The effect of web opening in the shear span on the ultimate load of RC deep beams

Abstract EN

Deep beams with rectangular (R) and T- cross sections that have web openings are widely used in concrete structural field for servicing purposes.

This situation should be treated with special care depending on the type of the load subjected and the location of the opening.

This study is aimed to investigate the ultimate load; carrying capacity of indirectly loaded deep reinforced concrete (RC) beams through an experimental and analytical program.

The experimental work has two parts of specimens, where the six deep beams have ratio of shear span- to- effective depth (a/d) is 1.0 have been consider.

The first part consists of two deep beams with rectangular and T- cross sections, which formed without web opening, with vertical web reinforcement.

The second part consists of four deep rectangular and T-beam cross sections in which, all beams have openings in the shear span, with deferent reinforcement arrangements.

The behavior of deep beams was observed, cracking and ultimate loads.

The experimental results indicate that the web opening in the shear span of the beams shows a significant reduction in the ultimate load capacity.

For predicting the ultimate load carrying capacity for deep beams with opening, Eq.

of Kong & Sharp (1977) used.

Comparison between experimental finding and numerical results showed a good agreement with experimental results of ultimate load capacity of beams with opening.