Design of reinforced concrete

columns
Dr. Ansam Qsymah
Reinforced concrete -2
 Columns
• Columns are vertical
members of a structure
subjected to vertical
compressive load. Columns
subjected to pure axial loads
does not exist.
• In reinforced concrete
building, concrete beams,
floors and columns are cast
monolithically, causing some
moments in the columns due
to end restraint.

• These loads cause axial compression forces as well as bending and

shear.
• It is assumed that axially loaded columns are those with small
eccentricity (e≤0.1h , h= is the cross-sectional dimension in the direction
of the eccentricity).
 Classification of columns
1. Based on length:
– Short columns where failure occur due to crushing of concrete or yielding
of steel bars.
– Slender columns where strength may be significantly reduced by lateral
deflections.
In the past, for nearly axially loaded members a column was
considered to be short when its effective length was lesser than 15
times its least dimension. However, a more accurate distinction of
the short column from a slender column may be made according to
ACI 10.10.1b (will be explained latter).

1. Based on the shape of the cross-section: column sections may be square,

rectangular, round, L-shape or any desired shape.
2. Based on materials: columns may be
reinforced, prestressed, composite or
combination of rolled steel sections and
reinforcing bars.
3. Based on column bracing: braced and
unbraced columns (explained in the next slides).

4. Based on the column ties: tied or spiral columns (explained in the next
slides).
 Short columns
6. Based on loading:
– Axially loaded columns
– Eccentrically loaded columns where loads are acting at a distance e
from the center of the column section
– Biaxially loaded columns where the load is applied at any point on the
column, causing moments about both x- axis and y-axis.
 Sidesway
• When a member is under compression,
additional bending may be induced when it
deflects laterally. The upper end moves
laterally with respect to the lower, a kind of
deformation known as sidesway.
• There are two types of lateral deflection: one
is the result of sidesway of the whole
structural frame and the second one is due to
bending of the column itself. M=NΔ+Nδ
• If the column is too slender, this additional moment NΔ will induce
further lateral deflection, and then further additional bending and so on
leading to sidesway buckling failure of the column that is sudden and
catastrophic.
• If lateral deflection is restrained, this additional moment may be small
and can even be neglected in design.  This is the case when the
structure is braced against sidesway and the column is not slender.
 Braced and unbraced columns
• If a structure is provided with wall or bracing to resist lateral forces, the
columns can then be regarded as braced.
• Effective lateral bracing (prevents relative lateral movement of the two
ends of a column) is provided by a) shear walls, b)elevator and stairwell
shafts and c) diagonal bracing.
• Lateral deflection due to sidesway would then be so small that additional
moment induced by sidesway (or Δ-effect) can be ignored in the design.
• Most columns in ordinary practice are short columns

Columns braced in y-direction and Columns braced in both Columns unbraced in

unbraced in the x-direction directions both directions
 Tied and spiral columns
1. Tied columns: the longitudinal reinforcement bars are tied together with separate
smaller diameter ties spaced at some interval along the column height. Ties help
to hold the longitudinal reinforcement bars in place during construction and
ensure stability of these bars against local buckling. The cross-section are usually
square, rectangular or circular in shape.
2. Spirally reinforced columns: Circular columns reinforced with longitudinal bars
and continuous spirals.

Tied Spiral
Failure of tied and spiral
columns
 Advantages of lateral reinforcement (ties and spirals)
1. Prevent longitudinal bars from being displaced during
construction
2. Resist the tendency of longitudinal bars to buckle outwards
under load which will cause the outer concrete cover to
break.
3. Used as shear reinforcement.
4. Increases column strength by giving more confinement to
the column.
Advantages of spiral columns over tied columns
1. They do a better job of holding the longitudinal bars
in place.
2. They confine the concrete inside the core better and
greatly increase its resistance to axial compression.
3. They are more ductile; when the shell fails,
longitudinal bars in tied columns might buckle and
cause failure, while in spiral columns the longitudinal
bars would not buckle until the spiral fails (yields) and
this provided gradual or ductile failure.
 Loadings of short columns

Column C2 supports a symmetrically

arrangement of beams but which are
B2 C2 unequal in length. If (a) the loading on
the beam are uniform distributed, (2)
the beam spans do not differ by more
than 15% , the column C2 can be
designed as axially loaded column.

.
Column B2 will resist an axial load
only as it supports beams equal in
length and symmetrically arranges
Loadings of short columns
Example: Determine the factored axial load transferred to column C4.
Given: factored load on slab=207psf and factored weight of the web
of the beam C is 380.4 psf (Beam C is drop beam).
Solution: Tributary area for column
C4=(15/2+35/2)x(25/2+35/2)=25x30=750ft2
Factored load transferred to the
column=207x750+380.4(35/2+25/2)=
166650lb=167kips
Tributary area for column A1=20/2x18/2=90psf

Find Tributary area for column B2 and C1

 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
• Ties:
 Use No. 10 (diameter=10mm) ties for longitudinal reinforcement No. 32
or smaller, and use No.13 ties for bars No. 36 or larger.
 Maximum vertical spacing shall not exceed 16×longitudinal bar
diameter, 48×tie bar diameters or least dimension of the column.
 The ties shall be so arranged that every corner and alternate bar shall
have lateral support provided by the corner of a tie having an angle of
135o. 3in= 75mm

14in= 300mm
 Column ties and seismic hooks
Seismic hook: a hook on
a stirrup or cross-tie
having a bend not less
than 135 degrees,
except that circular
hoops shall have a bend
not less than 90
degrees. Hooks shall
have a 6db (but not less
than 75mm (3in.))
extension.

