Reinforced Concrete

Modular Leader: Shwan Jalal Abdullah Bajalan

Reinforced Concrete Structures

Concrete and reinforced concrete are used as building

construction materials in every country. In many countries,
reinforced concrete is a dominant structural material in
engineered construction. The universal nature of reinforced
concrete construction stems from the wide availability of
reinforcing bars and of the constituents of concrete (gravel or
crushed rock, sand, water, and cement), from the relatively simple
skills required in concrete construction, and from the economy of
reinforced concrete compared with other forms of construction.
Mechanics of Reinforced Concrete

Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension. As a

result, cracks develop whenever loads, restrained shrinkage, or
temperature changes give rise to tensile stresses in excess of the
tensile strength of the concrete. An unreinforced beam fails very
suddenly and completely when the first crack forms. In a
reinforced concrete beam, reinforcing bars are embedded in the
concrete in such a way that the tension forces needed for moment
equilibrium after the concrete cracks can be developed in the
bars.
Reinforced Concrete Members

Reinforced concrete structures consist of a monolithic series of

“members” that interact to support the loads placed on the
structure.
Compatibility of Concrete and Steel
Concrete and steel reinforcing work together beautifully in reinforced concrete
structures. The advantages of each material seem to compensate for the disadvantages
of the other. For instance, the great shortcoming of concrete is its lack of tensile
strength, but tensile strength is one of the great advantages of steel. Reinforcing bars
have tensile strengths equal to approximately 100 times that of the usual concretes
used.
The two materials bond together very well so there is little chance of slippage between
the two; thus, they will act together as a unit in resisting forces. The excellent bond
obtained is the result of the chemical adhesion between the two materials, the natural
roughness of the bars, and the closely spaced rib-shaped deformations rolled onto the
bars’ surfaces.
Reinforcing bars are subject to corrosion, but the concrete surrounding them provides
them with excellent protection. The strength of exposed steel subjected to the
temperatures reached in fires of ordinary intensity is nil, but enclosing the reinforcing
steel in concrete produces very satisfactory fire ratings. Finally, concrete and steel work
well together in relation to temperature changes because their coefficients of thermal
expansion are quite close. For steel, the coefficient is 0.0000065 per unit length per
degree Fahrenheit, while it varies for concrete from about 0.000004 to 0.000007
(average value: 0.0000055).
Design Codes

The design and construction of buildings is regulated by

municipal bylaws called building codes. These exist to protect the
public’s health and safety. Each city and town is free to write or
adopt its own building code, and in that city or town, only that
particular code has legal status.
The American Concrete Institute’s Building Code Requirements
for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-14) is one of the most
important codes and serves as the basis for comparable codes in
Canada, New Zealand, Australia, most of Latin America, and
some countries in Asia and the middle east.
This code (ACI 318-14), is followed for the majority of the
numerical examples given in this course. Frequent references are
made to this document, and section numbers are provided.
Objectives of Design

The structure should satisfy four major criteria:

1. Appropriateness. The arrangement of spaces, spans, ceiling heights, access,
and traffic flow must complement the intended use. The structure should fit its
environment and be aesthetically pleasing.
2. Economy. The overall cost of the structure should not exceed the client’s
budget. Frequently, teamwork in design will lead to overall economies.
3. Structural adequacy. Structural adequacy involves two major aspects.
(a) A structure must be strong enough to support all anticipated loadings safely.
(b) A structure must not deflect, tilt, vibrate, or crack in a manner that impairs
its usefulness.
4. Maintainability. A structure should be designed so as to require a minimum
amount of simple maintenance procedures.
Limit States and the Design of Reinforced Concrete

