CONCERNS REGARDING THE SEISMIC DESIGN OF REINFORCED-CONCRETE HAUNCHEDBEAMS

Paper discusses: a) current practices in the design of reinforced conc rete (RC) buildings with haunched beams; b) the behavior observed in s uch structures when subjected to moderate or strong earthquakes; c) re search efforts made to understand the behavior of RC haunched beams; a nd d) the need to incorporate recommendations in building codes that w ould insure the ductile detailing of these beams in both flexure and s hear. The case study of a 12-story RC building is presented to show th at current design practices do not favor an adequate lateral load capa city of the building and that undesirable failure mechanisms could dev elop. Based on this study and past research findings, practical recomm endations for the ductile detailing of RC haunched beams are proposed for both flexure and shear.