Beam Shear Strength Prediction by Analysis of Existing Data

AN EMPIRICAL METHOD WHICH COMBINES THE TECHNIQUES OF DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS AND STATISTICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS IS APPLIED TO EXISTING SOURCES OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM SHEAR TEST DATA. FOR BEAMS WITH A/D ABOVE 2.5, THE METHOD HAS PRODUCED FAILURE STRESS PREDICTION EQUATIONS WHICH ARE GIVEN FOR BOTH CRACKING AND SUDDEN DIAGONAL TENSION SHEAR. THESE EQUATIONS HAVE A LOW PERCENTAGE OF PREDICTION ERROR FOR A WIDE RANGE OF BEAM PROPERTIES AND TEST SOURCES. THE HIGH, BUT VARIABLE, SHEAR FAILURE STRESS OF SHORT BEAMS HAS A LOWER BOUND GIVEN BY THE SLENDER BEAM PREDICTION EQUATIONS. FURTHER, SHORT LATERAL STUB BEAMS, WITHOUT TOP AND BOTTOM LOAD AND SUPPORT BLOCK PRESSURES, APPEAR TO HAVE SLENDER BEAM BEHAVIOUR. /AUTHOR/