When a structure or structural element becomes unfit for its

intended use, it is said to have reached a limit state. The limit
states for reinforced concrete structures can be divided into three
basic groups:
1. Ultimate limit states. These involve a structural collapse of
part or all of the structure. Such a limit state should have a
very low probability of occurrence, because it may lead to
loss of life and major financial losses.
2. Serviceability limit states. These involve disruption of the
functional use of the structure, but not collapse per se.
3. Special limit states. This class of limit states involves
damage or failure due to abnormal conditions or abnormal
loadings
Basic Design Relationship and Structural Safety
The figure shows a beam that supports its own dead weight, w, plus some
applied loads, P1, P2, and P3. These cause bending moments, distributed as
shown. The bending moment is referred to as a load effect. Other load effects
include shear force, axial force, torque, deflection, and vibration.
The beam will support the loads safely if,
at every section, the resistance (strength)
of the member exceeds the effects of the
loads:
resistances ≥ load effects
To allow for the possibility that the
resistances will be less than computed or
the load effects larger than computed,
strength-reduction factors, f, less than 1,
and load factors, a, greater than 1, are
introduced:
fRn ≥ a 1 S1 + a 2 S2 + …….
Here, Rn stands for nominal resistance (strength) and S stands for load effects
Loads
Loads that act on structures can be divided into three general categories:
1. Dead Loads
Dead loads are those that are constant in magnitude and fixed in location
throughout the lifetime of the structure such as: floor fill, finish floor, and
plastered ceiling for buildings and wearing surface, sidewalks, and curbing for
bridges.
2. Live Loads
Live loads are those that are either fully or partially in place or not present at
all, may also change in location; the minimum live loads for which the floors
and roof of a building should be designed are usually specified in building
code that governs at the site of construction
3. Environmental Loads
Environmental Loads consist of wind, earthquake, and snow loads. such as
wind, earthquake, and snow loads.
Typical Live Loads Specified in ASCE/SEI 7-10
Uniform, psf Concentration, lb
2
(kN/m ) (kN)
Apartment buildings
Private rooms and corridors serving them 40 (1.9)
Public rooms and corridors serving them 100 (4.8)
Office buildings
Lobbies and first-floor corridors 100 (4.8) 2000 (8.9)
Offices 50 (2.4) 2000 (8.9)
Corridors above first floor 80 (3.8) 2000 (8.9)
File and computer rooms shall be designed
for heavier loads based on anticipated
occupancy
Schools
Classrooms 40 (1.9) 1000 (4.4)
Corridors above first floor 80 (3.8) 1000 (4.4)
First-floor corridors 100 (4.8) 1000 (4.4)
Stairs and exitways 100 (4.8)
Storage warehouses
Light 125 (6.0)
Heavy 250 (12.0)
Stores
Retail
Ground floor 100 (4.8) 1000 (4.4)
Upper floors 75 (3.6) 1000 (4.4)
Wholesale, all floors 125 (6.0) 1000 (4.4)
Load Factors and Load Combinations

The 2014 ACI Code presents load factors and load combinations
in Chapter 5, which are from ASCE/SEI 7-10, Minimum Design
Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, with slight
modifications.
The ACI Code uses the subscript u to designate the required
strength, which is a load effect computed from combinations of
factored loads. The sum of the combination of factored loads is U
as, for example, in
U = 1.2D + 1.6L
where the symbol U and subscript u are used to refer to the sum
of the factored loads in terms of loads, or in terms of the effects
of the factored loads, Mu, Vu, and Pu.
Structural failures usually occur under combinations of several loads.
In recent years these combinations have been presented in what is
referred to as the companion action format. This is an attempt to model
the expected load combinations.
The load combinations in ACI Code Section 5.3 are examples of
companion action load combinations chosen to represent realistic load
combinations that might occur. In principle, each of these combinations
includes one or more permanent loads (D or F) with load factors of 1.2,
plus the dominant or principal variable load (L, S, or others) with a
load factor of 1.6, plus one or more companion-action variable loads.
The companion-action loads are computed by multiplying the specified
loads (L, S, W, or others) by companion-action load factors between
0.2 and 1.0. The companion-action load factors were chosen to provide
Results for the companion-action load effects that would be likely
during an instance in which the principal variable load is maximized.
In the design of structural members in buildings that are not
subjected to significant wind or earthquake forces the factored
loads are computed from:
U = 1.4D
For combinations including dead load; live load, L; and roof
loads:
U = 1.2D + 1.6L + 0.5(Lr or S or R)
where
L = live load that is a function of use and occupancy
Lr = roof live load
S = roof snow load
R = roof rain load
For the common case of a member supporting dead and live load
only:
U = 1.2D + 1.6L
If the roof load exceeds the floor live loads, or if a column supports a
total roof load that exceeds the total floor live load supported by the
column:
U = 1.2D + 1.6(Lr or S or R) + (1.0L or 0.5W)
In the above equation the roof loads are principal variable loads.
Strength-Reduction Factors, f

The member strengths computed using the specified material

strengths, f’c and fy, and the nominal dimensions, as shown on the
drawings, are referred to as the nominal moment strength, Mn, or
nominal shear strength, Vn, and so on. The reduced nominal
strength or design strength is the nominal strength multiplied by a
strength-reduction factor, f. The design equation is thus:
fMn ≥ Mu fVn ≥ Vu
Flexure or Combined Flexure and Axial Load
Tension-controlled sections f = 0.90
Compression-controlled sections:
(a) Members with spiral reinforcement f = 0.75
(b) Other compression-controlled sections f = 0.65

Other actions
Shear and torsion f = 0.75
Bearing on concrete f = 0.65
Strut-and-tie model f = 0.75
Concrete and Reinforced Concrete

Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel, crushed rock, or other

aggregates held together in a rocklike mass with a paste of
cement and water. Sometimes one or more admixtures are added
to change certain characteristics of the concrete such as its
workability, durability, and time of hardening.
As with most rocklike substances, concrete has a high
compressive strength and a very low tensile strength. Reinforced
concrete is a combination of concrete and steel wherein the steel
reinforcement provides the tensile strength lacking in the
concrete. Steel reinforcing is also capable of resisting
compression forces and is used in columns as well as in other
situations, which are described later.
 Concrete Compressive Strength
The stress–strain curves represent the results obtained from compression tests
of sets of 28-day-old standard cylinders (150mm diameter by 300mm) of
varying strengths. You should carefully study these curves because they bring
out several significant points:
45
f'c=17 MPa
40 f'c = 21 MPa
f'c = 30 MPa
35
f'c = 41.6 MPa
30
Stress (MPa)

