Analysis of shear capacity of lightweight concrete beams

In this paper, the failure mechanisms of lightweight concrete beams without shear reinforcement are examined by means of non-linear finite element analyses and experimental observations. For the 2-D computational simulations, discrete inter- and intra-element crack models based on zero-thickness interface constitutive laws are used within the format of discrete and embedded crack approaches. The objective is to capture the brittle failure behavior of lightweight concrete beams under mixed-mode fracture conditions.