Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16

CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION TO REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Reinforced concrete is widely used construction material, all over the world. Single storey to high-rise buildings (beams,
columns, foundation, slabs, stairs, and struts), bridges, towers, dams, and even rigid highway pavements may be constructed
from reinforced concrete. For these structures, to provide their intended services for their design period, these structures have
to be designed using an appropriate structural design procedure.
The term structural design refers to proportioning the members of the structural system so that they will be able to withstand,
with an appropriate margin of safety, the forces/ loads which the structural analysis has revealed. During designing, size
of members, material properties, position of members and their alignments will be proportioned, in such a way that the
design criteria are obtained.
Structural design should be performed to satisfy three criteria: strength, serviceability, and economy.
Strength: pertains to the general integrity and safety of the structure under extreme load conditions. The structure is expected
to withstand occasional overloads without severe distress and damage during its lifetime.
Serviceability: refers to the proper functioning of the structure as related to its appearance, maintainability, and durability
under normal, or service load conditions, deflection, vibration, permanent deformation, cracking, thermal insulation, and
corrosion are some design considerations associated with serviceability.
Economy: concerns the overall material and labor costs required for the design, fabrication, erection, and maintenance
processes of the structure.
There are a number of phases in a design process - from inception to detailing and quantity estimation.
Functional Planning: It is the development of a plan that will enable the structure to fulfill effectively the purpose for
which it is to be built. If the structure is a building, for example, the designer must create a plan which is adapted to the
site; which provides a suitable arrangement of rooms, corridors, stairways, elevator, etc.; which will be aesthetically
acceptable, and which can be built at a price the client is prepared to pay.
Structural Planning: It is the planning of the structural scheme, arrangement of the structural elements such as columns
and beams to meet the functional planning.
Structural Analysis: It involves modeling the loads and the structural framework to obtain internal forces and desired
deflections.
As a result of the various design criteria, two major design methods have evolved in practice for the design of reinforced concrete
structures.
1.2 PLAIN AND REINFORCED CONCRETE
Concrete is the most commonly used building material. It has the advantage of being formed into any desired shape most
conveniently. It is an artificial stone obtained by mixing aggregates, cement and water and allowing the product to cure for
hardening. Its essential ingredients are cement and water, which react with each other chemically, to form another material
having useful strength. The strength of concrete depends upon the quality of its ingredients, their relative quantities and
the manner in which they are mixed, compacted and cured. It is possible to produce concrete of different specifications for
various purposes by suitably adjusting the proportions of cement, aggregate and water. Reinforced concrete is a material
made of concrete and steel. Plain concrete possesses high compressive strength but little tensile strength, which makes it

1
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
weak in bending, shear and torsion. Reinforcing steel possesses high strength both in tension and compression. In reinforced
concrete, steel provides the tensile strength and the concrete provides the compressive strength. So, by combining these
features of concrete and steel, it attains high utility and versatility.
Concrete (plain and/or reinforced) can be used to construct buildings, bridges, pavements, dam, swimming pool, canals, water
tanks, towers, tunnels, etc.
1.3 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF REINFORCED CONCRETE
Concrete, both plain and reinforced, has plenty of advantages. The primary advantage is that its mouldability to any desired
shape. This is due to the reason that the shape of the finished concrete element depends only the shape of the formwork.
Concrete is highly durable structural material. Though creep and fatigue effects reverse, concrete strength increases
throughout its entire life. Concrete does not decompose in any circumstances. Unlike timber and steel, concrete has good
fire, weather and corrosion resistances. As concrete is made-up of locally available materials it is relatively economical.
Concrete can be monolithically casted. This decreases joint connection costs.
Concrete as a construction material has also its own disadvantages. Formwork expense is one of the disadvantages. Not
only the formwork expense, but also, it is difficult to supervise its quality, after pouring the fresh concrete into the forms.
Crack is the other problem of concrete materials. Even a concrete element may crack without considerable applied load.
Cracking of a concrete section makes large portion of concrete section not effectively used.
1.4 THE DESIGN PROCESSES
The design of a structure for a specific function is usually a two-stage process, involving first the selection of an appropriate
type or form of structure and secondly the detailed design of the various parts of the chosen structure. In selecting the type
or form of structure the question of the relative costs of different types of structures and of different methods of construction
of the same structure will be of great importance. In this selection the designer must rely to a large extent on his experience
judgment and intuition. A preliminary study of several types of structure may be necessary.
Having selected the type of structure the designer then has to proceed with the detailed design of the chosen one, always
bearing in mind the factors of safety considerations and cost. In most cases the aesthetic requirements will have been
substantially met in the selection of the type of structure and will now be completely satisfied by the specification of surface
finishes, color, etc. Fundamentally, then, the design process consists of finding and detailing the most economical structure
consistent with the safety and serviceability requirements.
In design the following points have to be taken into consideration:
1. variations in materials in the structure and in test specimens
2. variations in loading
3. constructional inaccuracies
4. accuracy of design calculations
5. safety and serviceability
For (1) we know that the cube test is a reliable guide as regards quality of concrete from the mixer but does not guarantee
that the concrete in the structure is the same. This is why we took a higher proportion of the cube strength as a permissible
stress when we have quality control. i.e. a design mix. The same applies to reinforcement, as tests are carried out on small
samples which may or may not be truly representative of the whole. For (2) we must enquire how true the loading is.
Constructional inaccuracies (3) are probably accidental. For (4) designers can and do make mistakes in calculations but very

