Comparison of Strength-Assessment Methods for Shear-Critical Reinforced Concrete Rectangular Columns

Shear failures are one of the most brittle modes of response in reinforced concrete columns subjected to earthquake-induced lateral drifts, notably if the failure occurs before the flexural strength is reached. Columns exhibiting this failure mode are termed shear-critical and are associated with the loss of the column’s axial load-carrying capacity. Using a database of tests on 38 large-sized rectangular and square columns that exhibited this mode of failure, this paper reviews 10 methods published in the literature and compares their predictive capabilities. This paper shows significant differences between the methods, with the methods in Pan and Li (2013) and ASCE/SEI 41-13 being assessed as the most accurate.