Effective stiffness of rc deep coupling beams

Abstract

This paper focuses on the effective stiffness of reinforced concrete deep coupling beams with an aspect ratio of lower or equal to 2. A database consisting of 48 conventional and diagonal reinforced concrete coupling beams is collected. The existing models in the design codes and previous research studies related to the effective stiffness of these structures such as ACI 318, ASCE 41, NZS 3101, Paulay and Priestley, Vu et al. ’s ones are investigated and compared. The comparison indicates that the proposed model by Vu et al. produces the most accurate and reliable model.

Key words: Coupling Beam; effective stiffness; shear behaviour.