Analysis and Design of A Continuous R C Raker Beam Using Eurocode 2
Analysis and Design of A Continuous R C Raker Beam Using Eurocode 2
(2016)
Abstract
A continuous intermediate raker beam in the first tier of a football stadium was analysed using elastic
method and designed using Eurocode 2. The raker beam was analysed for permanent and variable
actions due to crowd load and permanent loads only. Due to its inclination, it was subjected to
significant bending, axial, and shear forces. However, design results show that the effect of axial
force was not very significant in the quantity of shear reinforcement required. Asv/Sv ratio of 1.175
(3Y10mm @ 200 c/c) was found to satisfy shear requirements. The greatest quantity of longitudinal
reinforcement was provided at the intermediate support with a reinforcement ratio of 1.3404%. The
provided reinforcement was found adequate to satisfy ultimate and serviceability requirements.
1.0 Introduction
The most common construction concept of sports stadiums today is a composite type where usually precast
concrete terrace units (seating decks) span between inclined (raker) steel or reinforced concrete beams and rest
on each other, thereby forming a grandstand (Karadelis, 2012). The raker beams are usually formed in-situ with
the columns of the structure, or sometimes may be preferably precast depending on site/construction constraints.
This arrangement usually forms the skeletal frame of a stadium structure.
In this paper, a raker beam isolated from a double tiered reinforced concrete grandstand that wraps around a
football pitch has been presented for the purpose of structural analysis and design. A repetitive pattern has been
adopted in the design which utilizes a construction joint of 25mm gap between different frame units. By
estimate, each frame unit is expected to carry a maximum of 3600 spectators, under full working conditions.
With ten different frames units, the stadium capacity is about 35000 after all other reservations have been taken
into account. Each grandstand frame has precast L-shaped seating terrace units that span in between reinforced
concrete raker beams inclined at angles between 20° - 22° with the horizontal. Crowd load and other loads are
transferred from the seating units to the raker beams, which then transfers them to the columns and then to the
foundations. Load from the service areas and concourse areas are also transferred using the same method.
Figure 1.1: 3D skeletal structure of each grandstand frame units (slabs and sitting areas removed)
The three dimensional view of the skeleton of the grandstand is shown in Figure 1.1, while a section
through the grandstand is shown if Figure 1.2. Section through the L-shaped seating unit is shown in
Figure 1.3.
In simple horizontal beams, vertical forces will produce vertical reactions only. However, once a beam is
statically indeterminate and inclined, vertical forces will produce both vertical and horizontal reactions and as a
result, axial forces which may be compressive or tensile in nature will be induced in the beam. In the design of
horizontal floor beams in normal framed structures, the effect of axial force in the shear force capacity of the
section is usually neglected. This is largely due to the fact that these forces are usually compressive, and in
effect tends to increase the concrete resistance shear stress (Vc) and (VRd,c) of the section in accordance with BS
8110-1:1997 and EC2 respectively. It is a well known phenomenon that compressive axial force increases the
concrete resistance shear stress of a section, while tensile axial force will reduce the concrete resistance shear
stress. So this neglect can be justified in terms of it being a conservative design which can only err in economy.
However for inclined beams members in a frame (as in the case of a grandstand), axial force behaviour can vary
greatly especially when the load is applied in the global direction (which is the prevalent scenario). In other
words, based on the structural configuration of the structure and the loading, it is even common to see the
nature of axial forces moving from positive (tensile) to negative (compressive) in the same span of an
inclined member. If the load is however resolved and applied in the local direction of the inclined member, the
axial forces will be absent. A good design will therefore require the use of less shear reinforcement in the axial
compression zone, and more shear reinforcement in the axial tension zone. While the effect of axial forces may
be neglected in horizontal floor beams under axial compression, it may be unsafe to neglect it in inclined beams
because more often than not, some sections are usually under axial tension.
Table 1.1: Values of variable actions on grandstands from BS 6399 and EN 1991
Raker beams in stadiums usually support precast seating terrace units which may be L-shaped, or extended into
a more complex shape (see Figure 1.5). These seating terrace units are designed as simply supported elements
spanning between the raker beams (Karadelis, 2012, Salyards et al 2005). The crowd loading is supported
directly by these terrace units, which then transfer the load to the raker beams through the bearings. This
construction concept has been adopted in the design of Cape Town Stadium (South Africa) for the 2010 FIFA
world Cup (Plate 1.5). The picture in (Figure 1.4) below shows the formwork and construction of in-situ raker
beams at San Diego State University Student Activity Center (Steele and Larson 1996).
