Design of reinforced concrete

deep beams
M. D. KOtSOVOS, Dipl(Eng),
DIC,
PhD,
DSc,
CEng, deepbeam at its ultimate limitstateg. The cause for suchbehaviour
MIStructE appears to be associated with the occurrence of inclined cracking; as the
beam deflects under increasing load, the faces of an inclined crack rotate
Imperial College of Science 8t Technology

Synopsis
The work formspart of a comprehensive investigation into thefundamental
causes of shearfailure and the development of simple and rational design
I
a >2d
l
methods. A previous part of the work has shown that the shear capacity 2d
of reinforced concrete(RC) beams is associated withthe strengthof concrete 4 c
in the region of the pathalong which the compressiveforce is transmitted
I
to the supportsand not, m widely considered, the region of the beam below
the neutral axis. This concept is used as the basis to formulate a simple
design method f o r deep RC beams. The method involves the modelling
of a deep RC beam as a ‘tiedframe with inclined legs’, and it is shown
that it yields realisticpredictions of loadcarrying capacity
for both simply
supported and continuous deep beamsf o r the range of loading conditions
likely to be considered in practice. Lr’
Introduction
Current Code (e.g. ref. l ) provisions for thedesign of reinforced concrete
(RC) deep beams are essentially those for long beams, modified so as to a12d
allow for uncertainties arising becauseof thelack of a widely accepted theory
describing deep beam behaviour. Such a theory,which is essential for the I
development of a simple and rational design method, is unlikely to be
developed by using concepts similarto those which form thebasis of current
design provisions for long beams. Thisis because such concepts have been
--- Path

shown to be incompatible withobserved RCbehaviour atboththe

/- - - - Outline of compressive
material213 and the structure4-6 levels. It appears, therefore, that current stress trajectories
methods for thedesign of deep beams are unsatisfactory not only because
of the lack of a soundunderlying theory but also because they include most
of the unsatisfactoryelements of the methods currentlyused for thedesign
of long beams.
Ithas beenrecently demonstrated byanalysis7.* and verifiedby Fig 1. Schematicrepresentation of path of compressive force and
experiment”6 thatthe loadcarryingcapacity of aRC long beam is for RC beams with
corresponding outline of compressive stress trajectories
associated with the strength of concrete in the region of the path along various a/d ratios
which the compressive force is transmitted to thesupports. It is considered
that, if this ‘compressive force path’ concept does indeed describe the
behaviour of a long beam, it should even more so describe the behaviour -%-- Path
of a deep beam. Theuse of the above concept for the descriptionof deep h----
Outline of compressive
beam behaviour is discussed in the following, and an attemptis presented stress trajectories
to develop a simple design method compatible with this concept. The validity
of the method is tested by comparing the predicted behaviour with that
established by experiment in previous investigationsg-13 which have yielded
most of the information published to date on deep beam behaviour. l
1 1
l
Compressive force path
It has been suggested that, for a RC beam at its ultimate limit state, the
compressive force at the mid-cross section is transmitted to the support
by following a path which, for any practical purpose, may be considered
to be bilinear (see Figl)14. For a beam subjected to two-point loading with
a shear span-to-depth (a/d) ratio greater than a value of approximately
2-0, the change in the path direction appears to occur at a distance of
approximately twice the beam depth,d , (see Fig l(a)), whereas for smaller
ratios the change inpath direction is consideredto occur at the cross-section
including theloadpoint (seeFig l(b))14. Since a deepbeam is, by
definition, a beam with a span-to-depth (1/d)ratio smaller than a value
of approximately 2.0, it should be characterised by a compressive force
path similar to that of a beam with a/d <2.0 (see Fig 2).
There is experimental evidence indicating that the forcesustained by the
tensile reinforcement within the length of the horizontal projectionof the
T
I
LC 2d T- 1

inclined portion of the pathis constant andthis impliesthat thecompressive

force acting along theinclined portion of the path is also constant6. This Fig 2. Schematicrepresentation of path of compressive force and
is in agreement with experimental work that has shown that the measured f o r a typical RC
corresponding outline of compressive stress trajectories
strain of the reinforcement is indeed constant throughout the span of a deep beam

