Shear Strengthening of RC Deep Beam Using Steel Plates

Deep beams are structural elements that can carry a significant amount of load to the supports by compression force as a combination of load and reactions. They are loaded as simple beams. Deep beams have large depth to thickness. Because of the geometry of deep beams, their behaviour is different with slender beam or intermediate beam. Shear failure is the most common mode of failure in deep beams. The shear failure mode occurs in the absence of flexural cracks. The shear behaviour of deep beams are very complex and there is still no agreement on the role of size effect in shear due to lack of information. Sudden failure due to low shear strength is not desirable mode of failure. The reinforced concrete beams are primarily designed for flexural strength and shear strength. Among various methods of shear enhancement, replacement of stirrups using steel plates is a new technique. Providing holes in these steel plates brings better bonding of concrete between the steel plates and it is expected that the shear strengthening of deep beams can be achieved and hence the load carrying capacity can be increased. This paper aims at finding the best suited thickness for steel plate having suitable configuration of holes so that maximum load carrying capacity can be attained.