The program places transverse reinforcing uniformly over the entire length of the coupling beam. The shear strength provided by steel is based on the number of curtains of vertical steel when uniform layout is selected, and two shear legs when a non-uniform reinforcing layout is used. Since the transverse reinforcing is assumed to be uniformly distributed at a single spacing over the entire length of the coupling beam, the requirements of ACI section 21.5.3 are enforced by the program such that the more rigorous reinforcement typically required only at the outer portions of the span is placed over the entire span.

The calculation of M_pr prescribed by ACI section 21.5.4.1 is conducted assuming zero axial load on the section.