28 The Structural EngineerlVolume 661No.2119 January 1988


Fig 3. Schematic representation of bond failure due to opening of inclined
crack
away from each other with respect to the crack tip, andthis rotation causes
separation of the tensile steel bars from concrete, as indicated in Fig 36.
The compressive stress trajectories along the path are such that, for
equilibrium purposes, they give rise to tensile stresses in the orthogonal
direction (see Figs 1 and 2). This combined compression-tensionstress state
leads to the formationof an inclined crack at a location where the concrete
strength is exceeded. It should be noted, however, that, for a deep beam,
the occurrence of such a crack within the inclined portion of the pathdoes
not interrupt the flow of the compressive stresses and thus the beam is
capable of sustaining a significantly higher load. Assuming that anchorage
failure, as well as failure of the tensile reinforcement, can be prevented,
collapse eventually occurs when the compressive force exceeds the force
that can be carried along the path.
Deep beam model
Figs l and 2 indicate that thepath of the compressive force may be visualised
as a ‘flow’ of compressive stresses with varying section perpendicular to
the path direction and with the compressive force representing the stress
resultant at each section. Although the compressive force carried along the
path at a particular location may be easily assessed, such as to satisfy the
static equilibrium conditions, the shape of the stress ‘flow’and the intensity
of the stresses are difficult to establish without resorting to sophisticated
methods of analysis (e.g. finite element analysis). The use of such methods
in design is, however, prohibitive not only because of their high cost but
also because they are not widely available and their use depends on expert
advice. Hence, a simple method is required, since the above information
regarding the stress field in the region of the compressive force path is
essential for assessing the maximum force that can be carried along the path.
The shape of the stress ‘flow’ and the intensity of the stress field are
very much dependent on the beam boundary conditions. For a simply
supported deep beam subjected to a load uniformly distributed on its top
face, the stress flow may have a shapesimilar to thatindicated in Fig 4(a).
/-\
/- I -\
/- l \
/’ \
/ the use of nominal web reinforcement combined with an increase of the
/ inclined strut and thus prevent inclined compression failure.
I Because of the large compressive forces carried by deep beams, it is
1 ‘ l I
t t
Fig 4. Typical inclinedcompression failures of RC deep beams under (a)
uniform and (b) two-point loading
The Structural EngineerlVolume 66/No.2/19 January 1988
Paper: Kotsovos
\,
\
\
\
\\\\
\
As shownlater, it is realisticto consider that thedifference in shape between
the above ‘flow’ and that caused by an equivalent load concentrated at
the two third points affects only the location of failure initiation within
a particular portion (inclined or horizontal) of the path and not the
magnitude of the force that can be carried along this portion (see Fig 4).
Based on this reasoning, it is considered realistic for design purposes to
replace the actual stress ‘flow’ witha uniform stress ‘flow’ of intensityequal
to the uniaxial cylinder compressive strength VC). The cross-section of the
‘flow’ should be chosen such that the actual maximum compressive force
carried along the path remains unchanged.
Fig 5 shows two such simplified compressive force paths for the case
of a deep beam subjected to single- and two-point loading, respectively.
As discussed in the preceding paragraph, the compressive force path for
a two-point loading may also be valid for the case of a uniform load if
the equivalent two-point load is applied at the third points. The stress ‘flow’
is considered to have a rectangular cross-section with a width equal to the
beam width. The depth of the horizontal portion of the stress ‘flow’ of
the path may be assessed such that the compressive force equals the force
sustained by the tensile reinforcement. As indicated in Fig 5 , the inclined
stress ‘flow’ of the path is symmetrical with respect to the line connecting
the intersection of the directions of the applied load and the horizontal
path of the compressive force, with the intersection of the directions of
the reaction and the tensile reinforcement. A suitable depth for theinclined
stress ‘flow’ is considered to be a/3, where a is the shear span, i.e. the
distance between the applied load and the reaction closest to it. If a/3 is
smaller than the effective width of the bearing, a/3 should be substituted
by the width of the bearing, as recommended elsewhere15.
It should be noted that a precise description of the shape of the idealised
path of the compressive force in the region wherethe path changes direction
is not deemed essentialfor thecase of deep beams (a/d<l). This is because,
on the basis of the concept of the compressive force path, the failure of
RC beams with a/d<l is associated with the stress conditions in regions
away from the location where the path changes directiond.
A similar model has been proposed for slender beams, with a/d between
1.0 and 2-5, and forms part of recommendations for fire resistant design
of RC structures15. In this model, the web reinforcement is assessed such
as to sustain the total compressive force if the loadcarrying capacity of
the inclined concrete strut is exceeded before the flexural capacity of the
beam is reached. As an alternative, the above recommendations propose
width of the beam such as to increase the loadcarrying capacity of the
considered unlikely that the presence of conventional web reinforcement
in the form of vertical stirrups or horizontal bars considerably improves
the strength of the inclined strut. Such reinforcement may delay
process, and this may cause onlya small increase in
the cracking
the loadcarrying capacity
of the inclined strut. This view is supported by most experimental evidence
published to date, which indicatesthat the presence of the web reinforcement
has little9112, if any”, effect on the loadcarrying capacity of deep beams.
However, the use of nominal web reinforcement is considered essential not
29
Paper: Kotsovos