2
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
often in analysis they assume a structure will behave in a certain way or that certain conditions exist. Item (5) is dealt with
quite arbitrarily in previous codes -if the structure does not collapse it is deemed to be satisfactory.
The detail design process consists of the following steps:
1. Idealization of the structure into load bearing frames and elements for analysis and design.
2. Estimation of loads.
3. Analysis to determine the maximum moments, thrusts and shears for design.
4. Design of sections and reinforcement arrangements for slabs, beams/ girders, columns/ piers and walls using the
results from 3.
5. Production of arrangement and detail drawings and bar schedules.
1.5 DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES
Based on design load determination and the corresponding design strength of materials, different methods of design (design
philosophies) have been introduced. Thus are:
➢ Working Stress Design Method (WSD)
➢ Ultimate Load Design Method (ULD)
➢ Limit State Design Method (LSD)
1.5.1 WORKING STRESS DESIGN METHOD (WSD)
This was the traditional method of design not only for reinforced concrete, but also for structural steel and timber design.
The method basically assumes that the structural material behaves in a linear elastic manner, and that adequate safety can
be ensured by suitably restricting the stresses in the material induced by the expected ‘working loads’ (service loads) on the
structure. As the specified permissible (‘allowable’) stresses are kept well below the material strength (i.e., in the initial phase
of the stress-strain curve), the assumption of linear elastic behavior is considered justifiable. The ratio of the strength of the
material to the permissible stress is often referred to as the factor of safety.
The stresses under the applied loads are analyzed by applying the methods of strength of materials’ such as the simple
bending theory. In order to apply such methods to a composite material like reinforced concrete, strain compatibility (due
to bond) is assumed, whereby the strain in the reinforcing steel is assumed to be equal to that in the adjoining concrete to
which it is bonded. Furthermore, as the stresses in concrete and steel are assumed to be linearly related to their respective
strains, it follows that the stress in steel is linearly related to that in the adjoining concrete by a constant factor (called the
modular ratio), defined as the ratio of the modulus of elasticity of steel to that of concrete. However, the main assumption
of linear elastic behavior and the tacit assumption that the stresses under working loads can be kept within the ‘permissible
stresses’ are not found to be realistic. Many factors are responsible for this such as the long-term effects of creep and
shrinkage, the effects of stress concentrations, and other secondary effects. All such effects result in significant local
increases in and redistribution of the calculated stresses. Moreover, WSD does not provide a realistic measure of the actual
factor of safety underlying a design. WSD also fails to discriminate between different types of loads that act
simultaneously, but have different degrees of uncertainty. This can, at times, result in very unconservative designs,
particularly when two different loads (say, dead loads and wind loads) have counteracting effects. Nevertheless, in defense
against these and other shortcomings levelled against WSD, it may be stated that most structures designed in accordance
with WSD have been generally performing satisfactorily for many years. The design usually results in relatively large
sections of structural members (compared to ULD and LSD), thereby resulting in better serviceability performance (less

