Strut and Tie model

In the early 1900s the concept for the shear design of flexural members was
first proposed by Ritter (1899) and Mrsch (1909). Gradually the method was
considered quite effective in concrete members where load and geometry
discontinuities occurred. The strut and tie method have been found as the useful method
for the analysis of disturbed regions (i.e. plane sections does not remain plane). Beam column
joint is one of the example of such disturbed region. Many researchers in the past have carried
out the research to analyze the complex stress system through the strut and tie method for the
beam column joints. For the first time, Park and Paulay (1975) have stated that the shear
resistance of the RC beam column joint resisted by the combination of arch and truss action.
The reinforced concrete (RC) structural members can be subdivided
into so-called B-regions and D-regions. The terms B stands for Bernoulli and
corresponds to those parts of the member where the assumption of Bernoulli
can be accepted i.e. the planar sections remain plane after load has applied.
For example: the assumption is accepted for the analysis of long beams
loaded in bending where the load transfer is continuous over long distances:
cracks and compression struts between the cracks are parallel to each other
over the whole region.
D stands for Discontinuity and corresponds to the regions where the
assumption of Bernoulli is no longer valid. The D region is typically the region
around geometrical discontinuity (i.e. changes in cross-section, openings,
nodes in frames, connections between girders and beams, etc.) and static
discontinuity (i.e. isolated loads, supports, temperature changes, anchorage
of prestressing tendons, etc.). The conceptual principle of St. Venant is used
as a guide in selecting the dimensions of D-regions. D regions are assumed
to extend one member depth each way from the discontinuity.

Elements of a strut and tie model (STM)

Strut and tie model has been evolved and included in ACI 318: Appendix A since ACI
318-02. The strut and tie model is comprised of three primary elements i.e.

struts, ties, and nodes as shown in Fig. 1. Those three elements form in a truss-like
structure in order to transfer loads to supports.

Fig. 1. Typical strut-and-tie model (ACI 318M-08 Appendix A)

a) Struts
Compression members of the strut-and-tie model are known as struts. Struts
represent stress fields in the concrete. Various types of struts have been developed to characterize
different stress fields. Different configurations are available to represent the stress fields in the
concrete such as the prism, fan and bottle shaped struts illustrated in Fig. . Out of above
mentioned shapes, prismatic strut is the simplest idealization of compressive stress field used to
model the uniform parallel stress trajectories. Fan shaped stress fields are developed at the points
of concentrated loading or at the supports. This fan region incorporates a series of trapezoidal
struts which act to distribute force from the node at the point of reaction to several stirrups. The
stress field which narrows near points of concentrated loads or at supports is modeled using a
bottle shaped strut as shown in Fig..

a) Prismatic shape

b) Fan shape

c) Bottle shape

Fig. Basic types of struts

The inclined struts produce tensile stresses normal to the line of action of the applied
forces which must be resisted by transverse reinforcement or by tension in the concrete.
b) Ties
Ties are the tension members of the strut-and-tie model. Usually, tie forces are resisted by
reinforcement placed symmetrically about the line of action of the force. The reinforcement must
extend the entire length of the tie and should be properly anchored at the nodes. The amount of
reinforcement to be provided is determined from the tie force. Ideally, the tie should be
proportioned so that at the ultimate design load it will just reach yield. In order to ensure a
ductile failure mode, sufficient yielding must occur to allow the formation of a mechanism prior
to crushing of the concrete. Tie reinforcement may consist of single or multiple bars or of
prestressing strands (Barton et al., 1991).
c) Nodes
Nodes are the connecting elements of the strut and tie model. Nodal zones may be
treated as a single region or may be subdivided into two smaller zones to equilibrate forces.
Nodes may develop where point loads are applied, at supports, in anchorage zones with

concentration of reinforcement or prestressed tendons, at bends in reinforcing bars and at

connections and corners of members. Actually the node represents the regions in which the
internal forces are redirected. Nodes are the important regions where the
concrete stress level must be controlled for the safe transfer of forces and
must satisfy the anchorage requirements of reinforcements. Depending on the
direction of strut and ties joining at node, nodal zone is classified in to CCC, CCT, CTT and TTT
nodes as shown in Fig.

