SIZE EFFECTS IN SHORT SEAMS LEADED IN SHEAR

Since Kani's investigations in the 1960s, it has been known that the s hear-carrying capacity of beams with plain webs failing in shear-flexu re is strongly size-dependent. Up to now, however, no information on t he size dependency of short beams (slenderness ratio a/d < 2.5) was av ailable. In this paper, an investigation is described focusing on this open question. Tests are described on members with constant dimension s and varying aggregate size, and on members with varying size, keepin g all other parameters constant. The influence of shear reinforcement on the occurrence of size effects is investigated. Comparisons between short and slender members, with respect to size effect, are made.