Punching resistance of reinforced concrete footings: evaluation of design codes

Abstract

Punching shear is a possible failure mode for slender footings and it can lead a structure to ruin through progressive collapse. Although the geometric characteristics of footings are differentiated, their punching shear design is based on empirical methods similar to those used for slab-column connections. This paper uses experimental results from 216 tests to evaluate the performance of code provisions presented by ACI 318 (2014), ABNT NBR 6118 (2014) and Eurocode 2 (2010) to estimate the punching shear resistance of concrete footings. It was observed great dispersion between theoretical and experimental results, being evident that the ratio between the shear span and the effective depth (a/d) is a fundamental parameter to be considered in the design.