An ACI Handbook

The Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook

A Companion to ACI 318-14

Volume 2: Special Topics

SP-17(14)
 ACI SP-17(14)

THE REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN HANDBOOK

A Companion to ACI 318-14

VOLUME 1 VOLUME 2

BUILDING EXAMPLE RETAINING WALLS

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS SERVICEABILITY

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS STRUT-AND-TIE MODEL

DURABILITY ANCHORING TO CONCRETE

ONE-WAY SLABS

TWO-WAY SLABS

BEAMS

DIAPHRAGMS

COLUMNS

STRUCTURAL REINFORCED CONCRETE WALLS

FOUNDATIONS
 ACI SP-17(14)
Volume 2

THE REINFORCED CONCRETE

DESIGN HANDBOOK
A Companion to ACI 318-14

Editors:
Andrew Taylor
Trey Hamilton III
Antonio Nanni
 First Printing
September 2015
ISBN: 978-1-942727-38-5

THE REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN HANDBOOK

Volume 2 ~ Ninth Edition
Copyright by the American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI. All rights reserved. This material may not be
reproduced or copied, in whole or part, in any printed, mechanical, electronic, film, or other distribution and storage
media, without the written consent of ACI.

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Managing Editor: Khaled Nahlawi

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 DEDICATION
This edition of The Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook, SP-17(14), is dedicated to the
memory of Daniel W. Falconer and his many contributions to the concrete industry. He was
Managing Director of Engineering for the American Concrete Institute from 1998 until his
death in July 2015.
Dan was instrumental in the reorganization of Building Code Requirements for Struc-
tural Concrete (ACI 318-14) and Commentary (ACI 318R-14) as he served as ACI staff
liaison to ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code; and ACI Subcommittee
318-SC, Steering Committee. His vision was to simplify the use of the Code for prac-
titioners and to illustrate the benefits of the reorganization with this major revision of
SP-17. His oversight and review comments were instrumental in the development of this
Handbook.
An ACI member since 1982, Dan served on ACI Committees 344, Circular Prestressed
Concrete Structures, and 373, Circular Concrete Structures Prestressed with Circumferen-
tial Tendons. He was also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Prior to
joining ACI, Dan held several engineering and marketing positions with VSL Corp. Before
that, he was Project Engineer for Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill in Washington, DC. He
received his BS in civil engineering from the University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY and his
MS in civil and structural engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. He was a
licensed professional engineer in several states.
In his personal life, Dan was an avid golfer, enjoying outings with his three brothers whenever possible. He was also an active
member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hartland, MI, and a dedicated supporter and follower of the Michigan State Spar-
tans basketball and football programs. Above all, Dan was known as a devoted family man dedicated to his wife of 33 years,
Barbara, his children Mark, Elizabeth, Kathryn, and Jonathan, and two grandsons Samuel and Jacob.
In his memory, the ACI Foundation has established an educational memorial. For more information visit http://www.schol-
arshipcouncil.org/Student-Awards. Dan will be sorely missed for many years to come.
 FOREWORD
The Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook provides assistance to professionals engaged in the design of reinforced concrete
buildings and related structures. This edition is a major revision that brings it up-to-date with the approach and provisions of
Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-14). The layout and look of the Handbook have also been
updated.
The Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook now provides dozens of design examples of various reinforced concrete members,
such as one- and two-way slabs, beams, columns, walls, diaphragms, footings, and retaining walls. For consistency, many of the
numerical examples are based on a fictitious seven-story reinforced concrete building. There are also many additional design
examples not related to the design of the members in the seven story building that illustrate various ACI 318-14 requirements.
Each example starts with a problem statement, then provides a design solution in a three column format—code provision
reference, short discussion, and design calculations— followed by a drawing of reinforcing details, and finally a conclusion
elaborating on a certain condition or comparing results of similar problem solutions.
In addition to examples, almost all chapters in the Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook contain a general discussion of the
related ACI 318-14 chapter.
All chapters were developed by ACI staff engineers under the auspices of the ACI Technical Activities Committee (TAC).
To provide immediate oversight and guidance for this project, TAC appointed three content editors: Andrew Taylor, Trey
Hamilton III, and Antonio Nanni. Their reviews and suggestions improved this publication and are appreciated. TAC also
appreciates the support of Dirk Bondy and Kenneth Bondy who provided free software to analyze and design the post-tensioned
beam example, in addition to valuable comments and suggestions. Thanks also go to JoAnn Browning, David DeValve,
Anindya Dutta, Charles Dolan, Matthew Huslig, Ronald Klemencic, James Lai, Steven McCabe, Mike Mota, Hani Nassif, Jose
Pincheira, David Rogowski, and Siamak Sattar, who reviewed one or more of the chapters.
Special thanks go to StructurePoint and Computers and Structures, Inc. (SAP 2000 and Etabs) for providing a free copy of
their software to perform analyses of structure and members.
Special thanks also go to Stuart Nielsen, who provided the cover art using SketchUp.
The Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook is published in two volumes: Chapters 1 through 11 are published in Volume 1
and Chapters 12 through 15 are published in Volume 2. Design aids and a moment interaction diagram Excel spreadsheet are
available for free download from the following ACI webpage links:
https://www.concrete.org/store/productdetail.aspx?ItemID=SP1714DAE
https://www.concrete.org/store/productdetail.aspx?ItemID=SP1714DA

