Effect of High Temperatures on Shear Transfer Strength of Concrete

Abstract

The effect of exposure to elevated temperatures up to (500 oC) on shear transfer strength of concrete was investigated experimentally in this study using push-off specimens. Three groups of specimens were used, each of four specimens. One specimen from each group was heated to (150 oC), the second specimen was heated to (350 oC) and the third specimen was heated to (500 oC), while one specimen from each group was tested without heating as a reference specimen. The three groups of specimens differed from each others by the amount of shear reinforcement crossing the shear plane.The test results of this study showed that shear transfer strength decreased by about (18% to 42%) and that the higher shear reinforcement specimens retained higher strength values than those of lower shear reinforcement ones after exposure to all the studied temperatures. Also, a comparison was made between the post heat exposure behavior of shear transfer strength and the compressive and tensile strengths of concrete. It was observed that the behavior of shear transfer strength of concrete after high temperature exposure can be closely related to compressive strength than splitting tensile strength.