Reinforced Concrete

Design
Chapter 2
Design Formulae for Bending
Recap of Chapter 1
1. Understand the dimensions: b, h, L, As, As’, Asv , fy , fcu , etc.
2. Design approaches: ULS and SLS
3. Understand the R. C. drawings (Plan View and Sectional View)
4. Design loading (w) calculation for beam → Design V and M
5. Design load: w = 1.4 D.L. + 1.6 L.L.
6. Calculate the effective span L for beam = Ln + a1 + a2
7. Calculate the effective depth d
8. Calculate the K value: K = M / (bd2 fcu) < K’ = 0.156 (Singly Reinforced Section)
9. Calculate the lever arm: z = [0.5 + (0.25 – K/0.9) 0.5] d
10. Check 0.775 ≤ z / d ≤ 0.95
11. Calculate the steel area: As = M / (0.87 fy z)
12. Design the number of tension steel bar
Recap of the Chapter 1
b

As’ (Area of compression rebar)

e.g. 2T20
As’ = 10*10*π*2
h
Asv (Area of shear reinforcement)
Sv (Spacing of shear reinforcement)

As (Area of main / tension rebar)

e.g. 2T40
As = 20*20*π*2
Cross Section of a R. C. Beam
(P. 19)
Loading width for 5B2

160
5B2 5S1 5B2 5S1 5B3

750
00
90

300
3300 3300
c/c distance between beams c/c distance between beams

Loading width for 5B2

= 3.3/2 + 3.3/2
= 3.3m
0
900
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300
Loading calculation for Beam

k Pa
s : 2
s h e
in i
F
p an
se
ti v
ec
Eff 9 m
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300

Loading width for 5B2

3.3m
e a m
f b /m
e o k N
- lin 6 . 6
t r e a=
c en 2 kP
o n g x
a l . 3 m
L
U hes: 3
D
inis
F an
s p
ti ve
ffec m
E 9
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300
Note:
Loading width for 5B2 Students must remember that the
3.3m UDL 6.6kN/m is running along
the effective span of the Beam
Loading calculation for Beam

k Pa
: 5
oad
d L
o se
mp
I
s pan
c ti ve
e
Eff 9 m
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300

Loading width for 5B2

3.3m
e a m
f b =
e o P a
- lin 5 k
t r e x
ce 3 .3m
n
o n g d : m
l
a d Lo 5kNa /
L
UD pose 16.
Im
p an
se
ti v
ec
Eff 9 m
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300
Note:
Loading width for 5B2 Students must remember that the
3.3m UDL 16.5kN/m is running along
the effective span of the Beam
Loading calculation for Beam
Cross-section Area = 3.3 x 0.16 + (0.75 – 0.16) x 0.3
= 0.705m2

s pan
c ti ve
e
Eff 9 m
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300

Loading width for 5B2

3.3m
e a m 2
f b 5m
e o 70
- lin 0 .
r e 3 x
t
en kN/m
g c m
n .
lo : 24 7 kN 5 /
L a d 7 .2
UD Lo a 1
a d =
D e
p an
se
ti v
ffec m
E 9
160

5S1 5B2 5S1

750

300
Note:
Loading width for 5B2 Students must remember that the
3.3m UDL 17.27kN/m is running along
the effective span of the Beam
│CHAPTER 2│
Design Formulae for Bending

Learning Objectives
• Appreciate the stress-strain properties of concrete
and steel for R.C. design
• Appreciate the derivation of the design formulae
for bending
• Apply the formulae to determine the steel required
for bending (To calculate the required amount of
As & A’s)
CONTENTS
2.1Material Stress-strain Relations
2.1.1 Concrete
2.1.2 Reinforcement
2.1.3 Example – Design Ultimate Capacity for Axial Compression
2.2 Design Formulae for Bending
2.2.1 Limit to Neutral Axis
2.2.2 Examples – Effective Depth
2.2.3 Simplified Stress Block
2.2.4 Design Formulae for Singly Reinforced Section
2.2.5 Limits of the Lever Arm
2.2.6 The Balanced Section
2.2.7 Examples – Singly Reinforced Section (K < 0.156)
2.2.8 Design Formulae for Doubly Reinforced Section
2.2.9 Examples – Doubly Reinforced Section (K > 0.156)
2.3 Flanged Section
2.3.1 Effective Flange Width
2.3.2 Examples – Flanged Section
2.4 Limits to Bar Spacing and Steel Ratio
2.4.1 Bar Spacing
2.4.2 Maximum and Minimum Percentage of Steel
2.1Material Stress-strain Relations

