Engineering Structures 29 (2007) 21932205 www.elsevier.

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Behavior of reinforced concrete beams with minimum torsional reinforcement

Hao-Jan Chiu, I-Kuang Fang , Wen-Tang Young, Jyh-Kun Shiau
Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 701, Taiwan, ROC Received 17 February 2006; received in revised form 9 October 2006; accepted 8 November 2006 Available online 22 December 2006

Abstract An experimental investigation was conducted on the behavior of thirteen high-(HSC) and normal-strength concrete (NSC) full-size beams with relatively low amounts of torsional reinforcement. The crack patterns, the maximum crack widths at service load level, torsional strength, torsional ductility, and post-cracking reserve strength results of the experiments are discussed. The main parameters include the volumetric ratio of torsional reinforcements, the compressive strength of the concrete, and the aspect ratio of the cross section. It was found that the adequacy of the post-cracking reserve strength for specimens with relatively low amounts of torsional reinforcement is primarily related to the ratio of the transverse to the longitudinal reinforcement factors in addition to the total amounts of torsional reinforcement. The minimum requirements of torsional reinforcement for NSC beams proposed by other researchers are also discussed on the basis of our test results of both HSC and NSC beams. c 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: High strength concrete; Reinforced concrete beam; Torsion

1. Introduction Structural elements such as spandrel beams in buildings, curved beams, and eccentrically loaded box girders in bridges are subjected to signicant torsional moments that affect their strength and deformation. The torsion design provisions in the ACI Building Code before 1995 were based on the skewbending theory [1]. Since 1995, the design for torsion is based on the thin-walled tube [2], and space truss analogy [3], which covers both prestressed and nonprestressed concrete members. The torsional cracking strength Tcr includes the effects of concrete compressive strength, solid or hollow cross section, and level of axial or prestressing force. Unlike the 1989 version of the ACI 318 Code [4], the contribution of concrete to the ultimate torsional strength in a structural concrete member was neglected, whereas the nominal torsional moment strength specied in the ACI 318-05 Code [5] is proportional to the amounts of transverse and longitudinal

Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 6 2757575x63163; fax: +886 6 2080565.

E-mail address: fanglou@mail.ncku.edu.tw (I.-K. Fang). 0141-0296/$ - see front matter c 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2006.11.004

reinforcements, and the angle of the compression diagonals. The code provisions also assume that both longitudinal and transverse reinforcements yield prior to the ultimate strength stage. Furthermore, the maximum shear stress is specied to control the crack width. To prevent brittle and sudden failures upon the formation of the rst inclined cracking, the minimum amount of transverse reinforcement specied in ACI 31805 Code [5] includes the effect of compressive strength of concrete. Nevertheless, the test data used to validate the above specication were primarily based on the beams subjected to pure shear [68]. More details about the torsion design provision in ACI 318-05 will be introduced in the following paragraph. Recently, Ali and White [9] proposed that the minimum torsional reinforcement specied in the ACI 318-95 Code [10] could result in a negative calculated minimum longitudinal reinforcement and cause unnecessary confusion to designers. Thus, they suggested that the minimum required torsional reinforcement should be a function of the torsional cracking strength. Koutchoukai and Belarbi [11] investigated the effect of highstrength concrete on the torsional cracking strength Tcr . They also proposed the minimum required torsional reinforcement

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2. Research signicance Notations area enclosed by outside perimeter of concrete cross section, mm2 Ag gross area of concrete cross section, mm2 . For a hollow section, A g is the area of the concrete only and does not include the area of void(s). Al total area of longitudinal reinforcement to resist torsion, mm2 Al ,min (ACI) minimum area of total longitudinal reinforcement required for torsion, mm2 Ao gross area enclosed by shear ow path, mm2 Aoh area enclosed by centerline of the outermost closed transverse torsional reinforcement, mm2 At area of one leg of a closed stirrup resisting torsion within a distance s , mm2 At ,min (ACI) minimum cross-sectional area of one leg of closed stirrups, mm2 bw web width, or diameter of circular section, mm fc specied compressive strength of concrete, MPa f yl yield strength of longitudinal torsional reinforcement, MPa f yv yield strength of closed transverse torsional reinforcement, MPa pcp outside perimeter of the concrete cross section, mm ph perimeter of centerline of outermost closed transverse torsional reinforcement, mm s spacing of torsional reinforcement measured in a direction parallel to longitudinal reinforcement, mm Tcr torsional cracking moment under pure torsion, kN m Tn nominal torsional moment strength, kN m x1 shorter overall dimension of rectangular part of cross section, mm y1 longer overall dimension of rectangular part of cross section, mm angle of compression diagonals in truss analogy for torsion Acp The crack patterns, crack width, post-cracking reserve strength, and torsional ductility for NSC and HSC beams with lower amounts of torsional reinforcement under pure torsion were investigated. The main parameters included the volumetric ratio of transverse to longitudinal reinforcement, compressive strength of concrete, aspect ratio of the cross section, and hollow and solid sections. The minimum requirements of torsional reinforcement for NSC beams proposed by other researchers are also discussed according to the test results. 3. Brief introduction of torsion design in the ACI 318-05 code The design provisions for torsional cracking strength for the nonprestressed concrete beam in ACI 318-05 Code [5] are specied as follows: Tcr = fc 3 fc 3 A2 cp pcp A2 cp pcp for solid section Ag Acp for hollow section. (1)

