Shear Tests on Post-Tensioned High-Strength Self-Consolidating Concrete I-Beams under Distributed Loads

Four large-scale post-tensioned I-beam specimens were fabricated using high-strength self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and tested under realistic distributed loads. The shear reinforcement indexes of the test specimens were varied to achieve web-shear and flexure-shear failure in the specimens under realistic distributed loading conditions. The experimental test results show that the ACI 318-14 Code provisions are conservative in predicting the strengths of web-shear critical specimens and unconservative in predicting the strengths of flexure-shear critical specimens. This is because the ACI 318-14 shear design provisions are primarily based on the test results of old specimens with low concrete strengths and need to be updated using the latest test results available in the literature. Hence, a recently developed traditional shear database of prestressed concrete (PC) members and the four largescale PC specimens tested in the present study are used to improve the web-shear and flexure-shear strength equations of PC members in the ACI 318-14 Code provisions.