ABSTRACT
The present study addresses the problem of cyclic shear in squat reinforced concrete walls and attempts to assess the validity of current design provisions, in particular those of Eurocode 8. The paper describes the design of a comprehensive experimental programme involving walls with shear ratios of 1.0 and 1.5, detailed to the provisions of EC8; problems in applying these provisions are pointed out. The wall specimens are reinforced against shear either conventionally (orthogonal grids of web reinforcement), or with cross-inclined bars; moreover the effects of using welded bars as web reinforcement, and of the quality of construction joints are investigated. The first results of the tests are discussed and preliminary conclusions are drawn; of particular interest is the observed out-of-plane failure of a specimen without lateral restraint.
