Shear strength of reinforced concrete deep beams with web openings

This study reports the test results for 24 reinforced concrete deep beams with square web openings. The main variables that are studied are the compressive strength of the concrete, the size of the openings, and the parameter for horizontal stirrups. The shear strength for deep beams with web openings is significantly increased when the compressive strength of the concrete increases. In general, the shear strength for deep beams with web openings decreases as the size of the openings increases. This study also recommends two existing analytical methods to determine the shear strength of reinforced concrete deep beams with web openings. A comparison shows that the softened strut-and-tie (SST) model can conservatively and consistently predict the shear strength of deep beams with web openings.