Shear Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Beams under Monotonic and Cyclic Loads: Experiments and Computational Models

The paper reports the results of a comparative analysis of the experimental shear capacity obtained from the tests of reinforced concrete beams with various static schemes, loading modes and programs, and the shear capacity calculated using selected models. Single-span and two-span reinforced concrete beams under monotonic and cyclic loads were considered in the analysis. The computational models were selected based on their application to engineering practice, i.e., the approaches implemented in the European and US provisions. Due to the changing strength characteristics of concrete, the analysis was also focused on concrete contribution in the shear capacity of reinforced concrete beams in the cracked phase and on the angle of inclination of diagonal struts. During the laboratory tests, a modern ARAMIS digital image correlation (DIC) system was used for tracking the formation and development of diagonal cracks.