VERIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY OF SHEAR DESIGN EQUATIONS FOR RC BEAMS WITHOUT STIRRUPS ON COUPLERS

Abstract

RC beams without stirrups on couplers of longitudinal reinforcing bars were tested to investigate the shear performance. Seventeen beam specimens were designed and constructed with different structural details such as existence of coupler, coupler length, location of coupler, and existence of stirrups on coupler. A method to consider the specific details of these beams in the practical shear design equations was presented to evaluate the shear performance. Its applicability was examined through cyclic loading tests of the specimens.