25

20

15

10

0
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003 0.0035 0.004
Strain
• The curves are roughly straight while the load is increased from zero
to about one-third to one-half the concrete’s ultimate strength.
• Beyond this range the behavior of concrete is nonlinear. This lack of
linearity of concrete stress–strain curves at higher stresses causes
some problems in the structural analysis of concrete structures
because their behavior is also nonlinear at higher stresses.
• Of particular importance is the fact that regardless of strengths, all
the concretes reach their ultimate strengths at strains of about 0.002.
• Concrete does not have a definite yield strength; rather, the curves
run smoothly on to the point of rupture at strains of from 0.003 to
0.004. It will be assumed for the purpose of future calculations in
this text that concrete fails at 0.003 (ACI 10.2.3).
• It should be further noticed that the weaker grades of concrete are
less brittle than the stronger ones—that is, they will take larger
strains before breaking.
Static Modulus of Elasticity
Concrete has no clear-cut modulus of elasticity. Its value varies with
different concrete strengths, concrete age, type of loading, and the
characteristics and proportions of the cement and aggregates.
Furthermore, there are several different definitions of the modulus:
• The initial modulus is the slope of the stress–strain diagram at the
origin of the curve.
• The tangent modulus is the slope of a tangent to the curve at some
point along the curve—for instance, at 50% of the ultimate strength
of the concrete.
• The slope of a line drawn from the origin to a point on the curve
somewhere between 25% and 50% of its ultimate compressive
strength is referred to as a secant modulus.
• Another modulus, called the apparent modulus or the long-term
modulus, is determined by using the stresses and strains obtained
after the load has been applied for a certain length of time.
• Section 8.5.1 of the ACI Code states that the following expression
can be used for calculating the modulus of elasticity of concretes
weighing from 1500 to 2500 kg/m3 (f ’c in N/mm2 or MPa)

𝐸𝑐 = 𝑤𝑐1.5 (0.043) 𝑓′𝑐

• For normal crushed stone or gravel concrete (with a mass of

approximately 2320 kg/m3)

𝐸𝑐 = 4700 𝑓′𝑐
Poisson’s Ratio

As a concrete cylinder is subjected to compressive loads, it not

only shortens in length but also expands laterally. The ratio of this
lateral expansion to the longitudinal shortening is referred to as
Poisson’s ratio. Its value varies from about 0.11 for the higher-
strength concretes to as high as 0.21 for the weaker-grade
concretes, with average values of about 0.16. There does not seem
to be any direct relationship between the value of the ratio and the
values of items such as the water–cement ratio, amount of curing,
aggregate size, and so on.
 Tensile Strength
The tensile strength of concrete varies from about 8% to 15% of its
compressive strength. A major reason for this small strength is the fact that
concrete is filled with fine cracks. The cracks have little effect when concrete
is subjected to compression loads because the loads cause the cracks to close
and permit compression transfer. Obviously, this is not the case for tensile
loads.
Although tensile strength is normally neglected in design calculations, it is
nevertheless an important property that affects the sizes and extent of the
cracks that occur. Furthermore, the tensile strength of concrete members has a
definite reduction effect on their deflections.
The tensile strength of concrete in flexure is quite important when considering
beam cracks and deflections. For these considerations, the tensile strengths
obtained with the modulus of rupture test have long been used.
Based on hundreds of tests, the code (Section 9.5.2.3) provides a modulus of
rupture fr can be calculated as follow (fr and f’c are in units of MPa)
𝑓𝑟 = 0.62 𝑓′𝑐
Reinforcing Steel
The reinforcing used for concrete structures may be in the form
of bars or welded wire fabric. Reinforcing bars are referred to as
plain or deformed. The deformed bars, which have ribbed
projections rolled onto their surfaces (patterns differing with
different manufacturers) to provide better bonding between the
concrete and the steel, are used for almost all applications. Plain
bars are not used very often except for wrapping around
longitudinal bars, primarily in columns.
Reinforcing bars are indicated by their diameters in fractions of
an inch as 3 in/8 φ, 1 in/2 φ, and 5 in/8 φ. Deformed bars are
round and vary in sizes from #3 to #11, with two very large sizes,
#14 and #18, also available. For bars up to and including #8, the
number of the bar coincides with the bar diameter in eighths of an
inch. For example, a #7 bar has a diameter of 7/8 in. and a cross-
sectional area of 0.60 in2 (which is the area of a circle with a 78-
in. diameter).
The metric version of the ACI Code 318M-14 makes use of the
same reinforcing bars used for designs using U.S. customary
units. The metric bar dimensions are merely soft conversions
(i.e., almost equivalent) of the customary sizes.
The steel reinforcing grades, or minimum steel yield strengths
(fy), referred to in the code are 300, 350, 420, and 520 MPa.
These correspond, to approximately to Grade 40, 50, 60, and 75
bars, respectively.
Reinforcement Bar Sizes and Areas