Punching Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Footings at Testing and According to Eurocode 2 and fib Model Code 2010

Punching shear resistance of column footings and foundation slabs varies significantly in different standards. The reason for this is because standards define differently the position of the critical perimeter in which the punching shear resistance should be determined, and quantify the influences of the main parameters like effective depth, shear slenderness, compressive strength of concrete, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and tension yield stress of reinforcement in different ways. In order to quantify the level of safety in Eurocode 2 and in fib MC 2010, their design results are compared with the test results of the series of footings tested in completely realistic boundary conditions in terms of the subgrade soil. Besides the performed tests results, the analysis of the other investigations of the footing punching rested on the real soil is also included. Thus was obtained the answer to the question how individual characteristics of the footings and of the soil affect the punching bearing resistance and how accurately Eurocode 2 and fib MC 2010 predict the bearing capacity of the tested column footings. At the end, based on the test results and on the tests of others, and on and performed numerical analyses, a possible modification of Eurocode 2 in the field of reinforced concrete footing was proposed.