Dowel Action in reinforced concrete construction (beam-column connections)

• Main Author: Kazakoff, Ely E.
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/18758

The transfer of shear in a beam-column joint by dowel action alone was experimentally and analytically studied. The laboratory work involved the shear capacity determination of individual reinforcing steel dowels embedded in concrete. Two main series of experimental tests were conducted on bottom and top dowels - component parts of a beam-column joint. All experimental results were compared to a theoretical analysis. The theoretical analysis consisted of choosing a rational physical model, i.e., a mode of behaviour for each of the two component parts of the joint. No curve-fitting to the experimental results was done. These results do show, however, that the model provides a safe lower bound on the shear capacity of the joint. Also, the model permits reasonable extrapolation to other design problems where the conditions of the problem are not exactly the same as those imposed during the experimental tests. A design example of predicting the shear capacity of a beam-column joint on the basis of dowel action of the reinforcing steel is presented for any combination of top and bottom dowels. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Civil Engineering, Department of === Graduate