Tcr =

(2)

Upon torsional cracking, the ACI 318-05 Code assumes that the torsional resistance of a structural concrete member is provided mainly by closed stirrups, longitudinal reinforcements, and compression diagonals, which construct a space truss. In accordance with the space truss analogy and current torsion design provisions, the torsional strength and the required longitudinal reinforcement are specied as follows. The angle of the compression diagonal is specied as varying from 30 to 60 deg. Tn = 2 At Ao f y v cot s Ao = 0.85 Aoh Al = At ph s f yv f yl cot2 . (3) (4) (5)

associated with the minimum required torsional strength to the torsional cracking strength. Experimental investigations on the torsional behavior of reinforced concrete beams with relatively lower amounts of transverse and longitudinal reinforcement are limited. The effects of the ratio of transverse to longitudinal reinforcement on the post-cracking reserve strength and crack control under service conditions for members with the minimum amount of torsional reinforcement still need to be discussed in the literature. Therefore, this paper presents the test results of our investigation of the behavior of reinforced concrete beams with relatively low levels of torsional reinforcement and evaluates the minimum torsional reinforcement provision in the ACI 318 Code.

The ACI 318-05 Code requires a minimum amount of torsional reinforcement to provide the torsional resistance when the factored torsional moment exceeds the threshold torque specied in Section 11.6.1 of the code. For pure torsion, the minimum amount of closed stirrups is specied by the following two equations, depending on whichever is greater: 2 At ,min (ACI) = 0.062 2 At ,min (ACI) 0.35 fc bw s f yv (6) (7)

bw s . f yv

According to the Eq. (6), we nd that the effect of the compressive strength of concrete has been included in the design of the minimum amount of transverse reinforcement.

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Fig. 1(a). Comparison of minimum transverse reinforcement requirements for pure torsion.

Fig. 1(b). Comparison of minimum longitudinal reinforcement requirements for pure torsion.

The current design code also species the following minimum longitudinal torsional reinforcement. Al ,min (ACI) = 5 f c Acp 12 f yl At s ph f yv . f yl (8)

In order to ensure the development of the ultimate torsional strength, to control crack width, and to prevent excessive loss of torsional stiffness after the cracking of the reinforced concrete member, the ACI 318-05 Code species the maximum spacing of the torsional reinforcement in Section 11.6.6. The spacing of transverse torsional reinforcement shall not exceed the smaller of ph /8 or 305 mm. In addition, the provision of the longitudinal reinforcement required for torsion is specied in Section 11.6.6.2 of the ACI 318-05. The effects of the concrete compressive strength on the minimum transverse, longitudinal, and total amount of torsional reinforcement requirements specied in the current and older versions of the ACI 318 Code are compared in Figs. 1(a)1(c). 4. Experimental program 4.1. Specimen details Thirteen beam specimens, having rectangular cross sections of 420 420 mm ( y /x = 1.0), 350 500 mm ( y /x = 1.43), and 250 700 mm ( y /x = 2.8), were constructed in the laboratory and tested under pure torsion. The details, including the identication and design parameters of the specimens are shown in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) and Table 1. A clear concrete cover to the outer surface of stirrups was 20 mm. Additional transverse reinforcement was placed at both ends of the beam, so that failure would occur in the central test region of the beam. The test zone was 1.6 m wide to allow at least one complete helical crack to form along each beam specimen. The primary parameters consisted of the: (1) ratios of transverse and longitudinal reinforcement (t = 0.13%0.61%, l = 0.43%0.91%); (2) compressive strength of concrete ( f c = 3578 MPa); (3) aspect ratio of the cross section (Aseries ( y /x = 1.0), B-series ( y /x = 1.43), and C-series

Fig. 1(c). Comparison of minimum torsional reinforcement requirements.

( y /x = 2.8)); and (4) hollow (H) and solid (S) sections. In addition, we use the ratio of transverse to longitudinal reinforcement factors t f y v /l f yl , the volumetric ratio of the torsional reinforcements including the effect of the yield strength of the reinforcement, to investigate the behavior of the reinforced concrete beams with lower amounts of torsional reinforcement subjected to pure torsion. The HSC specimen HBS-82-13 in Table 1, designed with the minimum amount of transverse reinforcement and maximum spacing of transverse reinforcement ( ph /8 = 190 mm) of the ACI 318-05 Code [5], i.e., At /s = ( At /s )min,(ACI) (t = 0.13%) and Al = 1.52 Al ,min,(ACI) (l = 0.82%), had its sum of torsional reinforcement ratios total = 0.95%. Similarly, the NSC specimen NBS-82-13 was designed with the maximum spacing of the transverse torsional reinforcements ( ph /8 = 190 mm), having At /s = 1.39( At /s )min,(ACI) , t = 0.13%, l = 0.82%, and total = 0.95%. Another HSC specimen HBS-74-17 was designed with At /s = 1.35( At /s )min,(ACI) , l = 0.74%, and total = 0.91%. The ratios of t /l for the above three specimens ranged from 0.16 to 0.23. The values of total for the other ten specimens, as shown in Table 1, varied from 0.87% to 1.41%. The ratios of t /l for these specimens varied from 0.43 to 1.0. Among them, the HSC

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Fig. 2(a). Elevation of the steel cage.

