Modeling of cyclic shear behavior in RC members

This paper presents improved analytical methods for simulating the nonlinear static and dynamic response of reinforced concrete frames. A new approach in describing the nonlinear hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete elements is proposed. This approach consists of isolating the basic mechanisms that control the hysteretic behavior of RC members into individual subelements that are connected in series to form the RC member element. A shear subelement is presented in detail in this paper. It describes the shear sliding in the critical regions and the shear distortion along the member. In cases where a substantial axial force is present, the proposed shear subelement is capable of describing the interaction of axial force with the opening and closing of shear cracks. To establish the validity of the proposed model, correlation studies of analytical results with experimental evidence of the load-displacement response of shear critical RC members and subassemblies under static load reversals are conducted. The analytical results generally show very good agreement with experimental results.