Column ties and seismic hooks: overlapping 90 degree hooks at corner cannot
confine a concrete core after concrete cover spalls, 135 degree hooks, required in
high seismic areas, provide the necessary confinement for the core while
simultaneously resisting buckling of column vertical bars.
Tie arrangements
 Ratio of longitudinal steel (ACI code provisions)
 The ratio of longitudinal steel area Ast to gross concrete cross section
Ag is in the range from 0.01 to 0.08. (ACI 10.9.1)
 The lower limit (0.01):a) to ensure resistance to bending moment not
considered in the analysis, b) to reduce the effects of creep and
shrinkage of the concrete.
 The upper limit (0.08): a) for economy, b) to avoid congestion of the
reinforcement particularly where the steel must be spliced.
 Most columns are designed with ratios below 0.04.
 Minimum clear cover is 40mm.
Minimum number of longitudinal bars (ACI 10.9.2)
 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
Spacing of longitudinal bars
No longitudinal bar can be located more than 150mm (6 inches) from
another laterally supported bar.
 Clear distance between longitudinal bars shall be not less than 1.5db,
¾ dagg, 40 mm.
The longitudinal bars must be spaced far enough apart so that concrete
can easily flow between the bars.

40mm
 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
Spacing of longitudinal bars
 Minimum bar spacing is especially critical at splice locations.
 Lateral support must be provided for longitudinal bars that have a
clear spacing greater than 6 inches (150mm) from a laterally
supported bar on each side along the tie.

Offset bars
 Offset bent longitudinal
reinforcement is the bending of
vertical reinforcement bars of a
column (larger column) at a
particular storey in order to
bring the bars within the limit of
a column above (smaller
column).
 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
Offset bars
 The maximum slope of the bent bars should be 1 in 6. Added to that,
it is required to provide extra ties for the area close to the bent bars
to counter the forces generated due to bar bending
 If the face of the column above is offset at 75mm or more from the
face of the column below, then offset bent is not considered but
rather splicing of column bars by separate dowels is used
 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
Offset bars
 Dowels bar size and grade need to have the same size and grade as the
bars joined, and should be of sufficient length to splice with the main
bars.
 Similar to bent offset, when column bars are spliced, additional ties shall
be provided at and near the ends of spliced bars, to provide
confinement to the highly stressed concrete in the regions of the bar
ends.

• Ref: https://theconstructor.org/practical-guide/offset-bent-columns/31589/
 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
• lap splice
Compression lap splice length shall be 0.071fydb , for fy of
420 MPa or less, or (0.13fy – 24)db for fy greater than 420
MPa, but not less than 300 mm. For fc′ less than 21 MPa,
length of lap shall be increased by one-third.

• Minimum column dimension

 The practical minimum column dimension is about 200 mm to 250
mm. (8 to 10 in).
 Designing a short column according to ACI codes
• For spirals
 For cast in place construction, size of spiral ≥10mm
 25mm≤ clear spacing between spirals ≤75mm
 Anchorage of spirals shall be provided by 1.5 extra turns of spiral
bars or wire at each end of spiral unit.
 Axial Load Capacity of Columns

•In the elastic stage, steel carries a relatively small portion of the total
load (fs=nfc).
•The nominal strength of an axially loaded column can be found using:

•This equation is used to find the design strength of axially loaded column
with certain strength reduction factors.
Example1: A reinforced concrete columns has a cross section of
400×500mm and is reinforced by 6ϕ29 (Ast=3870mm2). Determine
the axial load that will stress the concrete to 8MPa. Assume n=8.
Solution: Ag=400×500=200,000mm2
P=8(200,000+(8-1)3870)=1816720N.
the concrete will carry Pc=fcAc=fc(Ag-Ast)=1,569,040N and the steel
Ps=fsAst=nfcAst=64×3870=247,680N

Example2: Calculate the magnitude of the axial load that will produce
a strain εc= εs=0.001 in the column of example 1. Assume fc at this
strain =22MPa.
 Strength reduction φ factor
• Strength reduction φ factor for tied columns is 0.65 and for spiral is 0.75.
• φ Values for columns are more conservative than in beams and slabs
because:
1. Failure of columns are more severe than failure of beams and slabs
because columns generally support a larger part of the structure.
2. It is more difficult to place the concrete in columns (it has to be placed
in a narrow region) as a result the quality of concrete is not as good as
slabs and beams
3. Failure in columns depend on concrete ultimate strength which is not
accurately defined as the yield strength of steel which determines the
strength in slabs and beams
 Design of axially loaded short column
A further limitation on column strength is imposed by ACI code (10.6.3) to
allow for accidental eccentricities of loading not considered in the
analysis. This is done by imposing an upper limit (α=0.8 tied columns 0.85
for spirally reinforced columns.
Example1: Find the design axial load strength for the tie column
shown and check ACI requirements. fc’=28MPa , fy=420MPa
Example2: Design a square tied column to support an axial dead load
of 700 kN (including own weight) and an axial live load of 900 kN.
fc’=20MPa and fy=280 MPa. Assume total percentage of
longitudinal steel ρst=2%

Steps:
• Determine design axial load Pu
• Determine a reinforcement ratio (from 1% to 8%)
• Calculate section size or gross area using equation 10-2
• Using the gross area calculate amount of reinforcement and choose the
steel bars
• Design ties
• Do detailing checks
Example2:solution
Example2:solution
Example2: solution
Example3: Design a round spiral column to support an axially dead load
of 800 kN (including self weight) and an axial live load of 1000 kN,
fc’=20 MPa, fy=400 MPa. Assume total percentage of longitudinal
steel ρst=2%
Example3: solution
Example3: solution
Exam Question