Methods of punching shear strength analysis of reinforced concrete flat plates-A comparative study

The punching shear strength of concrete flat plates is one of the topics of intensive research in recent years by various concrete structures researchers. This paper reviews four current methods of analysing the punching shear strength at the corner-and edge-column positions of reinforced concrete flat plates. They include those recommended in the Australian Standard AS3600-1988, the American Concrete Institute ACI318-89 and the British Standard on Concrete Practices (BS8110) as well as the approach developed at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Based on half-scale model test results, a comparative study of these four analysis methods is made with regard to their limitation, accuracy and reliability. It is found that the Wollongong approach in general gives the best performance in predicting the punching shear strength of flat plates with torsion strips and those with spandrel beams. The Australian Standard procedure performs just as satisfactorily for flat plates with torsion strips but tends to be unsafe for those with spandrel beams. Both the ACI and the British methods are applicable only to flat plates with torsion strips; they also tend to give unsafe predictions for the punching shear strength.