Keywords: anchoring to concrete; beams; columns; cracking; deflection; diaphragm; durability; flexural strength; footings;
frames; piles; pile caps; post-tensioning; punching shear; retaining wall; shear strength; seismic; slabs; splicing; stiffness;
structural analysis; structural systems; strut-and-tie; walls.

Khaled Nahlawi
Managing Editor
 VOLUME 2: CONTENTS
CHAPTER 12—RETAINING WALLS CHAPTER 14—STRUT-AND-TIE MODEL
12.1—General, p. 9 14.1—Introduction, p. 159
12.2—Design limits, p. 10 14.2—Concept, p. 159
12.3—Applied forces, p. 11 14.3—Design, p. 159
12.4—Design strength, p. 12 14.4—Struts, p. 160
12.5—Reinforcement limits, p. 12 14.5—Ties, p. 162
12.6—Detailing, p. 13 14.6—Nodal zones, p. 163
12.7—Summary, p. 13 14.7—Usual calculation steps and modeling consideration
12.8—Examples, p. 15 to apply strut-and-tie model, p. 164
14.8—Examples, p. 165
CHAPTER 13—SERVICEABILITY
13.1—Introduction, p. 115 CHAPTER 15—ANCHORING TO CONCRETE
13.2—Limitations on member thickness, p. 115 15.1—Introduction, p. 213
13.3—Immediate deflection behavior of beams or one-way 15.2—Materials, p. 213
slabs, p. 115 15.3—Design assumptions, p. 213
13.4––Time-dependent deflection calculation, p. 118 15.4—Loads on anchors, p. 215
13.5––Distribution of flexural reinforcement in one-way 15.5—Discussion on anchors resisting tension, p. 216
slabs and beams, p. 118 15.6—Discussion on anchors resisting shear, p. 216
13.6—Shrinkage and temperature reinforcement: 15.7—Limitations on installation geometry, p. 217
nonprestressed, p. 119 15.8—Examples, p. 218
13.7—Shrinkage and temperature reinforcement – post-
tensioned, p. 119
13.8—Permissible stresses in prestressed concrete flexural
members, p. 120
13.9—Permissible stresses at transfer of prestress, p. 120
13.10—Permissible concrete compressive stresses at
service loads, p. 120
13.11—Examples, p. 121
13.12—Deflection design aids, p. 142
 CHAPTER 12—RETAINING WALLS

Retaining Walls
12.1—General geometry and the local soil properties. Traditional FS against
A retaining or cantilevered wall is a structural system that these soil-related failures are shown as follows:
provides horizontal resistance to a soil mass and prevents it (a) FS ≥ 1.5: against sliding failure
from assuming its natural slope. A retaining wall consists (b) FS ≥ 2.0: against overturning failure
of a vertical stem and a horizontal footing (heel and toe). (c) FS ≥ 3.0: against bearing failure
The stem provides horizontal resistance to the soil behind These factors are usually provided by the geotechnical
the wall, which is at higher elevation than the soil in front engineer and are not in the scope of this guide.
of the wall. The footing toe and heel transfers the lateral soil The reinforced concrete stem and footing flexure and
pressure to the soil strata under the retaining wall (Fig. 12.1a shear design strength must be at least equal to the factored
(a)). If retaining walls are placed close to property border- moments and shears determined from the analysis. Figure
lines, the toe or heel can be eliminated (refer to Fig. 12.1a 12.1c depicts the deflected shape under load of the stem, heel,
(b) and (c)). toe, and key and related tension areas (shown by cracks):
Reinforced concrete stems are designed to withstand hori- In situations where the factor of safety against sliding
zontal soil pressures and surcharge loads. Earthquake loads failure is low, and there are site constraints against length-
for retaining walls are not addressed in this Handbook. ening the heel, a “key” can be constructed below the footing
For the purposes of this chapter, it is assumed that the to increase sliding resistance, as shown in Fig. 12.1d.
geotechnical report states that the retaining wall geometry Typical retaining walls vary in height between 5 and 20 ft.
within the surrounding soil is stable provided specified For retaining walls beyond 20 ft, buttresses or counterforts
factors of safety (FS) are observed. Failure of a retaining are usually provided. Counterforts are normally preferred as
wall due to sliding, overturning, or bearing (Fig. 12.1b) is they create clean and an unobstructed view from the stem
associated with the interaction between the retaining wall face (Fig. 12.1e).

Fig. 12.1a—Retaining or cantilever wall types.

Fig. 12.1b—Cantilever wall soil failure modes.

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