ABSTRACT
Recent lectures delivered at Ove Arup and Partners, London (Kong, 1986a), and at the Institution of Structural Engineers’ Northern Counties Branch in Newcastle upon Tyne (Kong, 1985), have shown that reinforced concrete deep beams is a subject of considerable interest in structural engineering practice. A deep beam is a beam having a depth comparable to the span length. Reinforced concrete deep beams have useful applications in tall buildings, offshore structures, and foundations. However, their design is not yet covered by BS 8110, which explicitly states that ‘for the design of deep beams, reference should be made to specialist literature’. Similarly, the draft Eurocode EC/2 states that ‘it does not apply however to deep beams…’ and
refers readers instead to the CEB-FIP Model Code. Currently, the main design documents are the American code ACI 318-83 (revised 1986), the Canadian code CAN-A23.3-M84, the CEB-FIP Model Code and the CIRIA Guide 2. Of these, the CIRIA Guide gives the most comprehensive recommendations and is the only one that covers the buckling strength of slender beams.