Fig. Classification of nodes

Modified compression field theory

In the early 1900s the concept for the shear design of flexural members was
first proposed by Ritter (1899) and Mrsch (1909). The assumption made in their
shear design procedure is that the cracked concrete in the web of the beam
resists the shear stress only by the diagonal compressive stress and that
stresses were inclined at an angle of 45-degree to the longitudinal axis of the
members. Later it was observed that the 45-degree truss model ignores the
contribution of the tensile strength of the concrete and it gives conservative
estimates of shear strength for the members with small amounts of stirrups.
Mitchel and Collins (1974) developed a more rational approach towards
the analysis of the shear called as the compression field theory (CFT). Unlike
other traditional models, CFT uses the strain conditions in the web to
determine the inclination of the diagonal compressive stresses. Later to

study the relationship between the diagonal compressive stress and the
diagonal compressive strain, Vecchio and Collins (1982) tested 30 reinforced
concrete elements under biaxial stresses. Authors observed that the diagonal
compressive stress is a function of not only of the diagonal compressive
strain but also of coexisting principle tensile strain. In continuation to this
observation, after diagonal cracking, the tensile stresses still existed in the
concrete between the cracks and in combination with shear stresses on the
crack faces, these tensile stresses increases the ability of the cracked
concrete to resist shear. Then CFT relationships were modified to account for
the average principal tensile stresses in the cracked concrete, the
equilibrium, geometric and constitutive relationships of the MCFT were
obtained. The tensile strength of the concrete has been incorporated in the
formulation of MCFT.
From the detailed research of Vecchio and Collins (1986), it has been observed that the concrete
compression strength of diagonal struts in reinforced concrete panels reduces due to the tensile
strain acting orthogonal to the compression strain.

f c 2 max

fc

1
0.8 0.34

1.00

1
co

where is the softening coefficient; fc2max is the softened concrete strength as given by,
f c 2 max

f c c
1.0 c f c
0.8 170 1

where is a factor to account for low density concrete, c is the resistance factor for concrete and
fc is the cylinder compressive strength of concrete. co is the principal compression strain
typically taken as 0.002; and 1 is the principal tensile strain acting perpendicular to compression
strut. computed as,
x 0.002

1 x

tan

where, x is the longitudinal strain at mid-depth of the member (positive when tensile and taken
equal to 0.002). 1 is simply a function of the strut inclination . The angle may be chosen to
have any value between 15 and 75.

When a tension tie crosses a compressive strut the tensile strain 1 can be related to the average
tensile strain of the bar, s , and the angle between the tie and the strut, s, by
0.002
s

1 s

2
tan s

The strain s is suggested to be conservatively taken as fy/Es. The concrete compressive stresses in the
nodal zones are limited to;
0.85c fc in nodal zones bounded by compressive struts and bearing areas;
0.75 c fc in nodal zones anchoring only one tension tie;
0.60 c fc in nodal zones anchoring tension ties in more than one direction.

Later, Hsu and Zhang (1997) also proposed an expression for the average principal stress ( d) in
the diagonal concrete strut as given below,

d f c 2 d d
0 0

for

1.00

the softening coefficient () is expressed as,

5.8
fc

1
1 400 r

0.9
1 400 r

where, fc is the compressive strength of concrete in MPa; d and r are the average principal
strains of cracked concrete; and o is the concrete cylindrical strain corresponding to the concrete
cylindrical strength fc, equal to
f 20
o 0.002 0.001 c

80

Earlier Strut and Tie models

1. Ortiz (1993)

for 20 fc 100 MPa

Strut and tie method have been used to find the shear strength of RC exterior beam column joints
with and without shear reinforcement. As reported by Sharma et al. (2013), the rectangularparabolic stress block of the CEB Model Code (1990) was adopted for the concrete in
compression and a bilinear stress-strain diagram, with no strain hardening, for the reinforcement.
The concrete compressive strength was considered as the strength of diagonal strut according to
the methods proposed by the FIP-CEB Model Code 1990 (CEB, 1993).

