Eq. 11) fromangle
0,i
denot-
ing the cracked regions boundary point - to
y,i
and
thenmultiplyingit bytwototake intoaccount the func-
tions descending and ascending branch. Thus, D
h,i
=
(2A
sw
f
yw
/
2
)(1 e
(
y,i

0,i
)
). The hoops total devi-
ation force is obtained by summing up the components
of the resultant deviation force of a particular hoop in
the direction of the external shear along the cracked
region (Fig. 3).
V
sd
= 2A
sw
f
yw
n
d

i=0

i
sin
y,i
(12)
where
i
= 2(1 e
(
y,i

0,i
)
)/u
2
. The coefcient 2
in Eq. 12 denotes that each hoop corresponds with
two resultant deviation forces symmetrically. nd is the
number of hoops crossed by the diagonal crack. Only
by hoops with a yield point under the symmetry axis
(shaded area on Fig. 3) the component of the deviation
force counteracts to the external shear and enhances
the members shear capacity.
The magnitude of the inuence coefcient of a
particular hoop depends on the value of the cen-
tral angle
y,i

0,i
. However, all hoops within the
inclined cracked region have a different arc length
and consequently a different central angle. Employing
a simplication derived elsewhere (Merta 2006) the
central angle is
max
=34

38

=5, and for assumed

friction coefcient of 1.5 the inuence coefcient
obtained as =
i
(/5) =0.53. The hoops total devia-
toric component is thus simplied as
V
sd
= 2A
sw
f
yw
n
d

i=0
sin
y,i
(13)
The number of hoops under the symmetry axis crossed
by the diagonal crack is n
d
=INT[(D/2 cov)ctg/s]
and the central angle sin
y,i
=(D/2 cov a
i
)/
(D/2 cov) with a
i
=i(D/2 cov)/n
d
.
Substituting these expressions into the Eq. 13 the
total deviatoric shear capacity of hoops is obtained
V
sd
= 2A
sw
f
yw

n
d

i=0

1
i
n
d

(14)
The summation term has been replaced with
the continuous function k
d

=0.5n
d
+0.5 and the
deviatoric shear capacity of hoops is obtained
V
sd
=2A
sw
f
yw
(0.5n
d
+0.5).
4 VERIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED MODEL
FOR MONOTONIC LOAD
The proposed shear capacity model of RC circular
cross-section members is
V =

3.7
l
+0.18 +0.08(
P
A
g
)0.3

f
c

0.7A
g
+A
sw
f
yw
(1.8 n
t
+ n
d
+1)
(15)
with
k =

1.00 for a/D > 2.5

1.25 fora/D 2.5
= 0.53
n
t
=
(Dc cov)
s
ctg
n
d
= INT

(D/2 cov)
s
ctg

l
is the longitudinal reinforcement ratio, P the axial
load, A
g
the sections gross area, f
c

the concrete com-

pressive strength, A
sw
the cross section of the hoop,
f
yw
its yield strength, a the shear-span, D is the sec-
tions diameter, c the compression zones depth, cov
Table 1. Statistical comparison of models in terms of experimental/theoretical shear strength ratio
Clarke and
Birjandi (1993)
Kowalsky and
Priestley (2000)
Proposed
Mean value 1.23 1.25 1.01
Standard deviation 0.13 0.21 0.11
Coefcient of variation [%] 10 16 10
Coefcient of determination 0.85l 0.66 0.88
1300 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation 3, A. Zingoni (ed.)
Figure 4. Ultimate shear strength of circular section members
with shear reinforcement.
the concrete cover, s the spacing of the hoops and
the cracks inclination angle.
The model has been veried on the database of
62 circular members with shear reinforcement (Capon
and Cossio 1965, Khalifa and Collins 1981, Clarke
and Birjandi 1993, Collins et al. 2002) by compar-
ing it to the two existing models (Clarke and Birjandi
1993, Kowalsky and Priestley 2000). The smaller scat-
ter in the plot of the experimental/theoretical ultimate
shear strength of specimens (Fig. 4) indicates that
the proposed model clearly improves the prediction
Figure 5. Design shear strength of circular section members with
shear reinforcement.
of the shear capacity. The statistical comparison of
experimental/theoretical shear strength of the models
(Table 1) indicates that the proposed model provides
the closest correlation with experimental data.
The proposed formula is a predictive and not a
design equation, representing therefore the charac-
teristic shear resistance of the member. It follows
that higher average values of the strength ratios are
inevitable. In the model measured concrete compres-
sion strength and reinforcement yield strength was
used. In the design situations, however, nominal mate-
rial strengths would be used.
Byapplyingthe strengthreductionfactors
c
=1.5
for concrete and
s
=1.15 for steel - a reasonable lower
bound of data is obtained, resulting in an adequately
conservative design equation suitable for incorpora-
tion into design codes (Fig. 5).
5 CONCLUSION
In the paper, an analytical model for the prediction
of the shear capacity of reinforced concrete members
with circular cross-section transversely reinforced
with circular hoops has been developed. The proposed
shear capacity model is a semi-empirical equation
based on the truss analogy by adding an empirical
concrete shear capacity term to the capacity of the
shear reinforcement. To overcome the deciencies of
the recently proposed seismic design equation (Ang
et al. 1989; Kowalsky and Priestley 2000) instead of a
smeared distribution a discrete distribution of the shear
reinforcement has been applied. Thus the equation is
not any more restricted to members with diameter at
least four times the spacing of the shear reinforcement.
The validity of the proposed model has been com-
pared to other recently proposed models for monotonic
load and it has been shown that the shear capacity pre-
dicted by the proposed model is in stronger correlation
with the experimental values than by other existing
proposals.
Millpress, The Netherlands, ISBN 9789059660540 1301
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1302 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation 3, A. Zingoni (ed.)