Fig. 2(b). Specimen details.

specimens HAS-51-50 and HCS-52-50 were designed with Tn = 1.0Tcr and = 45 deg, which is equivalent to At /s = 1.99( At /s )min,(ACI) . Similarly, the HSC specimen HBS-60-61 had Tn = 1.2Tcr , = 45 deg, and At /s = 3.05( At /s )min,(ACI) . The NSC specimen NBS-43-44 was designed with Tn = 1.29Tcr and = 45 deg, and At /s = 3.02( At /s )min,(ACI) . In addition, the specimens HAH-81-35, NCH-62-33, and HCH91-42 with hollow sections were designed to compare with those having solid sections. 4.2. Material properties The concrete was supplied from a local ready mix plant. Two types of concrete mixture, for the normal- and high-strength concretes, were used and are shown in Table 2. For both types of concrete, Type I Portland cement, Type F y ash, slag, local crushed aggregate with a maximum size of 10 mm, and local river sand with a neness modulus of 2.7 were used. Silica fume (11% by weight of cement) with a specic gravity of 2.2 was used for the high-strength concrete. Superplasticizer (ASTM C494 Type G) was used to improve the workability of the mixtures for achieving the desired ow of 600 mm. For each test beam specimen, six 150 300 mm concrete cylinders and three 150 150 530 mm prisms were cast as control specimens for basic material strength. The concrete cylinders, prisms, and the test beams were stored together and sprayed with curing compound several times during the curing period until testing. The uniaxial compressive strength was

determined according to the average test results of three control cylinders. Mild steel bars were used as transverse and longitudinal reinforcements. The test yield strengths of the various sizes of reinforcement used in the test beams are shown in Table 1. 4.3. Test setup and instrumentation Details of the schematic test setup are shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). Near the ends of the test region, the specimen was clamped with steel torsional arms, which were loaded through a steel transfer beam by the Shimatzu universal testing machine to generate pure torsional loads. The support devices were installed to ensure that the beam would be free to elongate in the longitudinal direction and rotate in the transverse direction during the test. At both ends of the central test region, aluminum rigs were tied to the surfaces of each specimen to measure the rotation of its cross section. Four electronic dial gauges were used to measure the relative deections of the aluminum rigs, which were transformed into the rotation of the cross section. The twist of the test region was determined from the relative rotations of the two aluminum rigs at the sides of the test region. Electrical resistance strain gauges were mounted on the stirrups and longitudinal reinforcements in the test region to monitor the strain variations of the reinforcements, as shown in Fig. 2(a). As shown in Fig. 4, copper target points were attached to the front, back, and top side of the test region of

H.-J. Chiu et al. / Engineering Structures 29 (2007) 21932205 Table 1 Details of test specimens Specimen number y /x fc (MPa) HAS-51-50 NAS-61-35 1.0 HAH-81-35 HAS-90-50 NBS-43-44 HBS-74-17 HBS-82-13 1.43 NBS-82-13 HBS-60-61 HCS-52-50 NCH-62-33 2.8 HCH-91-42 HCS-91-50
A P

2197

f yv (MPa)

f yl (MPa) 396 394

Longitudinal bars

Stirrups s (mm)

total (%) 1.01 0.96 1.16 1.40 0.87

t f y v l f yl

Comments Tn = 1.0Tcr ; = 45 t / l = 0.98 At /s = 1.77( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.57 At /s = 1.39( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.43 At /s = 1.97( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.56 Tn = 1.29Tcr ; = 45 t / l = 1.02 At /s = 1.35( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.23 At /s = ( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.16 At /s = 1.39( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.16 Tn = 1.2Tcr ; = 45 t / l = 1.02 Tn = 1.0Tcr ; = 45 t / l = 0.96 At /s = 2.41( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.53 At /s = 2.40( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.46 At /s = 2.83( At /s )min,(ACI) t / l = 0.55

76.0 48.0 385 78.0 78.0 35.0 67.0 67.0 35.0 67.0 76.0 48.0 385 78.0 385 600 600 600 385

6-No. 4 and 2-No. 3 ( l = 0.51%) 4-No. 5 and 4-No. 3 ( l = 0.61%) 4-No. 6 and 4-No. 3 ( l = 0.81%) 8-No. 5 ( l = 0.90%) 6-No. 4 ( l = 0.43%) 4-No. 6 and 2-No. 3 ( l = 0.74%) 4-No. 6 and 4-No. 3 ( l = 0.82%) 4-No. 6 and 4-No. 3 ( l = 0.82%) 4-No. 5 and 2-No. 4 ( l = 0.60%) 6-No. 4 and 2-No. 3 ( l = 0.52%) 4-No. 5 and 4-No. 3 ( l = 0.62%) 8-No. 5 ( l = 0.91%) 8-No. 5 ( l = 0.91%)

No. 3@120 ( t = 0.50%) No. 3@170 ( t = 0.35%) No. 3@170 ( t = 0.35%) No. 3@120 ( t = 0.50%) No. 3@140 ( t = 0.44%) No. 2@140 ( t = 0.17%) No. 2@190 ( t = 0.13%) No. 2@190 ( t = 0.13%) No. 3@100 ( t = 0.61%) No. 3@140 t = 0.50% No. 3@210 t = 0.33% No. 3@165 ( t = 0.42%) No. 3@140 ( t = 0.50%)

