Effect of anchorage and strength of stirrups on shear behavior of high-strength concrete beams

This study investigated possible ways to replace conventional stirrups used on high-strength concrete members with improved reinforcing materials. Headed bar and high-strength steel were chosen to substitute for conventional stirrups, and an experimental comparison between the shear behavior of highstrength concrete large beams reinforced with conventional stirrups and the chosen stirrup substitutes was made. Test results indicated that the headed bar and the high-strength steel led to a significant reserve of shear strength and a good redistribution of shear between stirrups after shear cracking. This is due to the headed bar providing excellent end anchorage and the high-strength steel successfully resisting higher and sudden shear transmission from the concrete to the shear reinforcement. Experimental results presented in this paper were also compared with various prediction models for shear strength of concrete members.