College of Engineering

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

PRCD311: PRINCIPLE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN

II. FLEXURAL ANALYSIS OF BEAMS

In this section, it is assumed that a small transverse load is placed on a concrete beam with tensile
reinforcing and that the load is gradually increased in magnitude until the beam fails. As this takes place,
the beam will go through three distinct stages before collapse occurs. These are:
1.The uncracked concrete stage,
2. The concrete cracked–elastic stresses stage and,
3. The ultimate-strength stage

Uncracked-Concrete Stage (fcT<fr)

-At small loads when the tensile stresses are less than the modulus of rupture (the bending
tensile stress at which the concrete begins to crack).
- The entire cross section of the beam resists bending.

Concrete Cracked–Elastic Stresses Stage (fcT≥fr)

- The modulus of rupture of the concrete is exceeded
- Cracks begin to develop in the bottom of the beam
- Cracking Moment, occurs when the value of tensile stress of concrete is equal to the
modulus of rupture.
- The compression stress at the top is less than 0.5f’c.
- Steel stress is less than yield stress

The cracks occur at those places along To compute the concrete and steel stresses
the beam where the actual moment is in this range, the transformed-area method
greater than the cracking moment. is used
The ultimate-strength stage (fcc>0.5f’c)
- As the load is increased further so that the compressive stresses are greater than 0.50f’c,
the tensile cracks move farther upward, as does the neutral axis, and the concrete
compression stresses begin to change appreciably from a straight line.
- The yield stress of steel is approached
Analysis of uncracked concrete stage (fcT<fr)
Flexure Formula:
If the beam is uncracked, the bending stress in the beam can be obtained based on the
gross properties of the beam cross section.
Mc
f=
I
Cracking Moment:
fr I
Mcr =
c
Modulus of Rupture:
NSCP 2010, Section 409.6.2.3
fr = 0.7 λ √𝑓′𝑐
NSCP 2015, Section 419.2.3.1
fr = 0.62 λ √𝑓′𝑐

Example Problem 1:
a. Compute the bending stress in the extreme tension fiber of the beam in the figure for a bending
moment of 33kN-m. The normal weight of concrete has an f’c of 27.6Mpa. Does cracking occur
in the section?
b. Determine the cracking moment of the section, in kN-m.
Example Problem 2:
a. If the T-beam shown is uncracked, calculate the stress in the concrete at the top and bottom
extreme fibers under a positive bending moment of 108.76kN-m.
b. If f’c =20.7MPa and normal-weight concrete is used, does cracking occurs? And, what is the
maximum uniformly distributed load the beam can carry if it is used as a simple beam with
7.32m span without exceeding the modulus of rupture of the concrete?

bf= 1,524mm
hf= 127mm
hw= 686mm
bw= 300mm

hw
Analysis of cracked concrete stage (fcT≥fr)

Cracks start to develop when the tensile stress in the bottom of the beam becomes equal to the
modulus of rupture. Along with this, the actual moment becomes equal to the cracking moment, Mcr.

When the bending moment is sufficiently large to cause the tensile stress in the extreme fibers to be
greater than the modulus of rupture, it is assumed that all of the concrete on the tensile side of the
beam is cracked and must be neglected in the flexure calculations.

This stage will continue as long as the compression stress in top fibers is less than about one-half of the
concrete’s compression strength, f’c, and as long as the steel stress is less than the yield stress.

Modular Ratio, n
- The ratio of the steel modulus to the concrete modulus
𝐸𝑠
𝑛=
𝐸𝑐
- Modular ratio is used to convert the area of steel with an equivalent area of concrete.

Transformed-Area Method

Basic Procedure:
1. Transform the steel section into concrete.
2. Locate the neutral axis, which is assumed to be located a distance “x”
from the compression surface of the beam.
3. Calculate the moment of inertia of the transformed section.
4. Calculate the stress in the concrete and steel.
Example Problem 1:
a. Calculate the bending stresses in the beam shown in figure by using transformed-area method.
Use: f’c = 20.7MPa, Es = 200GPa, Wc =2400kg/m3, M = 95.16 kN-m

b. Determine the allowable resisting moment of the beam in kN-m, if the allowable stresses are
fc = 9.30MPa and fs = 137.90MPa

Example Problem 2:
Compute the bending stresses in the beam shown in figure by using the transformed-area method; n = 8
and M = 110 ft-k.

Example Problem 3:
Calculate the bending stresses in the concrete and the reinforcing steel, using the transformed area
method: f’c =3000 psi, normal-weight concrete, n = 9, M = 250 ft-k.
Analysis of ultimate-strength stage

At this stage stresses in the concrete and steel are greater than 50% of their compressive and yield
stress.

In this section, a very brief introduction to the calculation of the ultimate or nominal flexural strength of
beams is presented.

it is assumed that the tensile reinforcing bars are stressed to their yield point before the concrete on the
compressive side of the beam is crushed.

After the concrete compression stresses exceed about 0.50f’ c, they no longer vary directly as the
distance from the neutral axis or as a straight line. It is assumed for the purpose of this discussion that
the curved compression diagram is replaced with a rectangular one with a constant stress of 0.85f’ c, as
shown in part (c) of the figure.
These assumptions will enable us to easily calculate the theoretical or nominal flexural strength of
reinforced concrete beams.

Steps in computing nominal moment capacity:

1. Compute total tensile force T =As fy.
2. Equate total compression force C =0.85f’c ab to As fy and solve for a.
3. Calculate the distance between the centers of gravity of T and C.
4. Determine Mn, which equals T or C times the distance between their centers of gravity.

Example Problem 1:
Determine the nominal moment capacity of the beam section shown.
If fy = 414MPa, f’c = 20.7MPa

Example Problem 2:
Calculate the nominal or theoretical ultimate moment strength of the beam section shown in Figure
2.13, if fy = 60,000 psi and f’c =3000 psi. The 6-in.-wide ledges on top are needed for the support of
precast concrete slabs.