Chapter 2: Design for shear and torsion

1. Introduction:
A torque , a twisting moment or a torsional
moment is a moment that acts about the
longitudinal axis of a member

In a circular member, the shearing stresses are

zero at the axis of the member and increase
linearly to a maximum stress at the outside of the
member as shown in Figure 1

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In a rectangular member, the shearing stresses vary
from zero at the center to a maximum at the
centers of the long sides. Around the perimeter of
a square member, the shearing stresses vary from
zero at the corners to a maximum at the center of
each side, as shown in Figure 1

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Figure 1 Distribution of
torsional shear stresses
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In structures, torsion results from:
1. Eccentric loading of beams
2. Deformations resulting from continuity of
beams or similar members that join at an
angle to each other

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Figure 2 Torsion in structures- 1

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Figure 3 Torsion in structures-2 6
Torsion can be classified into two
types:
1. Equilibrium torsion: affects equilibrium

2. Compatibility torsion: does not affect

equilibrium

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Figure 4 Compatibility torsion-1
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Figure 4 Compatibility torsion-2
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2. Behavior of reinforced concrete members
subjected to torsion:
when a concrete member is loaded in pure
torsion, shearing stresses develop. One or more
cracks (inclined) develop when the maximum
principal tensile stress reaches the tensile
strength of the concrete. The onset of cracking
failure of unreinforced concrete.

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Furthermore, the addition of longitudinal steel
without stirrups has little effect on the strength of
the beam loaded in pure torsion because it is
effective only in increasing the longitudinal
component of the diagonal tension forces.

A rectangular beam with longitudinal bars in the

corners and closed stirrups can resist increased load
after cracking

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Figure 5 Torque twist curve for a
rectangular beam.
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At the cracking load, point A, the angle of twist
increases without an increase in torque as some of the
forces formerly in the uncracked concrete are
distributed to the reinforcement.

After the cracking of a reinforced concrete beam,

failure may occur in several ways. The stirrups, or
longitudinal reinforcement, or both, may yield, or, for
beams that are over- reinforced in torsion, the concrete
between the inclined cracks may be crushed by the
principal compression stresses prior to yield of the
steel. The more ductile behavior results when both
reinforcements yield prior to crushing of the concrete.

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Combined shear and torsion:
In combined shear and torsion, the cracking load
follows a circular interaction diagram as in Figure 6

In Figure 6:
Vcu= the cracking shear in the absence of torque

Tcu= the cracking torque in the absence of shear

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Figure 6 Interaction of torsion
and shear
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2. Design methods for torsion:

1. skew bending theory: (1971- 1981) ACI CODES

It assumes that the shear and torsion are resisted
by concrete (Vc and Tc) and the reinforcing steel
(Vs and Ts)

2. Thin walled tube/ plastic space truss model: in

European codes and in ACI code since 1995

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Assumptions of thin walled tube/ plastic space
truss:

1. both solid and hollow members are considered as

tubes: tests for solid and hollow beams suggest that,
once the torsional cracking has occurred, the
concrete in the center of the member has little effect
on the torsional strength of the cross section and
hence can be ignored. This, in effect, produce an
equivalent tubular member

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2. after cracking the tube is idealized as a hollow
truss consisting of closed stirrups, longitudinal bars in
the corners, and compression diagonals
approximately centered on the stirrups. The
diagonals are idealized as being between the cracks
that are at angle θ, generally taken as 45 degrees for
reinforced concrete.

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Figure 7 Thin-walled tube analogy and space truss
analogy.
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Figure 8 Combined shear and torsion

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Figure 8 Part of overhanging
flange effective for torsion

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Note:
The cracking torque, the threshold torsion, area of
stirrups for torsion and the area of the longitudinal
steel needed for torsion resistance can be derived.
For details refer to textbook

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The cracking torsion:
From mechanics of materials principles and from ACI
assumptions, the cracking torsion, Tcr, is given by:

This formula is derived based on that the torsional

cracking is assumed to occur when the principal
tensile stress reaches the tensile strength of
concrete in biaxial tension- compression which is

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Also,

If Tc= 0.25 Tcu, then

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So, the existence of a torque equal to 0.25 of the
cracking torque will reduce the cracking shear by
only 3%. This is deemed to be negligible. In ACI
code, the threshold torsion, Tth, below which
torsion can be neglected in a solid section is given
by:

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For thin walled hollow sections, the interaction
diagram between shear and torsion approaches a
straight line as Ag/Acp decreases, where Ag is the area
of concrete only in a cross section and Acp is the total
area enclosed by the perimeter. As a result, a torsion
equal to 0.25 Tcu (Tcu is Tcr), would reduce the cracking
shear to 0.75 Vcu, 25% reduction, so the ACI code
replaces Acp in Tth (threshold torsion) for solid section
with Ag. So, Tth is given by:

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Maximum shear and torsion:
A serviceability failure may occur if the inclined
cracks are too wide at service loads. The limit on
combined shear and torsion in ACI code was
derived to limit the service load crack width.