2. Vollum and Newman (1999) developed a fixed angle softened strut-and-tie model based on a
database of monotonic exterior beam-column joint tests. The model considered the joint aspect
ratio and beam reinforcement detail as influential parameters; however, it did not include a
method to explicitly evaluate the strut capacity or the mode of failure. The effect of axial load
also was not accounted for as an influential parameter.

Fig. Vertical equilibrium of strut and-tie model, Vollum and Newman (1999)
The model equations can be interpreted for the case of confined and unconfined joints as;

h
V jh 0.642 1 0.552 2 b
hc

where, the factor,

b j hc

f c Asj f sj

represents the detailing of reinforcement, =1.00 for L bend and =0.90

for U bend bars bent into the joint. The model suggested increasing the joint shear strength by
33% to account for the presence of transverse beams.

V jh 0.97 b j hc

h
f c 1 0.555 2 b
hc

1.33b j hc

fc

3. Hwang and Lee (1999) developed a softened strut-and-tie model following the similar
concept of Priestly (1978), however instead of having two shear resisting mechanism, proposed
model consists of three mechanisms (viz. diagonal concrete strut, vertical and horizontal tie
mechanisms). The three mechanisms have been combined together to consider the effect of
concrete compressive strength from diagonal strut, the vertical mechanism by column
intermediate bars and the horizontal mechanism by the transverse shear reinforcement.

(a) Diagonal mechanism

(b) Horizontal mechanism

(c) Vertical mechanism

Figure Joint shear resistant mechanisms by Hwang and Lee (1999)

Tsonos (2007) have developed a joint shear strength model based on combining softened
diagonal strut mechanism and truss mechanisms (Fig.). The model satisfies the constitutive laws
by complying with Mohrs circle compressive and tensile principal stresses 1and 11 and
adopting the fifth degree parabola for concrete biaxial strength curve.

where K is the concrete confinement effectiveness coefficient which is equal to 1 in unconfined

joints and is the joint shear stress. The joint shear strength coefficient j is obtained by solving
the following power equation iteratively:

where j is the joint aspect ratio.

Fig. Diagonal strut and truss mechanism for panel zone model, Tsonos (2007)
Wong (2014) proposed a theoretical model for the shear strength of exterior joints based on the
Modified Rotating Angle Softened Truss Model (MRA-STM). The proposed MRA-STM along
with the deep beam analogy, the characteristic strut and truss actions have been represented by
the effective transverse compression stresses and the softened concrete truss. The model was
based on the compatibility equation proposed by modifying (i) modified compression field
theory, (ii) rotating-angle softened truss-model, and (iii) fixed-angle softened truss model. The
aspect ratio is considered by accounting for the effect of the shear span to depth ratio as in deep
beams. A total database of sixteen specimens has been used for the verification of the proposed
model.
Kotsovou and Mouzakis (2012) proposed a method for the design of exterior beam column
joint assuming that the adjoining forces transferred through the joint only by the diagonal strut
mechanism. The capacity of diagonal strut expressed as the shear capacity of the joint. Author
considers the influence of three major parameters viz., bond between concrete and steel,
anchorage of beam longitudinal reinforcement and the arrangement of joint reinforcement. In
continuation to this model the six full scaled beam column joint have been tested to satisfy the
code design requirements. The joint shear strength have been formulated as,
V jh T Vc
V jh 1.2 Asb f y Vc

where, Asb is the total area of the beam top longitudinal reinforcement; Vc= is the shear force at
the upper column joint interface and 1.2 is the code recommended stress enhancement value.

