Shear and Torsion Response of Reinforced Concrete Structures

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The objectives of this long-term research program are to improve understanding of the mechanisms by which cracked reinforced concrete transmits shear stresses and use this understanding to develop analytical tools which structural engineers can use to design new structures and evaluate the safety of existing concrete structures. Shear failures can cause concrete structures to collapse without warning and, hence, are of critical concern for public safety. It is now known that older North American shear and torsion design procedures used for a significant portion of existing concrete infrastructure can result in buildings, bridges, silos and nuclear power plants which may have inadequate margins of safety against such failures. Such structures are particularly prone to collapse during earthquakes.***One of the major objectives of the next five years is to improve the understanding of combined torsion and shear and develop the tools to decide which structures must be repaired. This will be done by conducting experiments on intensely instrumented elements of reinforced concrete subjected to loading that simulate the actual conditions encountered in practice. Recently developed techniques will be improved to enable the formation, propagation and sliding of critical cracks to be recorded so that the characteristics of crack patterns of impending shear collapse can be accurately defined. The influence of reversed cyclic loading on crack propagation and bond deterioration for members containing reinforcement details representative of those in older existing structures will be studied and the effects of restraint of shrinkage and thermal movement will be simulated. The experimental studies will be supplemented with extensive nonlinear 2D and 3D finite element analysis. Finally, simple analytical models suitable for use by practicing engineers to evaluate existing structures for shear safety will be developed. The research will be conducted by graduate students who will develop a deep understanding of the shear behaviour of reinforced concrete structures under extreme loads. After such research they will be equipped to contribute to the safety assessment of Canada's critical concrete infrastructure.