Provision of Shear Reinforcement

All RC beams have shear reinforcement provided. The most

common form of shear reinforcement and that recommended by
the current codes is closed links or stirrups. The structural action
of these links can be considered in two ways, which are
essentially equivalent. First, consider the section below, where
the crack running from A to B intersects a number of vertical
shear links.

The shear resistance that can be developed by this section is,

Vcap = Vc + Vs
Where Vs is the contribution due to the shear reinforcement.

In order to quantify the increase in shear capacity due to the

links we use an equivalent truss model

Remember that the cracks propagate along the lines of the

tensile isoclines. Therefore the concrete between the cracks,
(which is at right angles to the direction of principal tensile
stress) is in compression. The vertical links are in tension and
hence the action of the beam is similar to that of a Pratt truss.
To determine Vs the capacity of the reinforcement to resist shear
force consider the capacity of the steel links crossing a crack
inclined at an angle

f
Vs = nAsw y
s
where n = the number of links crossing the section and Asw is
the area of each link. If the spacing of the links is s then

z( cot )
s
Asw f y z( cot )
Vs =
ss
n=

Note: In come cases it may also be necessary to check the

capacity of the truss concrete compression members.

The formula recommended in EC2s standard method where

is assumed to be 45o and the lever arm z is assumed to be
approximately 0.9d is,

Vs =

0.9 Asw f y d

ss

By rearranging this equation we can develop a design formula to

gives the area of steel, link size and spacing required

Asw

V Vc
f

0.9 y d