Figure 1.4: Typical formwork and Plate 1.5: Precast seating units being installed
reinforcement for in-situ raker beam (Steele on raker beams at Cape Town Stadium (2010)
and Larson 1996).
In this design, each L-shaped seating unit is 7m long, which means that the raker beams are spaced at 7m centre
to centre. The crowd loading is supported by the terrace seating units, which is then transferred to the raker
ibeams through the end shears. The raker beams can be analysed as sub-frames or as full 3D structures in order
to get the most realistic behaviour of the structure.
Substituting equ (6) into (5) and making 𝐴𝑠1 the subject of the formular;
𝑀𝐸𝑑
𝐴𝑠1 = -------------------- (7)
0.87𝑓𝑦𝑘 𝑧
𝑀𝐸𝑑
where K = ---------------- (9)
𝑓𝑐𝑘 𝑏𝑑2
𝑀𝐸𝑑 − 𝑀𝑅𝑑
Area of compression reinforcement AS2 = ----------------------- (10)
0.87𝑓𝑦𝑘 (𝑑− 𝑑2 )
𝑀𝑅𝑑
Area of tension reinforcement 𝐴𝑠1 = + AS2 -------------------- (11)
0.87𝑓𝑦𝑘 𝑧
3⁄
𝜌0 𝜌0 2
L/d = K [11 + 1.5√𝑓𝑐𝑘 + 3.2√𝑓𝑐𝑘 ( − 1) ] if 𝜌 ≤ 𝜌0 --------------------------- (12)
𝜌 𝜌
1⁄
𝜌0 1 𝜌 2
L/d = K [11 + 1.5√𝑓𝑐𝑘
𝜌− 𝜌′
+
12
√𝑓𝑐𝑘 ( 𝜌0 ) ] if 𝜌 > 𝜌0 ---------------------- (13)
Where;
In EC2, the concrete resistance shear stress without shear reinforcement is given by;
1
VRd,c = [CRd,c.k. (100𝜌1 𝑓𝑐𝑘 )3 + k1. 𝜎𝑐𝑝 ]bw.d ≥ (Vmin + k1. 𝜎𝑐𝑝 ) ----------------------- (14)
200 𝐴𝑆1
CRd,c = 0.18/𝛾𝑐 ; k = 1+√ < 0.02 (d in mm); 𝜌1 = < 0.02 (In which 𝐴𝑆1 is the area of tensile reinforcement
𝑑 𝑏𝑑
3 1
which extends ≥ (𝑙𝑏𝑑 + 𝑑) beyond the section considered; Vmin = 0.035𝑘 2 𝑓𝑐𝑘 2
K1 = 0.15; 𝜎𝑐𝑝 = NEd/Ac < 0.2fcd (Where NEd is the axial force at the section, Ac = cross sectional area of the
concrete), fcd = design compressive strength of the concrete.
Permanent Actions
Self weight of the 7m precast seating deck (see Figure 1.4)
(GK1) = (25 × 0.25 × 0.15 × 7) + (25 × 0.95 × 0.15 × 7) = 31.5 KN
Variable Actions
Imposed load for structural class C5 (QK) = (5 × 0.95 × 7) = 33.25 KN
Total action on L-shaped seating terrace unit at ultimate limit state by Eurocode 2
Concrete own weight (waist area) = 1.2m × 0.4m × 25 KN/m3 = 12.00 KN/m (normal to the inclination i.e. in
the local direction)
Height of riser in the raker beam = 0.4m; Width of tread in the raker beam = 0.8m; Angle of inclination (𝛼) =
20.556°
Stepped area (risers) = 1⁄2 × 0.4 × 25 = 5 KN/m (in the global direction)
For purely vertical load in the global y-direction, we convert the load from the waist of the beam by;
UDL from waist of the beam = (12.00 × cos 20.556°) = 11.236 KN/m
Total self weight (Gk) = 11.236 + 5 = 16.235 KN/m
Total number of the precast seating units on the beam = 24/0.8 = 30 units
For an intermediate beam supporting seating units on both sides;
Total number of precast seating units = 2 × 30 = 60 units
Therefore, total shear force transferred from the seating units to the raker beam = 55.1775 × 60 = 3310.65 KN
3310.65 𝐾𝑁
Equivalent uniformly distributed load in the global direction at ultimate limit state = = 137.94 KN/m
24𝑚
Total load on intermediate raker beams at ultimate limit state in the global direction = 137.94 + 21.917 =
159.857 KN/m
The internal stresses on the intermediate raker beams from the analysis of the frame at ultimate limit
state are shown in Figures 1.7 to 1.9.