0.95 0.56 0.34 0.53

493 400 400 505 493 493 402 396 394

0.98 0.91 0.95 0.95 1.21 1.02 0.95 1.33 1.41 0.27 0.19 0.19 0.97 0.93 0.52 0.44 0.53

400 78.0
A

100%; l = A l 100%; total = t + l Note: t = At h cp s cp #2: As = 28.3 mm2 ; #3: As = 71.3 mm2 ; #4: As = 126.7 mm2 #5: As = 198.6 mm2 ; #6: As = 286.5 mm2 .

beam specimens to provide full information about the average surface deformations in the horizontal, vertical, 45 deg, and 135 deg directions. The relative displacements of the adjacent target points were measured by an electronic digital caliper gauge at each load stage during the test. The angles of the principal compressive strain at mid-span during the test procedure were obtained using the Mohrs strain circle. The electronic load cells placed at the top of the steel torsional arms were used to monitor the applied load. The data of load, twist, and reinforcement strains of the beam were collected by a personal computer for automatic data acquisitions.

4.4. Test procedure During the tests, the torsional load was applied in a controlled manner until several visible cracks occurred on the surface of the specimen. The cracking torque Tcr and the associated twist were recorded, and the specimen was then loaded monotonically to failure. At every load stage after initial cracking, the load was held constant for several minutes to measure the crack widths. In addition, the crack propagations were traced and marked on the surfaces of the specimens and the maximum crack width was measured by using a magnifying glass.

2198 Table 2 Concrete mixture proportions Constituents (kg/m3 ) Cement, Silica fume, Slag, Fly ash, Sand, Coarse aggregate, Water, Superplasticizer, (ASTM C 494 Type G) Target strength 70 MPa (HSC) 413 44 65 28 622 988 164 12.1

H.-J. Chiu et al. / Engineering Structures 29 (2007) 21932205

Target strength 40 MPa (NSC) 264 61 81 725 1033 183 4.9 Fig. 3(b). Schematic test setup at the end of specimen.

5. Test results and discussion 5.1. Crack patterns The observed crack patterns of the test specimens are shown in Fig. 5. One major inclined crack initiated on the top and front sides of the HSC specimen HBS-74-17 having relatively lower ratio of t f y v /l f yl (total = 0.91%, t f y v /l f yl = 0.27), and soon after that, the concrete on the back side of it was crushed as shown in Figs. 5(a) and 5(b). The crack pattern of this specimen is similar to that assumed in the skewing bending theory [1]. According to Figs. 5(c)5(g), for the specimens with relatively higher ratios of t f y v /l f yl , 0.440.97, we observe that the smeared helical cracks were evenly distributed on the surface in which the inclined concrete struts of the space truss analogy

Fig. 3(a). Schematic test setup.

Fig. 4. Location of targets on concrete surface.

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Fig. 5(a). Crack pattern of specimen HBS-74-17 after failure (front side).

Fig. 5(e). Crack pattern of specimen NAS-61-35 after failure.

Fig. 5(b). Crack pattern of specimen HBS-74-17 after failure (back side). Fig. 5(f). Crack pattern of specimen HCH-91-42 after failure.

Fig. 5(c). Crack pattern of specimen NAS-61-35 after failure. Fig. 5(g). Crack pattern of specimen NCH-62-33 after failure.

Fig. 5(d). Crack pattern of specimen HBS-60-61 after failure.

were developed to resist the external torque. Corner spallings were observed on some of the test specimens. The selections of the angle of the compression diagonal for torsion design of reinforced concrete beams vary from 30 deg to 60 deg based on the current provisions of the ACI 318-05 Code. If an angle of 45 deg is chosen for the

compression diagonal, it will end up with equal percentages of reinforcement in the longitudinal and transverse directions, i.e., t f y v = l f yl . However, if the selected angle deviates from 45 deg, the designed percentage of torsional reinforcement in the longitudinal direction will differ from that in the transverse direction. The initial cracking angles of the specimens as shown in Fig. 5 are about 4347 deg, except for the specimen HBS-7417, which failed shortly after its initial diagonal crack occurred. The angles of the principal strain at the ultimate strength stage of the thirteen specimens are about 3544 deg, which coincide with the tendencies of the angles for the compression diagonals calculated from the ACI 318-05 Code [5]. From Figs. 5(c) and 5(d), the angles of the principal strain at ultimate strength stage for the specimens HAS-51-50 and HBS-60-61, having t f y v /l f yl = 0.95 and 0.97, are very close to 45 deg. Also, the deviations of the inclined angles at the ultimate strength stage from those at the initial cracking stage are insignicant.

