Non-slender reinforced concrete beams find extensive application in cases where heavy loads need to be transferred over a given span. The safety of this kind of structural elements is often critical for the safety of the structure as a whole. The research described in this thesis is devoted to studying the behaviour of lightly-reinforced non-slender beams under monotonic and reversed cyclic loads, as particular consideration is given to the load-bearing mechanisms which occur in moderately-deep beams. The choice of this topic was motivated in part by verification studies which show that the current code procedures for shear design of members without web reinforcement are least accurate in the range of transition from deep to slender beams. Furthermore, the issue of cyclic response of lightly-reinforced deep beams is of great importance for seismic assessment of existing structures, especially if the similarity between the load-bearing mechanisms in deep beams and those in other non-slender components such as coupling beams, squat shear walls, and frame joints is recognized.An experimental program consisting of ten tests of large non-slender reinforced concrete beams has been performed. All specimens failed in shear after transition from beam load-bearing mechanism to arch action (specimens without stirrups) or truss actions (specimens with stirrups). A suggested kinematic model was successfully used for interpretation of the various deformation measurements. The results showed that part of the ultimate shear was carried in the cracked concrete. It was concluded that load reversals had little effect on the overall response. A test of deep beam provided with single bar #18 demonstrated that anchorage by anchor heads is effective even when the biggest ASTM reinforcing bar is used. Comparison between experimentally-obtained and calculated shear strengths showed that the CSA code rendered reasonably conservative predictions compared to the mostly unconservative results of the ACI and EC2 codes.Theoretical work resulted in a derivation of an improved strut-and-tie model (ISTM) which is based on the CSA shear provisions but accounts for shear carried under the critical diagonal cracks of non-slender beams without web reinforcement. Verification against a large number of tests showed that the new model is consistent with physical observations and explains the transition from deep to slender beams. Furthermore, it was shown that the ISTM can be used in combination with the above-mentioned kinematic model for estimation of the ultimate displacement and deformed shape of non-slender beams.
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