(c) Check whetherthe vertical component of the compressive force carried

by the inclined portion of the stress ‘flow’ isgreater than, or equal to, the
external load carried by the ‘flow’ to the support.If not, adjust thebeam
width, b , and repeat the process.
It should be noted that an alternative to adjusting the cross-sectional
dimensions d and b of a deep beam may be designing the horizontal and
inclined compression members ofthe model as ‘columns’ (see Fig7). Such
an approach, however, may lead to steel congestion and, thus, may be
followed only in circumstances that require fixed values of d and b .
The abovedesign procedure should be complemented by good detailing,
which can be achieved by followingthe recommendationsof current Code
provisions for deep beam design.
It may be interesting to note that the proposed design method may be
easily extended to apply for deep beams subjected to loading applied to
their bottom face. This load can be easily transferred to the top face of
the beam by using stirrups designed so as to withstand the loading as
indicated in Fig 816.

a
4

/ C \

(a) Moment equilibrium Cz = Pa yields x

(b) Horizontal force equilibrium T = C yields A ,

(c) Check whether a / 3 satisfies vertical force equilibrium C p sin p = P

If not, adjust b and repeat

Fig 6. Proposed method for designing a RC deep beam

( b)
Fig 5. Proposed models for deep beams under (a) single-point and (b) two-
point and/or uniform loading
I 1
only for crack control purposes but alsobecause it reduces the likelihood
of‘instability’ failures due to the out-of-planeactions related to the
heterogeneous nature of concrete.

Design method
The conceptsdescribed in the preceding section indicate that a deep beam
will withstand the actionof an applied load if the resulting internal actions
can be safely sustained bythe members ofthe proposed model. The objective
of a design procedure, therefore, should bethe sizing of the abovemembers
such as to sustain these actions. A typical procedure for the case of two-
point loading (see Fig 5(b)) may be formulated as follows (see Fig 6):
(a) Assuming the beam depth and width,d and 6 , respectively, are given,
assess the depth of the horizontal portion of thestress ‘flow’ by satisfying
the moment equilibrium condition with respect to the intersection of the
directions of the reaction and the tension reinforcement. If the above
condition cannot be satisfied with the given values of d and b, adjust d
and b accordingly.
(b) Considering that thetension reinforcementyields before the loadcarrying
capacity of the horizontal portion of the stress ‘flow’ is attained, assess
t
the amount of tension reinforcement required to satisfy the equilibrium Fig 7. Schematic representation of members of proposed model designed
condition of the horizontal internal actions. as %olumns’

