Shear Design of Prestressed Concrete: A Unified Approach

Design methods for the shear resistance of reinforced and prestressed concrete beams are based on empirical evidence. Due to different approaches in their development, different equations are used to calculate the shear strength of reinforced and prestressed concrete. Recent research has provided a simplified approach for the shear design of reinforced concrete that eliminates many of the shortcomings of current design procedures and corresponds well to a wide range of test results. The objective of this research was to investigate the applicability of this new approach to prestressed concrete. The applicability of the shear model was evaluated by a comparison of its results with the experimental strengths of 86 specimens which failed in shear. This investigation indicated that the shear model is applicable to prestressed sections. For design purposes, the shear model was simplified to develop a design expression that unifies the design of reinforced and prestressed concrete sections.