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However, as shown in Figs. 5(e)5(g), the angles of principal strain at the ultimate strength stage for the specimens NAS61-35, HCH-91-42, and NCH-62-33, having t f y v /l f yl = 0.440.56, are approximately 3537 deg, which deviate about 79 deg from those at the initial cracking stages. The test results validate the theory that the tendency of deviation of the angles of the compression diagonal is mainly dependant on the ratio of t f y v /l f yl [12]. 5.2. Crack width For the crack control, there must be sufcient reinforcement in the cross section to ensure that the distribution of cracks can occur and the reinforcement does not yield at the rst cracking. According to the theory of elasticity, when the specimens are subjected to pure torsion, the rst inclined crack normally initiates in the middle of the wider face of the cross section. Therefore, during the test, the crack widths were measured at that location. As mentioned above, for specimens having similar amounts of torsional reinforcement, the torsional cracking strength is lower for those with hollow sections or greater aspect ratios. As a result, the reinforcement started to resist external loads at an earlier load stage for such specimens. From the test observations, the specimen HBS-82-13 ( At /s = ( At /s )min,(ACI) and t f y v/l f y l = 0.19) approached its ultimate strength stage shortly after the formation of diagonal cracking. Furthermore, the deformations on the surface of the specimens HBS-74-17 and NBS-82-13 were concentrated on only a few cracks. Therefore, the crack control is inadequate for the specimens containing relatively lower amounts of transverse reinforcements. In this investigation, we select the A ( y /x = 1.0) and C-series ( y /x = 2.8) specimens to discuss the development of crack widths for specimens with lower amounts of torsional reinforcement. Fig. 6 shows the relationships of the T(test) /Tu(test) and the crack widths of A- and C-series specimens. Each curve starts at the cracking torque and terminates at the point when the reinforcement reaches its yielding strain. In this paper, we adopted the 60% of the nominal torsional strength calculated by the ACI 318-05 Code [5] as the service load level, which was also proposed by Yoon et al. [7] and Ozcebe et al. [8] for reinforced concrete beams subjected to shear. The horizontal and vertical dotted lines in the gures represent the calculated service load level and crack width criteria in a exure of 0.30 mm in the ACI 318-95 Code [10] and in Eurocode 2 [13] at the service load level, respectively. Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) show that the calculated service loads are less than the experimental cracking loads; therefore, the specimens designed with relatively higher ratios of t f y v /l f yl , 0.34 to 0.95, remain un-cracked at the calculated service load level. As shown in Fig. 6(a), the crack width of the specimen HAH-81-35 with hollow section is greater than the HSC specimen HAS-90-50 with solid section at the same load level. A similar phenomenon is observed in Fig. 6(b) for the Cseries specimens HCH-91-42 and HCS-91-50. Therefore, the developments of crack widths for the specimens with hollow

Fig. 6(a). External torque level versus crack width for A-series specimens.

Fig. 6(b). External torque level versus crack width for C-series specimens.

sections are more signicant than those of the specimens with solid sections. From Fig. 6(b), it can also been seen that the crack width of HSC specimen HCH-91-42 is greater than that of the NSC specimen NCH-62-33 at the same load level. Similarly, the tendency can be observed in Fig. 6(a) for HSC specimen HAS-51-50 and NSC specimen NAS-61-35 to go beyond 80% of the experimental ultimate torque. This is because the HSC beams have higher tensile strength and exhibit fewer inclined cracks and larger torsional crack width than the NSC beams. A comparison of Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) shows a signicant difference in the development of crack widths between the A- and C-series specimens. The crack widths of the C-series specimens HCS-52-50 and HCS-91-50 ( y /x = 2.8) are larger than the corresponding specimens HAS-51-50 and HAS-90-50 ( y /x = 1.0) in the A-series, which indicates that the crack widths increase with increases in the aspect ratio of the cross section. According to the numerical analysis and experimental investigations conducted by Park et al. [14] the maximum crack width was affected by the relative amounts of torsional reinforcement in the transverse and longitudinal directions. The crack widths of specimen HCS-91-50 are smaller than those of specimen HCS-52-50 at the same external load level. A similar result is also shown in Fig. 6(a) for specimens HAS-90-50 and HAS-51-50 after going beyond 80% of the experimental

H.-J. Chiu et al. / Engineering Structures 29 (2007) 21932205 Table 3 Summary of test results of specimens Specimen number HAS-51-50 NAS-61-35 HAH-81-35 HAS-90-50 NBS-43-44 HBS-74-17 HBS-82-13 NBS-82-13 HBS-60-61 HCS-52-50 NCH-62-33 HCH-91-42 HCS-91-50 Average Tcr(test) (kN m) 62.10 50.03 44.42 68.43 44.50 57.48 56.31 46.18 59.01 47.22 36.61 40.74 53.22 Tu (test) (kN m) 84.86 74.71 94.31 104.23 60.60 62.20 56.31 52.90 93.70 73.54 64.14 87.51 95.86
Tcr(test) Tcr(ACI) Tu (test) Tn (ACI) Tn (ACI) Tcr(ACI) Tu (test) Tcr(test)