30 The Structural EngineerNolume 66/No.2/19 January 1988

 Paper: Kotsovos

500 7
/I I\
400

Y
300
U
0
d
0
U
2 200
.-V
U
2
a
100
Fig 8. Schematic representationof method of transfer of load from bottom
to top face of deepbeam

Verification of design method 100 200 300 400 500

The above procedure has been used to assess the loadcarrying capacityof Experimentalload, kN
a large number of deep beams whose behaviour already has been established (b)
by experiment elsewhereg-13. Thecorrelations between predicted and
measured values are shown in Figs 9, 10, and 12. The investigationcovers
a wide range of loading conditions including uniform, single-point, and 600

/
two-point loading. In most cases, the beams considered are simply o Inclinedcompression failure
supportedg-12; however, the results obtained in a recently published work + Flexural failure
on continuous deep beams13 have also been included.
500 6 -90% confidence limits
No distinction has been drawn between beams with and without web
reinforcement since, as discussed earlier, the effectof such reinforcement
on loadcarrying capacity appears to be insignificantg911J2. However, it
should be noted that the measured values of the beams without web 400
reinforcement exhibit a significantly larger variability.
As indicated in the figures, the predicted modes of failure areclassified 5
into two types: (a) those characterisedby failure of the inclined concrete
memberof the model (inclined compressionfailure)and (b) those g- 300
L

characterised by failure of the horizontal concrete member of the model U

0,
(flexural failure). For the latter case, yielding of the tension steel is assumed c
to have always preceded collapse for the cases considered. In general, the gL 200
observed modes of failure appearto be in agreement with the predictions, Q
although thoseof the observed modes of failure characterisedby inclined
cracking are usually reported in the literature as ‘shear’ failures.
100

o
Inclinedcompression failure I I I I I I
+
Flexuralfailure 100 200 300 400 500 600
90% confidence limits for means
1-4 Experimental load, kN
(c)

Simply supported deep beams

Fig 9 indicates a sufficientlyclose correlation for practical purposes between
predicted and experimental values for the case of deep beams subjected
to two-point loading. Theslight overestimate of loadcarrying capacity in
certain cases is due to the larger variabilityof the results obtained for the
beams without web reinforcement. Placing nominal web reinforcement
considerably reduces the variability, and thepredicted values appear always
to be on the safeside. Fig 10 indicates an equally good correlation between
predicted and experimental values for the case of deep beams subjected
to uniform and single-pointloading, with the predicted values always being
on the safe side.

Continuous deep beams

The loadcarrying capacity of the continuous RC deep beams maybe
100300 200 4
calculated by assuming that the indeterminate bending moment of the
Experimental load, kN internalsupport is equal tothat obtained by elastic analysis. Fora
Fig 9. Correlation of predictedloadcarrying capacity of RC deepbeams continuous beam with a uniform flexural capacity throughout its length,
under two-point loading with experimental values reported in refs. (a) 9 the above moment will be the first to reach its ultimatevalue. When this
and 12, (b) IO, and (c) I 1 occurs, an under-reinforced beam should behave in a ductile manner in

The Structural EngineerNolume 661No.2119 January 1988 31

Paper: Kotsovos

400 the region of the support. Suchbehaviour allows load redistribution and
o Inclined compression failure the ultimate limit state is reached when the flexural capacity at another
X+ Flexural failure section away from the supports is attained.
On the basis ofthe above, the model proposedfor simply supported deep
+o Uniform load
beams can easily be extended to describe the ultimate limit state of a
300 continuous deep beam, as indicated in Fig 11. Using this modelto predict
the loadcarrying capacity of continuous deep beams testedelsewherel’, the
close correlation between predicted and experimental values shown in Fig
z
Y
12 is obtained.
U
g
d
200
Concluding remarks
U The work presented indicates that modelling a deep beam as a tied frame
W
W
.-W + with inclined legs appears to yield realistic predictions of loadcarrying
U
L + capacity and, therefore, forms a suitable basis for a design procedure.
The apparent good correlation between predicted and experimental values
100
+ is attributed to the validity of the concepts that form the basis of the
proposed model. Since failure is considered to occur due to the loss of
loadcarrying capacity of concrete in the region of the path along which
the compressive force is transmitted to the supports, idealising the path
/ ” I I I
as a framewith inclinedlegs simplifies the design procedurefor deep beams
100 200 300 G( into a procedure for designing the members of the frame such as to (a)
suatain a given load, with an adequate margin of safety, and (b) prevent
Experimental load, kN any undesirable-because of its sudden and catastrophic occurrence-brittle
failure.