Park and Mosalam (2012) has presented a semi empirically derived joint shear strength
equation based on the strut and tie method for unreinforced joints. The influence of two

parameters i.e. joint aspect ratio and the beam longitudinal reinforcement have been considered
for the formulation. The joint aspect ratio have been justified by the Strut and tie model, whereas,
the effect of beam longitudinal reinforcement have been considered through the joint shear
index. Experimental database of 62 specimens has been considered for the formulation and
verification of the proposed model.

Vn
b j hc

fc

As f y

b j hc

fc

1 0.85

hb
H

where, the factor is the overstrength factor related with the joint shear index, 1.00 1.25
Pauletta et al. (2015) recently proposed an semi empirical strut and tie model to determine the
shear strength of exterior RC beam column joints. In this two diagonal concrete struts are
considered along with the additional effect of joint horizontal transverse reinforcement and
column intermediate vertical bars. The relative coefficients and calibration of proposed model
has been done by the database of 61 specimens.
f c b j c cos

V jh 0.45

where,

A sh

A sv

and

f ysh , f ysv

0.79 Ash f ysh 0.52

Asv f ysv

tan

are areas and yield strengths of horizontal and vertical

is the angle of inclination of the strut,

joint shear reinforcement respectively;
}
= tan -1 ( h b}} / {{h } rsub { c} rsup { ) , h is distance between top and bottom beam longitudinal bars
b
and

}
hc

is the distance measured from the centroid of bar extension at the free end of the 90 0

hooked bar to the centroid of longitudinal column reinforcement in the opposite side;

is the

depth of the compression zone in the column. In this

is the nondimentional interpolating

parameter given by the expression,

f
0.74 c
105

fc

105

1.28

fc
0.87
105

0.22

Kassem (2015) proposed a single expression based on the two principle mechanisms mobilized
in resisting the shear failure of RC beam column joints are the strut mechanism and truss
mechanism. The strut mechanism has been considered to maintain by the compressive strength
of concrete while the truss mechanism by the joint shear reinforcement and column intermediate
bars. Here a database of 454 test specimens have been used for finding the coefficients in the
formulation and then for the calibration and comparison of proposed model with other existing
models.

jh f yh
b f yb
v jh f c c k cos h

fc
fc

f
bb

tan v jv yv
bj

fc

bc

cot
bj

where, the coefficients c , h ,v and are 0.21, 0.09, 3.47 and 0.22 for exterior joints and 0.26,
0.44, 1.39 and 0.07 for interior joints. The function is the nondimensional function proposed
by European code, EC8, BS EN 1998-1, expression:
f

1 c
250

where, is 0.60 and 0.48 for interior and exterior joints.

Joint shear resisting mechanism

For RC beam column joints, Paulay and Priestley (1992) have recommended the basic
shear resisting mechanism as a combination of arch and truss actions. These arch and truss
actions are associated with the shear resistance provided by the diagonal concrete compressive
strength and transverse reinforcement respectively. The diagonal concrete strut is mainly based
on the concrete compressive strength and also on the other parameters like joint aspect ratio and

the column axial load. The truss mechanism is mobilized by the association of longitudinal and
transverse reinforcements. After the development of first cracking, the diagonal concrete
compressive strut tied together with the longitudinal and transverse reinforcing steel, forming the
truss action within the joint panel. The total joint shear strength (Vj) is the contribution of both
the diagonal strut (Vc) and truss (Vs) mechanisms as;
Vj = Vc +Vs

(1)

a) Strut mechanism

Hsu, T.T.C., and Zhang, L.X. (1997). Nonlinear Analysis of Membrane Elements
by Fixed-Angle Softened-Truss Model. ACI Structural Journal, 94(5), 483-492.
Hsu, T.T.C. (1996). Toward a Unified Nomenclature for Reinforced-Concrete
Theory. Journal of Structural Engineering, 122(3), 275-283.

Tsonos, A.G. Cyclic Load Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Sub

assemblages of Modern Structures, ACI Structural Journal, V. 104, No. 4, 2007, pp.
468- 478.