• The stress-strain curve of a material describes the deformation of the

material in response to the load acted upon it. In generalized terms,
deformation is presented in terms of change in length per unit length, i.e.
strain, while load is in terms of force per unit area, i.e. stress.

Apply for both

concrete and steel

• The stress-strain curves of concrete and steel provides the fundamental

knowledge to understand the behaviour of the R.C. composite under
loads and for deriving the necessary formulae for R.C. design.
2.1.1 Concrete

• Concrete is comparatively very weak in tension. Its tensile strength is

about 1/10 of the compressive strength. It is usually ignored in the
design. (Concrete contributes no tensile strength in RC design)
Therefore, the stress-strain curve of concrete is usually referring to
concrete under compression. Typical stress-strain curves of concrete
are shown in Figure 2.1 below.

• The shape of stress-strain curves varies with the strength of the

concrete. The elastic modulus, i.e. the slope of the initial part of the
curves, is higher for higher strength concrete. In addition, the higher
is the strength of the concrete, the more sudden the failure of the
concrete, i.e. more brittle.
Compressive

Concrete crushes here for most

concrete grade, failure occurs
γm
= ???
The curve
starts to
drop here

= 0.0035
2.1.2 Reinforcement

• Steel is much stronger and more ductile (no sudden drop

in stress) than concrete as illustrated in the typical stress-
strain curves of steel in Figure 2.3.

• The initial part of the curve is linear and the slope, i.e.
the elastic modulus, is constant disregard of the strength.
The following value of elastic modulus is adopted in R.C.
design.

• Es = 200 kN/m2 or 200 000 N/m2

High Tensile Steel

Mild Steel
• Most of the grades of steel exhibit a definite yield point at which
strain increases suddenly without increase in stress. For steel
without yield, 0.2% proof stress is adopted for design. Beyond this
point, the strength of steel continues to increase but with substantial
increase in strain.

• Steel deforms substantially before rupture, and the ultimate strength

increases by more than 8% above the yield, and the ultimate strain is
more than 0.05. This strength hardening and ductility properties
render steel a good structural material.

• The tensile and compressive strength properties of steel are the

same. The design code provides an idealized stress-strain curve for
design as given in Figure 2.4.
• sample

Column section
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Column section
N.A. Compression
Tension

Compression

Tension

(load is small) (ultimate load)

Compressive strain in
concrete

Tensile strain in concrete

(to be neglected due to the
assumption that concrete
does not take any tension)

Tensile strain inside

the reinforcement
(which takes up all tension
in R.C. design)
• When the load is small and the material is still linear elastic, the
stress will be in linear proportion to the strain. The distribution
of the compressive stress above the neutral axis is then in
triangular shape as shown in figure (c). The concrete below the
neutral axis is assumed unable to take up any tensile stress, and
rebars are provided to take up the tension.

• If the load is further increased until the section become plastic,

the compressive stress block of concrete will become parabolic
in shape and the tension steel become yielded as shown in
figure (d).

[3]
The "plane section remains plane" (Concrete and rebar deform to the same
extent) assumption is usually valid in beam design, except under some
circumstances, for examples, deep beam with span-to-depth ratio is smaller than
4, at section under very high shear force, etc. It is out of the scope of this
chapter.
Considering the compatibility of strain in figure (b) above, and
• sample
assuming there no slip at the interface of concrete and steel bar, the
relationship of the maximum strain of concrete compression, Ɛcc,
and the strain of steel in tension, Ɛst, is given by:
(By similar △): εcc / x = εst / (d – x)
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εcc = 0.0035 Case 1: for x > 0.617d
εst = 0.0015 < 0.002175
x = 0.7d (Not okay as concrete
crushes before yielding of
0.3d reinforcement.