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3. Torsion diagram:

Figure 9 Torsion
diagrams- 1

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Figure 9 Torsion diagrams- 2

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Figure 9 Torsion
diagrams- 3

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4. ACI design method for shear and torsion:
1. Calculate Vu and Tu at a section. Usually, the
critical section is at distance d from face of
support
2. Determine whether torsion is compatibility or
equilibrium. For compatibility torsion, the
calculated torsion can be reduced to:

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Where:
ACP= area enclosed by outermost perimeter of
concrete cross section, mm2
PCP= outside perimeter of concrete cross section,
mm2
λ= factor to account for the use of light weight
concrete. λ = 1 for normal weight concrete and
λ < 1 for light weight concrete
f’c= specified compressive strength of concrete,
cylinder test at 28 days, Mpa

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3. Design for torsion if Tu> Tth:

For thin walled sections replace Acp by Ag

4. Check whether section is large enough for

torsion design (check section adequacy).

for solid sections:

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Where:
Vu= ultimate shear force, N
Tu= ultimate torsion, N.mm
Ph= perimeter of centerline of outermost closed
transverse torsional reinforcement, mm
Aoh= area enclosed by centerline of the
outermost closed transverse torsional
reinforcement, mm2
bw= width of web
d= effective depth

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For hollow sections:

If a hollow section has a wall thickness, t, less than

Aoh/Ph, ACI 318-08 code section 11.5.3.3 requires that
the actual wall thickness be used. Thus, the second
term of the left side of the above equation becomes
Tu/ (1.7 Aoh t). Alternatively, the second term of the
left side of the above equation can be taken Tu/ (Ao t).

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5. Compute the area of stirrups required for shear,
Av/S, mm2/mm
6. Compute the area of stirrups required for torsion,
At/S , mm2/mm, using the following equation:

Where Ao= gross area enclosed by shear flow path,

mm2

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7. Add the required stirrup amounts together:

for 2 leg- stirrups

ACI 318-08 section 11.5.6.1 limits the stirrup

spacing to be:

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8. Determine the longitudinal reinforcement for
torsion:

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Notes:
1. The ACI 318-08 section 11.5.6.3 requires that
torsional reinforcement continue a distance (bt+ d)
past the point where the torque is less than the
threshold torsion. Where bt is width of that part of
cross section containing the closed stirrups resisting
torsion, mm

2. The stirrups must be closed

3. Longitudinal torsion reinforcement shall be

developed at both ends
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4. The longitudinal reinforcement shall be
distributed around the perimeter of the closed
stirrups with a maximum spacing of 300mm

5. The longitudinal bars shall be inside the closed

stirrups

6. There shall be at least one longitudinal bar in

each corner of the stirrups

7. Longitudinal bars shall have a diameter at least

1/24 (0.042) times the stirrup spacing, but not
less than 10mm.
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Example:
Given:
f’c= 21MPa
fy= 420MPa
Rectangular section: bw= 350mm h=600mm
Clear cover to stirrup= 40mm
Assume Φ12mm stirrups and Φ20mm
longitudinal bars
Mu (negative moment)= 310kN.m
Vu= 260kN
Tu= 38kN.m

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Solution
Step 1: determine flexural reinforcement:

for Mu= 310kN.m bw=350mm h=600mm

d= 600- ( 40+12+20/2)= 538mm
f’c= 21MPa fy= 420MPa → ρ= 0.00904
ρmin= 0.00333 ρmax, singly= 0.0135
ρmin < ρ < ρmax, singly ok
As= 0.00904(350)(538)=1702mm2

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Step 2: check torsion: Tu= 38kN.m

Φ= 0.75 λ= 1 f’c= 21MPa

Acp= 350(600)= 210 000mm2
Pcp= 2(350+600)= 1900mm
→ Tth= 6.65kN.m < 38kN.m

So consider torsion.

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Step 3: check section adequacy: check section
dimensions:

Vu= 260 x 103 N Tu= 38 x 106 N.mm

bw= 350mm d= 538mm xo = 350-(40+12/2)(2)
= 350-92= 258mm
yo= 600-92= 508mm Aoh= xo yo = 258(508)
= 131 064mm2
Ph= 2(258+508)= 1532mm

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Applied stress (left side of the equation)= 2.43MPa
Allowed stress (right side of the equation)= 2.86MPa
→ section dimensions are ok

Step 4: compute shear reinforcement:

Vu= 260kN Vu/Φ = 346.7

Vs= 346.7- 143.8= 202.9 kN

→ Av/S= 0.9mm2/mm
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Step 5: compute torsion transverse reinforcement:

So, At/S= 0.541

Step 5: total transverse reinforcement:

Av+t/S= 0.9+2(0.541)= 1.982 mm2/mm

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(Av+t/S)min= 0.29 mm2/mm < 1.982 mm2/mm
ok

Stirrups spacing, S= 113x2/1.982= 114mm

Smax: S= 1532/8= 192mm

Use S= 100mm

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Step 6: compute torsion longitudinal reinforcement:

At/s= 0.541mm2/mm Ph= 1532mm

Acp= 210 000mm2
→ Al= 829mm2 Al,min= 126mm2
Use Al= 829mm2
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Step 7: bars distribution:

Width of section c/c of bars=

350- 2(40+12+10)= 226mm

Depth of member c/c of bars=

600-2(40+12+10)= 476mm

perimeter of section= 2(226+ 476)= 1404mm

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Top bars for torsion=
(226/1404)(829)= 133mm2

Middle bars – one side for

torsion= (476/1404)(829)=
281mm2 (1Φ20)

Bottom bars for torsion=

(226/1404)(829)= 133mm2
(use 2Φ14 to fix the stirrups)

Total top bars= 133+1702= Figure 10 beam cross section

1835mm2 (6Φ20)
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