2201

0.85 Au Ay

1.15 1.17 1.39 1.25 1.25 1.17 1.15 1.30 1.20 1.01 1.43 1.25 1.12 1.22

1.56 1.49 1.46 1.43 1.32 1.18 1.20 1.12 1.47 1.64 1.60 1.59 1.60 1.44

1.01 1.18 2.02 1.34 1.29 1.12 1.06 1.32 1.30 1.00 1.57 1.69 1.26

1.37 1.49 2.12 1.52 1.36 1.08 1.00 1.15 1.59 1.56 1.75 2.15 1.80

4.12 4.06 3.88 5.71 3.79 2.51 2.72 2.46 3.81 3.46 1.95 2.13 4.73

ultimate torque. This indicates that an increase in the amount of longitudinal reinforcement decreases the crack width for reinforced concrete beams subjected to pure torsion. The crack widths at 60% of Tu(test) for specimens HAS-51-50 and HCS52-50 (total = 1.02%) are smaller than 0.3 mm. Thus, the specimens designed with Tn = 1.0Tcr provide adequate crack control. 5.3. Torsional strength The experimental results of the torsional strength tests are listed in columns 2 and 3 of Table 3 and compared with the calculated values of the ACI 318-05 Code in columns 4 and 5. The crack initiates as the maximum applied tensile stress arrives at the tensile strength of concrete; therefore, the torsional cracking strengths of the HSC specimens are higher than those of the NSC specimens. The test results indicate that the average value of Tcr(test) /Tcr(ACI) for HSC and NSC specimens are 1.19 and 1.29, respectively, and the average value of Tcr(test) /Tcr(ACI) for all specimens shown in Table 3 is approximately 1.22. As shown in Table 3, the experimental cracking strengths of the hollow section specimens HAH-81-35 ( y /x = 1.0) and HCH-91-42 ( y /x = 2.8) are 44.42 kN m and 40.74 kN m, respectively, which are less than the 68.43 kN m and 53.22 kN m, respectively, of the corresponding solid section specimens HAS-90-50 ( y /x = 1.0) and HCS-91-50 ( y /x = 2.8). In addition, the test results of the above four specimens also reveal that the aspect ratio would affect the torsional cracking strength. We further normalize the torisonal cracking strength of the specimens with solid and hollow sections by f c as shown in Fig. 7. The normalized torsional cracking strength decreased as the aspect ratios of specimens increased. Furthermore, the experimental ultimate torsional strengths of the specimens HAS-51-50 ( y /x = 1.0, total = 1.01%) and HAS-90-50 ( y /x = 1.0, total = 1.40%) are 84.86 kN m and 104.23 kN m, respectively, which are greater than the 73.54 kN m and 95.86 kN m, respectively, of the corresponding solid section specimens HCS-52-50 ( y /x = 2.8, total = 1.02%) and HCS-91-50 ( y /x = 2.8, total = 1.41%). The test

Fig. 7. Normalized cracking torsional strengthaspect ratio relationships for the test specimens.

results also reveal that the ultimate torsional strength decreases with the increase of the aspect ratio of the specimens. 5.4. Torsional ductility Fig. 8(a)(d) show the experimental torquetwist relationships of the test specimens. The torsional ductility of the specimen is dened as the ratio of the area enclosed by the torquetwist curve between the origin and 85% of the peak strength ( A0.85Tu ) in the descending branch to that between the origin and the rst yielding of torsional reinforcement ( A y ). The variations of torsional ductility among the specimens are listed in column 8 of Table 3. The reinforcements of the all specimens yielded prior to the ultimate strength stage, except for the specimens HBS-74-17, HBS-82-13, and NBS-82-13 shown in Fig. 8(a), which were designed with relatively lower ratios of t f y v /l f yl . Only the transverse reinforcement of the above three specimens yielded. The torquetwist curves of the HBS-82-13 and NBS-82-13 (t f y v /l f yl = 0.19), shown in Fig. 8(a), designed with the minimum amount of stirrups and maximum spacing of the stirrups specied in ACI 31805 Code, respectively, had steeper strength decay than the other specimens shown in Fig. 8. From Table 3, the ratios of

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(a) Beams HBS-74-17, HBS-82-13, and NBS-82-13.

(b) Beams HAS-90-50 and HAH-81-35.

(c) Beams HCS-91-50 and HCH-91-42.

(d) Beams HAS-51-50, HCS-52-50, and NBS-43-44. Fig. 8. Experimental torquetwist relationships of the test specimens.

A0.85Tu / A y for specimens HBS-82-13 and HBS-74-17, having t f y v /l f yl = 0.19 and 0.27, are 2.72 and 2.51, respectively, which are less than the 3.81 of the specimen HBS-6061 of the same cross section designed with a relatively higher t f y v /l f yl ratio of 0.97. From Fig. 8(b) and (c), the test results reveal that the ascending branches in the experimental torquetwist curves of the specimens with solid sections are slightly steeper than those with hollow sections. The ratios of A0.85Tu / A y for specimens HAH-81-35 and HCH-91-42 with hollow sections, shown in Table 3, are 3.88 and 2.08, respectively, which are less than the 5.71 and 4.73 of the corresponding specimens HAS-90-50 and HCS-91-50 with solid sections. According to the test results of Fang and Shiau [15], the torsional ductility of HSC specimens is better than that of NSC specimens. In this investigation, the ratios of A0.85Tu / A y for the HSC specimens HBS-82-13 and HCH-91-42 are 2.72 and 2.13, which are greater than the 2.46 and 1.95 of the corresponding NSC specimens NBS-82-13 and NCH-62-33. The experimental torquetwist curves of the specimens HAS-51-50, HCS-52-50, and NBS-43-44 (t f y v /l f yl = 0.930.98) in Fig. 8(d) show fairly ductile behavior in the descending branches. The ratios of A0.85Tu / A y for the above three specimens are 4.12, 3.46, and 3.79, respectively. The test

results reveal that the specimens designed with t f y v = l f yl can provide better torsional ductility than those having lower ratios of t f y v /l f yl . 5.5. Effect of t f y v /l f yl ratio on the post-cracking reserve strength According to the equilibrium equations of the space truss analogy theory [3,16,17] for reinforced concrete members subjected to pure torsion, the ratio of the amount of transverse to longitudinal reinforcement (t /l ) signicantly affects the torsional strength and the angle of the compression diagonal. Furthermore, Leu and Lee [18] and Rahal [19] found that the ratio of t f y v /l f yl has a signicant inuence on the ultimate torsional strength and failure mode of beams subjected to pure torsion. The test results of this investigation indicated that all of the torsional reinforcements of specimens yielded before reaching their ultimate strength stages. Therefore, the result of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) should be greater than 1.0, because the code provisions assume that all of the torsional reinforcements yield at the ultimate strength stage. The effect of the t f y v /l f yl ratio on the post-cracking reserve strength (Tu(test) /Tcr(test)) for specimens with lower amounts of torsional reinforcement is investigated as follows.

