The paper demonstrates that the criteria for non-flexural failure of reinforced concrete beams without transverse reinforcement can be derived from first principles without the need of calibration through the use of experimental data on structural concrete behaviour. The work is based on the 'compressiveforce path' concept which has been shown to provide a realistic description of the causes of failure. The resulting formulae are found to be not only simpler than the formulae proposed to date, but also to produce predictions of load-carrying capacity which are shown to fit a wide range of published experimental data considerably better than the formulae for evaluating 'shear' capacity incorporated in current codes of practice.
Gerasimos M. Kotsovos Dipl Eng, MSc, PhD, CEng Laboratory of Reinforced Concrete Structures, National Technical University of Athens*
Michael D. Kotsovos DiplEng, DIC, PhD, DSc, CEng Laboratory of Reinforced Concrete Structures, National Technical University of Athens, Greece