εst = ???

εcc = 0.0035

Case 2: for x < 0.617d

x = 0.6d εst = 0.00233 > 0.002175
(Okay as reinforcement
0.4d
yields first before the
concrete crushes.
εst = ???
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(more conservative)

Moment Redistribution
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(i.e. Grade 40/20)

Distance to the bottom T40 = 650 – 45 – 12 – 20 = 573 mm

Distance to the bottom T32 = 650 – 45 – 12 – 16 = 577 mm

Distance to the 2nd layer T32 = 650 – 45 – 12 – 40 – 40 – 16 = 497 mm

1257 x 2 x 573 + 804 x 577 + 804 x 2 x 497

Effective Depth, d =
1257 x 2 + 804 x 3

= 549 mm
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3%
2.2.3 Simplified Stress Block

• After the steel has yielded (εst > 0.002175), the beam continues to

deform until the top concrete crushes at the ultimate strain, Ɛcu (=
0.0035) and the distribution of compressive stress in the compression
zone, i.e. above the neutral axis, will then be in the shape of
rectangular-parabolic as shown in (b) of Figure 2.6 below. In order to
make it more manageable in deriving the design formula for bending, a
simplified rectangular stress block as shown figure (c) of Figure 2.6 is
adopted (Figure 6.1 of HKCP-2013).

Note: In reality, the bottom concrete of the beam will crack when the
steel yields.
Area under the Area of
=
Parabolic Curve Rectangle

b
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2.2.4 Design Formulae for Singly-Reinforced Section

The objective of the design formulae is to determine the

steel area, As, with the following information given:

The design ultimate moment: M

Grade of concrete : fcu
Grade of steel : fy
Breadth of section : b
Effective depth : d
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Fcc = Stress x Area

Stress = 0.45 x fcu

Area = b x s
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Design M > Mbal: Concrete crushes first

Balance section
Design M < Mbal:
Concrete crushes long
after steel yields
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0.132
2.2.7 Examples – Singly Reinforced Section
In summary, the procedures to determine the area of tension steel by using the ULS
approach are:

1. Calculate the K value K = M / (bd2 fcu)

2. Check balanced section K < K‘ = 0.156

3. Calculate the lever arm z = [0.5 + (0.25 – K/0.9)0.5] d

4. Check 0.775 ≤ z / d ≤ 0.95

5. Calculate the steel area As = M / (0.87 fy z)

6. Design the reinforcement arrangement, for instance: 2T40 or 3T32

7. Check the % of Steel

8. Checking for deflection (SLS approach)

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(For Singly reinforced section, you

must remember to check every
time:
0.775 ≤ z/d ≤ 0.95)
Question B
For the section in Example A, find the moment of resistance of the
balanced section and the corresponding amount of steel.

Solution
Mbal = K' fcu bd2
= 0.156 x 35 x 350 x 4802 x 10-6
= 440 kN-m

z = 0.775 d
= 0.775 x 480
= 372 mm

As = M / (0.87 fy z)
= 440 x 106 / (0.87 x 500 x 372)
= 2719 mm2
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(Singly-reinforced section)
Check:
0.775 ≤ z/d ≤ 0.95
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K’ = 0.156
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Question A
Determine the steel required for the following beam section:

Design ultimate moment, M = 500 kN-m βb = 1.0

Breadth, b = 350 mm
Effective depth of tension steel, d = 480 mm
Effective depth to comp'n steel, d' = 70 mm
Concrete, fcu = 35 MPa
Steel, fy = 500 MPa
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Exercise on Doubly Reinforced Concrete Design
Ex 2-4

