Shear strength predictions of pierced deep beams with inclined web reinforcement

Experiments have shown that web reinforcement has a moderate effect on the ultimate strength of solid deep beams. Furthermore, inclined web reinforcement is most effective in resisting diagonal cracks in solid deep beams. In the presence of deep beams with rectangular web openings (pierced deep beams in short), the beneficial effect of inclined web reinforcement is even more prominent. The provision of such web reinforcement may double the shear strength of an otherwise similar pierced deep beam. Up to now, current design codes have provided little guidance on the design of such beams. Also, there are very few published papers that include pierced deep beams with inclined web reinforcement. In this paper, the authors present an original and novel approach to analyse the shear strengths of such beams. This approach is based on a simple strut-and-tie model and has been verified for solid deep beams with various types of web reinforcement. The approach yields consistent and accurate shear strength predictions with published test results.