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As shown in Table 3, the post-cracking reserve strength Tu(test) /Tcr(test) for HSC specimen HBS-82-13 (with At /s = ( At /s )min,(ACI) and l = 0.82%) and HBS-74-17 (with At /s = 1.35( At /s )min,(ACI) and l = 0.74%), having t f y v /l f yl = 0.19 and 0.27, are 1.00 and 1.08, respectively, which are less than the corresponding code prediction values, Tn(ACI) /Tcr(ACI) , of 1.06 and 1.12, respectively. Similarly, the result of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) for NSC specimen NBS-82-13, with reinforcement ratio t f y v /l f yl = 0.19 and total = 0.95% is 1.15, which is also less than the code prediction value of 1.32. Therefore, the specimens designed with lower ratios of t f y v /l f yl , 0.19 and 0.27, did not provide adequate postcracking reserve strength even though they were designed with torsional reinforcements of total > 0.90%. The following HSC specimens were designed with relatively more transverse reinforcements, i.e., At /s = 1.39 to 2.83 ( At /s )min,(ACI) , l = 0.81%0.91%, t f y v /l f yl = 0.340.53 and total = 1.16%1.41%. The experimental reserve strengths for the HSC specimens HAH-81-35, HAS-90-43, HAS-90-50, HCH-91-42, and HCS-91-50 are 2.12, 1.48, 1.52, 2.15, and 1.80, respectively, which are all greater than the corresponding prediction values of Tn(ACI) /Tcr(ACI) , 2.02, 1.24, 1.34, 1.69, and 1.26, respectively. Similarly, for the NSC specimens NAS-61-35 and NCH-62-33, with At /s = 1.77 and 2.41 ( At /s )min,(ACI) , t f y v /l f yl = 0.56 and 0.52, and total 0.96%, the test values of the reserve strengtsh are 1.49 and 1.75, respectively, which are also greater than the associated values of Tn(ACI) /Tcr(ACI) , which are 1.18 and 1.57, respectively. According to the code provisions of ACI 318-05 [5], i.e., Eqs. (3) and (5) in this paper, the angle of the compression diagonal is 45 deg for beams designed with equal percentages of torsional reinforcement in the transverse and longitudinal directions. From Table 3, we nd that the values of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) for the HSC specimens HAS-51-50, HCS-5250, and HBS-60-61, with At /s = 1.99 to 3.22 ( At /s )min,(ACI) , t f y v /l f yl = 0.930.97, and total = 1.01%1.21%, are 1.37, 1.56, and 1.59, respectively, which are all greater than the prediction values of Tn(ACI) /Tcr(ACI) , which are 1.01, 1.00, and 1.20, respectively. Similarly, for the NSC specimen NBS43-44, having Tn = 1.29Tcr , At /s = 3.02( At /s )min,(ACI) , t f y v /l f yl = 0.98, and total = 0.87%, the value of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) is 1.36, which is greater than the code prediction value of 1.29. To summarize the above comparisons of HSC and NSC specimens designed with total = 0.87%1.21%, which are close to the minimum amounts required by the current design provisions, the experimental post-cracking strengths are approximately 1.371.59 if t f y v /l f yl 1.0 is used. Therefore, the lower post-cracking reserve strengths of the specimens are primarily due to the design with t f y v << l f yl , even if total was only slightly less than 1.0%. Fig. 9 further demonstrates the relationships between the post-cracking reserve strengths and the ratios of t f y v /l f yl for HSC beams subjected to pure torsion according to ACI 31805 (Eqs. (1)(5) of this paper). The six prediction curves are illustrated for B-series specimens having the conditions of solid section, total = 0.9%1.4%, x1 = 300 mm, y1 = 450 mm,

Fig. 9. Reserve strength versus ratios of t f y v /l f yl for HSC specimens.

f c = 70 MPa, f y v = 400 MPa, and f yl = 440 MPa. For beams having total = 0.9%1.2%, the curves start with the condition of maximum spacing of stirrups, whereas for those having total = 1.3% and 1.4%, the curves start with the condition of the angle of the compression diagonal being 30 deg. All of the curves end with the condition of the compression diagonal being 60 deg. The prediction curves also show that the post-cracking reserve strength increases as the ratio of t f y v /l f yl increases and reaches its maximum value when t f y v is very close to l f yl , i.e., = 45 deg, and then it decreases as the value of t f y v /l f yl is greater than 1.00. The experimental post-cracking reserve strength of specimen HBS-60-61 (t f y v /l f yl = 0.97) is 1.59, as plotted in Fig. 9, which is higher than those of the HSC specimens HBS-7417 (total = 0.91%) and HBS-82-13 (total = 0.95%) which were designed with the lower t f y v /l f yl ratios of 0.27 and 0.19, respectively. Therefore, the variation of the post-cracking reserve strength Tu(test) /Tcr(test) was primarily affected by the ratio of t f y v /l f yl in addition to total . Fig. 9 also indicates that insufcient reserve strength would occur when the ratio of total is less than 1.0% for HSC specimens. 5.6. Minimum required torsional reinforcement The relationships between the minimum requirements of torsional reinforcement, specied in ACI 318-95 [10] and ACI 318-05 [5], and the compressive strength of concrete are shown in Fig. 1. The gures show that the minimum requirements of the transverse, longitudinal, and total amounts of torsional reinforcement are the same in both ACI 318-95 and ACI 31805 Codes, as the value of f c is less than 32 MPa. When the concrete compressive strengths are greater than 32 MPa, the minimum amount of transverse reinforcement specied in the ACI 318-05 Code is higher than that in the ACI 318-95 Code. However, the minimum amount of longitudinal reinforcement specied in the ACI 318-05 Code is lower than that specied in the ACI 318-95 Code. Fig. 1 shows that the minimum amounts of torsional reinforcement specied in ACI 318-95 and ACI 318-05 are very close. Furthermore, the minimum torsional reinforcement in the transverse direction is less than