Given :
b = 600 mm
d = 850 mm
d’= 75 mm
fcu = 35 MPa = 35 N/mm2
M = 2600 kNm

k=?
z/d = ?
z=?
d'
?
x
As’ = ?
As = ?
Ex 2-4
b = 600 mm
d = 850 mm
d’= 75 mm
fcu = 35 MPa = 35 N/mm2
M = 2600 kNm
M 2600 *106 (Doubly reinforced section,
k 2  0.171  0.156
bd f cu 600 * 8502 * 35 Compression steel required)
z / d 0.775
z 0.775 * d 0.775 * 850 658.8mm
d' d' 75 K= 0.171
  0.18  0.38........ f sc 0.87 f y
x 0.5d 0.5 * 850 z/d = 0.775
z= 658.75
' ( K  K ' )bd 2 f cu (0.171  0.156) * 600 * 8502 * 35 x= 0.5d
As  '
 691mm 2
0.87 f y (d  d ) 0.87 * 500 * (850  75) x= 425
d'/x = 0.176
0.156bd 2 f cu ' 0.156 * 600 * 8502 * 35
As   As   691 8951mm 2 As' = 691.4
0.87 f y z 0.87 * 500 * 658.8
As = 8951.2
Ex 2-5

Given :
b = 900 mm
d = 450 mm
d’= 70 mm
fcu = 40 MPa = 40 N/mm2
M = 1180 kNm

k=?
z/d = ?
z=?
d'
?
x
As’ = ?
As = ?
Ex 2-5
b = 900 mm
d = 450 mm
d’= 70 mm
fcu = 40 MPa = 40 N/mm2
M = 1180 kNm
M 1180 *106 (Doubly reinforced section,
k 2  0.162  0.156
2
bd f cu 900 * 450 * 40 Compression steel required)
z / d 0.775
z 0.775 * d 0.775 * 450 348.8mm
d' d' 70
  0.31  0.38........ f sc 0.87 f y K= 0.162
x 0.5d 0.5 * 450 z/d = 0.775
z= 348.75
' (0.162  0.156) * 900 * 4502 * 40
As  259mm 2 x= 0.5d
0.87 * 500 * (450  70) x= 225
d'/x = 0.311
0.156bd 2 f cu ' 0.156 * 900 * 4502 * 40
As   As   259 7755mm 2 As' = 258.7
0.87 f y z 0.87 * 500 * 348.8
As = 7755.0
2.3 Flanged Section
• Reinforced concrete beams are usually constructed monolithically
(slab and beam are concreted at the same time by the same
concrete grade, no C.J.) with the floor slab, and therefore they will act
in integral to resist sagging moment as shown in the following figure.
The slab acts as the top flange of the beam to share the flexural
compressive stress. As the slab is much wider than the breadth of the
beam, the compressive zone can be achieved by a much shallower
neutral axis, which, in most circumstances, falls within the flange
without trespassing into the web of the beam. On the other hand,
the flange does not assist in resisting the hogging moment at the
supports, where the compression zone is at the bottom of the section.
At mid-span, the slab
will assist to take up the
compressive stress of
the beam in black colour

At supports, the compressive

stress in black colour is all
taken up by the beam section
only
Effective Flange Width

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For rectangular beam design: K = M / (bd2 fcu)

For Flanged / T-beam design: K = M / (beffd2 fcu)

So, what is the advantage of adopting flanged beam design?
(varies with the support conditions)
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(End Span of (Interior Span of (Cantilever beam)

Continuous beam) Continuous beam)
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beff1 = min (0.2b1 + 0.1Lpi or 0.2Lpi or b1)

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Lpi = L

(to ensure N.A. lies within the slab)

(MUST be checked for flanged beam)
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Question B(2)
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c/c distance
Question B(2)
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c/c distance

2b1 = 2b2 = 2000 - 300 = 1700

b1 = b2 = 850mm

beff1 = 0.2(850) + 0.1(9000) = 1070

beff1 = min (1070, 850, 1800)
beff1 = 850mm

beff = 850x2 + 300 = 2000mm

Bear in mind that flanged
beam design can only be
adopted in mid-span sagging
moment, but not in support
hogging moment.

