Equations for Shear Design of Continuous Reinforced-Concrete Haunched Beams Based on Stress Fields and Truss Models

Abstract

Simple methods are required to reasonably estimate the shear strength of reinforced-concrete haunched beams (RCHBs) for design in order to inhibit shear failures in favor of a flexural behavior. In this paper, design equations developed from stress fields and truss models, also known as strut-and-tie models, are assessed and related with the processed experimental data for the cyclic testing of continuous RCHBs failing in shear. It was found that, for design purposes, plausible estimates for the shear strength of RCHBs could be assessed with the proposed equations.