Shear Strains in Cracked Reinforced Concrete Beams

The contribution of shear strains to the vertical deflections in reinforced concrete (RC) beams is typically neglected for two main reasons.First, this contribution is relatively smaller than the contribution from flexure.Second, the calculation of the shear strains in cracked RC beams is complex and requires iterations.This paper presents a simple model for the calculation of the shear stress-strain response of beams after cracking of the concrete and before yielding of the steel.It represents this part of the response using a straight line whose slope and intercept stress are related to the ratios of the reinforcement and to the concrete compressive strength respectively.The results of the proposed model are shown to be simple and to compare well with experimental results.