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that of the torsional reinforcement in the longitudinal direction as specied in ACI 318 Code. As mentioned previously, the inadequacy of the postcracking reserve strength for HSC specimens with a lower ratio of total was primarily due to the greater difference in the amounts of transverse and longitudinal reinforcements (t f y v << l f yl ). Recently, a solution for the determination of minimum amounts of torsional reinforcement based on the concept that Tn be in proportion to Tcr is proposed by Hsu [20], Ali and White [9], and Koutchoukali and Belarbi [11], but the related test results are still limited. The logic to determine the minimum amounts of torsional reinforcement is similar to that of prestressed and nonprestressed concrete exural members (Mn = 1.2Mcr ). In accordance with the previous discussions, the beam specimens designed with t f y v = l f yl (the angle of the compression diagonal = 45 deg) had the maximum postcracking reserve strength. In addition, for the serviceability of crack control, Hsu [12] indicated that the use of = 45 deg can provide the best crack width control. The experimental post-cracking reserve strengths of the specimens HAS-5150, NBS-43-44, HBS-60-61, and HCS-52-50, designed with t f y v = l f yl , and total = 0.87%1.21% were 1.37, 1.36, 1.59 and 1.56, respectively, and the associated failure modes were ductile. According to the plots in Figs. 1(a) and 1(b), the amount of minimum transverse reinforcement calculated by Tn = 1.0Tcr is higher than that of the ACI 318 Code, whereas the amount of minimum longitudinal reinforcement calculated by Tn = 1.0Tcr is lower than that of the ACI 318 Code. Furthermore, the minimum amount of total torsional reinforcement according to the concept of Tn = 1.0Tcr is slightly higher than that of the ACI 318 Code, as shown in Fig. 1(c). Therefore, in order to ensure a ductile failure mode, adequate crack control, and sufcient post-cracking reserve strength for reinforced concrete beams, an increase in the t f y v /l f yl ratio of the minimum amount of torsional reinforcement specied in the ACI 31805 Code would be necessary. More work is still needed, including studies of the behavior of beams of compressive strength higher than 100 MPa, and of the effects of combined actions. 6. Conclusions The behavior of reinforced concrete beams designed with lower amounts of torsional reinforcement and the design method for determining the minimum amounts of torsion reinforcement were investigated. The following conclusions are drawn based on the test results of this study. 1. A brittle failure mode was found for the HSC specimens designed with lower ratios of t f y v /l f yl and totals, for instances, t f y v /l f yl = 0.190.27 and total = 0.95%. A ductile failure mode was found for both HSC and NSC specimens designed with the ratios of t f y v /l f yl ranging from 0.34 to 0.98, and total greater than 0.95% for HSC specimens and 0.87% for NSC specimens, respectively. 2. The torsional cracking strengths of the specimens with hollow sections are smaller than those of the specimens with solid sections. The increase of the aspect ratio of the

cross section decreases the cracking and ultimate strengths, and increases the crack widths for the specimens with approximately the same amounts of torsional reinforcement. 3. For the HSC and NSC specimens having At /s = 1.00 to 1.38 ( At /s )min,(ACI) , t f y v /l f yl = 0.190.27, and total = 0.91%0.95%, lower values of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) , 1.00 to 1.15, were observed. For the HSC and NSC specimens designed with At /s 1.39 to 2.83 ( At /s )min,(ACI) , t f y v /l f yl = 0.340.56, and total = 0.95%1.41%, the results of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) were approximately 1.482.15. For those made with HSC and NSC, having At /s = 1.99 to 3.22 ( At /s )min,(ACI) , t /l 1.0, and total = 0.87%1.21%, the values of Tu(test) /Tcr(test) were about 1.321.59. The adequacy of post-cracking reserve strengths for HSC and NSC beams reinforced with the minimum amounts of torsional reinforcement specied in ACI 318-05 is primarily related to the ratio of t f y v /l f yl in addition to the ratio of total . 4. For the HSC and NSC specimens designed with lower amounts of torsional reinforcement, the selection of equal percentages in the transverse and longitudinal directions (i.e., t f y v /l f yl 1.0) provides adequately not only the postcracking reserve strength and torsional ductility needed, but also the crack width control necessary at service load level. Acknowledgment The research funding provided by the National Science Council of the Republic of China is highly appreciated. References
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