Pls use beff =

1780mm, not 350mm
in the calculation of
K value
This example is similar to Question A in 2.2.9 except that it is a flanged section. As the
value of b in this case is 5 times that of the rectangular section in the previous
example, the value of K is therefore reduced also by almost 5 times and becomes
much smaller than K' and, as a result, the upper bound value is adopted. When the
total steel area required (2521 mm2) is compared with that required for rectangular
section (332 + 3053 = 3385mm2), there is a saving of 25.5%.
Example: Calculate the effective flange width (beff) for a continuous T-Beam at
interior span as shown below. Given that the effective span is L = 5m:

beff = ?
5 m
slab slab slab
L = Support
beam beam beam beam

Support

Support

Support
Solution

b1 = 1000mm = b2
2.4 Limits to Bar Spacing and Steel Ratio

There are lower and upper limits to the amount of steel and the
spacing between bars in reinforced concrete. The lower bound
is to prevent unsightly cracking due to shrinkage, temperature
effect, restrained action and brittle failure. On the other hand,
the upper bound is to prevent congestion of reinforcement bars
that would affect the proper compaction of concrete.
2.4.1 Bar Spacing

Adequate clear spacing should be provided between bars such

that concrete can be placed and compacted satisfactorily
around the bars. The clear distance (horizontal and vertical)
between individual or horizontal layers of parallel bars should
not be less than (Cl.8.2 of HKCP-2013):

i. maximum bar size

Choose the
ii. aggregate size + 5 mm
largest value
iii. 20 mm
On the other hands, reinforcement bars cannot be placed too far
apart; they have to be placed close enough to distribute the
cracks (avoid crack formation) on the surface of the concrete
element. The maximum spacing of the bars is determined by the
service stress in the rebars, their distance from the concrete
surface and the thickness of the concrete element. Detailed
requirements for beams and slabs can be found in Cl.9.2.1.4 and
Cl.9.3.1.1 of HKCP-2013. They will not be covered in this chapter.
For simplicity, the following rules of thumb can be adopted for
preliminary design:

For beam, the maximum bar spacing requirement can in general

be complied with by providing one bar for every 100 to 150 mm
width of the beam.
Example
For a beam of 400 mm wide, provide 3 to 4 bars at the
outer layer depending on the size of the bars.

• For slab, under most circumstances, limit the spacing of

main bars to not more than 2h or 250 mm whichever is
lesser, where h is the thickness of the slab.
2.4.2 Maximum and Minimum Percentage of Steel

The maximum and minimum limits for Grade 500 steel commonly
used in R.C. design are summarized in the table below:

In calculating the steel ratio for the above table, the gross area of
the concrete, Ac, is adopted.
For rectangular section, Ac = bh
For flanged section, Ac = bwh

Example
For a beam of 600 (h) x 300 (b), the minimum flexural
tension steel is 0.13 x 600 x 300 / 100 = 234 mm2.

For a flanged beam of 600 (h) x 300 (b), the minimum

flexural tension steel is 324 mm2.
Tutorial for Chapter 2
(Singly-reinforced section, no compression steel required)
Check:
0.775 ≤ z/d ≤ 0.95
Singly Vs Doubly Reinforced Section

1. The derivation of the design formulae for bending;

2. Design procedures for Singly Reinforced Section (K < 0.156):

z = [0.5 + (0.25 – K/0.9)0.5] d Check: 0.775 ≤ z/d ≤ 0.95
As = M / (0.87 fy z)

3. Design procedures for Doubly Reinforced Section (K > 0.156):

z = 0.775d
AQ2 Given the following information of a flanged beam section
of a simply supported beam:
Determine the following:
(a) The effective depth
(b) The effective flange width
(c) The K value
(d) The lever arm, z
(e) The steel area required
(f) Number and size of reinforcement bars, and steel
area provided
(g) Check if the steel provided comply with the max. &
min. limits