A simplified method to predict the ultimate shear stress of reinforced concrete membrane elements

This paper presents a new simplified verification method to predict the ultimate shear stress and the mode of failure of reinforced concrete membrane elements with orthogonal reinforcement under any combination of normal stresses. This method is based on a simplified model designed to take the condition of the concrete at failure into account. The methodology is non-iterative, simple and easy to use for practical purposes. The accuracy of the verification method has been checked using test results from 88 RC membrane elements subjected to a wide range of in-plane normal and shear stresses, concrete strengths, and reinforcement ratios for both x and y directions. Moreover, the proposed method is compared with MCFT using Membrane-2000 software and other simplified methods (SMCS by Rahal 2010, the Marti-Kauffman method 1998 and the Mancini proposal 2001). The proposed method strikes a balance between a general view, accuracy and simplicity, using a wide range of tests that cover different modes of failure.