Experimental and theoretical evaluation for effect of openings location on shear strength of RC beams

Abstract EN

This paper discusses the structural behavior of reinforced concrete rectangular beams which have transverse opening in the web under the effect of single point loading.

The location of the openings is the major variable adopted in this paper, while, the other variables are kept constant for all tested specimens.

The experimental part includes poured and test of four (100x150x750mm) beam specimens with different locations openings.

The experimental results indicated that the ultimate strengths are decreased (12%), (22%) and (41%) for beams containing opening at distance (L/2), (L/3) and (L/6) from the edge respectively.

Also, the change in openings locations from center toward the edge lead to decrease the carrying capacity for about (29%).

In order to study more thoroughly the performance of tested beams, a nonlinear analysis using ANSYS (Version-11) finite element program is used.

The analytical results indicated that the load-deflection response, ultimate loads, and crack pattern are in good agreement with the experimental results