a
I References
1. CEB/FIP Model codefor concrete structures, English ed., London,
Cement & Concrete Association, 1978
2. Kotsovos, M. D.: ‘Fracture processes of concrete under generalised
stressstates’, Materialsand Structures, RILEM, 12, No.72,
November-December 1979, pp431-437
a13 3. Kotsovos,M. D.,and Newman, J. B.: ‘Fracture mechanics and
concrete behaviour’, Magazine of Concrete Research, 33, No. 115,
June 1981, pp103-112
4. Kotsovos,M.D.:‘Mechanismsof “shear” failure’, Magazine of.
Concrete Research, 35, No. 123, June 1983, pp99-106
5 . Kotsovos,M. D.: ‘Shear failure ofreinforced concrete beams’,
Fig 11. Proposed model for continuous RC deep beam Engineering Structures, 9, No. 1, January 1987, pp32-38
6. Kotsovos, M. D., Bobrowski,J., andEibl, J.: ‘Behaviour of reinforced
concrete T-beams in shear; The Structural Engineer, 65B, No. 1,
March 1987, ppl-l0
+
90 ‘lo confidence limits 7. Kotsovos, M. D.: ‘Behaviour of reinforced concrete beams with a
for means shear-span-to-depthratio between 1.0and 2.5’, ACI Journal,
Proceedings, 81, No. 3, May-June 1984, pp279-286
8. Kotsovos, M.D.: ‘Behaviour of reinforced concrete beams with shear-
span-to-depth ratios greater than 2.5’, ACI Journal, Proceedings,84,
No. 6, November-December 1986, pp1026-1034
9. Rawdon de Paiva, H. A., and Siess, C. P.: ‘Strength and behaviour
of deep beams in shear’, Journal of the Structural Division, Proc.
ASCE, 91, No. ST5, October 1965, pp19-41
10. Ramakrishnan, V., and Ananthanarayana, Y.: ‘Ultimate strength of
deep beams in shear’, ACI Journal, Proceedings,65,No. 2, February,
1968 pp.87-98
11. Kong, F. K . , Robins, P. J., and Cole, D. F.: ‘Web reinforcement
effects on deepbeams’, ACI Journal, Proceedings, 67, No.12,
December 1970, pp1010-1017
12. Smith, K. N., and Vantsiotis, A. S.: ‘Shear strength of deep beams’,
ACI Journal, Proceedings, 79, No. 3, May-June 1982, pp201-213
13. Rogowski, D. M., MacGregor, J. G., andOng, S. Y.: ‘Testsof
reinforced concrete deep beams’,ACI Journal, Proceedings,83, No.
4, July-August 1986, ~ ~ 6 1 4 - 6 2 3
14. Kotsovos, M. D.: ‘Shear considerations’, Councilon Tall Buildings,
Committee 21D, Proc. workshop,6 January 1986, Third International
Con$ on Tall Buildings,Council on Tall Buildings& Urban Habitat,
500 1000
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., USA, pp83-115
Experimental Load, kN 15. Design and detailing of concrete structures for fire resistance, Interim
Guidance by aJointCommittee of theInstitution of Structural
Fig 12. Correlation of predicted loadcarrying capacity of continuous and Engineers and the Concrete Society, April 1979
simply-supported RC deepbeams under single-point loadingwith 16. Leonhardt, F., andWalther, R.: WandartigeTrager, Deutscher
experimental values reported in ref. 13 Ausschuss fur Stahlbeton, Heft 178

32 The Structural EngineerlVolume 66/No.2/19 January 1988