Investigation of Influence of Section Pre-crack on Shear Strength and Shear Resistance Mechanism of RC Beams by Experiment and 3-D RBSM Analysis

Abstract

In order to investigate the influence of crack through section, which is often generated under cyclic loading, on the shear behavior and strength of RC beam, an experimental method was attempted to introduce a 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm-wide pre-crack, respectively, in beam cross section. The two pre-cracked beams were tested and the shear behav-iors were compared with a non-cracked one. As the experimental result, it was found that the section pre-cracks led to a significant degradation of shear strength. Secondly, the different shear behaviors between pre-cracked and non-cracked beams were simulated by 3-D RBSM, and the developments of shear resistances were decomposed into the shear con-tributions provided by beam action and arch action. Based on the decomposition result, it became clear that the arch actions governed the grades of shear strengths and the section pre-cracks played a primary role in inducing extra crack behaviors and obstructing the longitudinal compressive stress transfer in concrete.