Shear tests on simulated connecting beams in reinforced concrete slit shear walls

Abstract

Slit shear walls are shear walls with purposely built-in vertical slits and may be regarded as coupled shear walls with very short connecting beams. The connecting beams in slit shear walls generally have span/depth ratios that are less than 0.2 and therefore are really thin slices of reinforced concrete acting as shear transfer interfaces. In order to study the shear characteristics of the connecting beams which have direct effects on the overall behaviour of the slit shear wall structures, a series of shear tests on such connecting beams was carried out. Altogether, twelve specimens with span/depth ratios ranging from 0.05 to 0.20 and with different amounts of reinforcement were tested by subjecting them to monotonically increasing shear loads until failure. The load-deflection characteristics, crack patterns and failure modes are observed, and the test results on stiffness and strength are compared with existing analysis methods to see if the methods are also applicable to such kind of connecting beams.