SHEAR-STRENGTH OF REINFORCED AND PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DEEP BEAMS - PART II - THE SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

Experimental data on prestressed concrete deep beams are still very sc arce. To the authors' knowledge, the experimental programme described in this paper represents the first detailed programme to consider vari ous tendon profiles and different degrees of prestressing, A total of 34 deep beams were tested, of which 13 beams were reinforced while the other 21 beams were prestressed, The results show that both the shear strength and the serviceability performance of deep beams are signifi cantly improved by the use of prestressing and by the use of orthogona l web reinforcement. The following factors were also investigated: dee p beam deformation, ultimate behaviour, various cracking loads, modes of failures, main tension steel, various types of web reinforcements, strains in reinforcements and span-to-depth ratio. In addition to clar ifying various factors affecting the behaviour of concrete deep beams, this paper provides a comprehensive supporting evidence for the autho r's proposed equation described in a companion paper (Part I).