The summary of the analysis result of the raker beams is shown in Table 1.3.
1⁄
𝜌0 1 𝜌′ 2
L/d = K [11 + 1.5√𝑓𝑐𝑘 ′ + √𝑓𝑐𝑘 (𝜌 ) ] if 𝜌 > 𝜌0
𝜌− 𝜌 12 0
𝐴𝑠 2450
𝜌= = = 0.00540 < 10−3 √35
𝑏𝑑 400 × 1134
3⁄
0.0059 0.0059 2
L/d = 1.5 [11 + 1.5√35 × + 3.2√35 ( − 1) ] = 1.5(20.695 + 0.5333) = 31.842
0.0054 0.0054
310
Modification factor 𝛽𝑠 =
𝜎𝑠
310𝑓𝑦𝑘 𝐴𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑞 310 × 500 × 2199
𝜎𝑠 = = = 278.241 N/mm2
500 𝐴𝑆𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣 500 ×2450
310
𝛽𝑠 = =1.11
278.241
7000
Since the span is greater than 7m, allowable span/depth ratio = 𝛽𝑠 × 31.842 × 𝐿
= 1.11 × 31.842
7000
× 12816
= 19.374
12816
Actual deflection L/d = 1134
= 11.301
Since 11.301 < 19.374, deflection is ok.
1⁄
𝜌0 1 𝜌′ 2
L/d = K [11 + 1.5√𝑓𝑐𝑘 + √𝑓𝑐𝑘 (𝜌 ) ] if 𝜌 > 𝜌0
𝜌− 𝜌′ 12 0
0.0059
L/d = 1.5 [11 + 1.5√35 × + 0] = 28.066
0.00679 − 0
310
Modification factor 𝛽𝑠 =
𝜎𝑠
310𝑓𝑦𝑘 𝐴𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑞 310 × 500 × 2974
𝜎𝑠 = 500 𝐴𝑆𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣
= 500 ×3083
= 299.039 N/mm2
310
𝛽𝑠 = = 1.0366
299.039
7000
Since the span is greater than 7m, allowable span/depth ratio = 𝛽𝑠 × 28.066 × 𝐿
= 1.0366 ×
7000
28.066 × 12816
= 15.89
12816
Actual deflection L/d = 1134
= 11.301
Since 11.301 < 15.89, deflection is ok.
𝐴𝑠 5180
𝜌1 = = = 0.011419 < 0.02; K1 = 0.15
𝑏𝑑 400 × 1134
𝜎𝑐𝑝 = NEd/Ac < 0.2fcd (Where NEd is the axial force at the section, Ac = cross sectional area of the concrete),
fcd = design compressive strength of the concrete.)
380.061 × 103
𝜎𝑐𝑝 = = 0.7917 N/mm2
400 × 1200
1
VRd,c = [0.12 × 1.4199 (100 × 0.011419 × 35 )3 + 0.15 × 0.7917 ]400 × 1134 = 318111.948 N = 318.11 KN
𝑓𝑐𝑘 35
v1 = 0.6(1 − ) = 0.6(1 − ) = 0.516
250 250
𝐴𝑠𝑤 934620
= = 0.9153
𝑠 (0.9 × 1134 ×0.87 × 460 × cot 21.8)
𝐴𝑠𝑤
= 0.9000
𝑠
Trying 3Y10mm @ 200mm c/c (235/200 = 1.175)
References
[1] BS 6399 part 1: 1996: Loading for Building code of practice for dead and imposed loads.
British Standards Institution.
[2] BS 8110 – 1:1997: Structural use of concrete Part1: Code of practice for design and
construction. British Standard Institutions.
[3] EN 1991-1-1 (2002): General Actions- Densities, self weight, imposed loads for buildings
[4] EN 1992-1-1 (2004): Design of concrete structures: General Rules and rules for building
[5] Jeff Steele, Mark Larsen (1996): Raker-Beam Construction Requires Rugged Steel Forms.
Publication #C960738 The Aberdeen Group
[6] Karadelis J (2009): Concrete Grandstands. Part 1: Experimental investigations. Proceedings
to the Institution of Civil Engineers – Engineering and Computational mechanics. Volume
162,Issue 1 ISSN 1755-0777
[7] Salyards K.A., Honagan L.M (2005): Evaluation of a finite element model for dynamic
characteristic prediction of stadium facility.