3
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
deflections, crack-widths, etc.) under the usual working loads. The method is also notable for its essential simplicity in
concept, as well as application.
1.5.2 ULTIMATE LOAD DESIGN METHOD (ULD)
With the growing realization of the shortcomings of WSD in reinforced concrete design, and with increased understanding
of the behavior of reinforced concrete at ultimate loads, the ultimate load method of design (ULD) evolved in the 1950s and
became an alternative to WSD. This method is sometimes also referred to as the load factor method or the ultimate strength
method.
In this method, the stress condition at the state of impending collapse of the structure is analyzed, and the non-linear stress-
strain curves of concrete and steel are made use of. The concept of ‘modular ratio’ and its associated problems are avoided
entirely in this method. The safety measure in the design is introduced by an appropriate choice of the load factor, defined
as the ratio of the ultimate load (design load) to the working load. The ultimate load method makes it possible for different
types of loads to be assigned different load factors under combined loading conditions, thereby overcoming the related
shortcoming of WSD.
This method generally results in more slender sections, and often more economical designs of beams and columns (compared
to WSD), particularly when high strength reinforcing steel and concrete are used.
However, the satisfactory ‘strength’ performance at ultimate loads does not guarantee satisfactory ‘serviceability’
performance at the normal service loads. The designs sometimes result in excessive deflections and crack-widths under service
loads, owing to the slender sections resulting from the use of high strength reinforcing steel and concrete.
Moreover, the use of the non-linear stress-strain behavior for the design of sections become truly meaningful only if
appropriate non-linear limit analysis is performed on the structure. Unfortunately, such a structural analysis is generally
not performed on reinforced concrete structures (except in the yield line theory for slabs), owing to the difficulties in
predicting the behavior of ‘plastic hinges’ in reinforced concrete. Commonly, the distribution of stress resultants at ultimate
load is taken as the distribution at service loads, magnified by the load factor(s); in other words, analysis is still based on
linear elastic theory. This is clearly in error, because significant inelastic behavior and redistribution of stress resultants
takes place, as the loading is increased from service loads to ultimate loads.
1.5.3 LIMIT STATE DESIGN METHOD (LSD)
The philosophy of the limit states method of design (LSD) represents a definite advancement over the traditional design
philosophies. Unlike WSD, which based calculations on service load conditions alone, and unlike ULD, which based
calculations on ultimate load conditions alone, LSD aims for a comprehensive and rational solution to the design problem,
by considering safety at ultimate loads and serviceability at working loads.
The LSD philosophy uses a multiple safety factor format which attempts to provide adequate safety at ultimate loads as
well as adequate serviceability at service loads, by considering all possible ‘limit states’ (defined in the next section). The
selection of the various multiple safety factors is supposed to have a sound probabilistic basis, involving the separate
consideration of different kinds of failure, types of materials and types of loads. In this sense, LSD is more than a mere
extension of WSD and ULD. It represents a new ‘paradigm’ — a modern philosophy.
A. Limit states
A limit state is a state of impending failure, beyond which a structure ceases to perform its intended function satisfactorily,
in terms of either safety or serviceability; i.e., it either collapses or becomes unserviceable.

4
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
There are two types of limit states:
1. Ultimate limit states (or ‘limit states of collapse’), which deal with strength, overturning, sliding, buckling, fatigue
fracture, etc.
2. Serviceability limit states, which deal with discomfort to occupancy and/or malfunction, caused by excessive deflection,
crack-width, vibration, leakage, etc., and also loss of durability, etc.
B. Multiple Safety Factor Formats
The objective of limit states design is to ensure that the probability of any limit state being reached is acceptably low. This
is made possible by specifying appropriate multiple safety factors for each limit state. Of course, in order to be meaningful,
the specified values of the safety factors should result (more-or-less) in a ‘target reliability’. Evidently, this requires a proper
reliability study to be done by the code-making authorities.
Most national codes introduced multiple safety factors in limit states design in the 1970s primarily based on experience,
tradition and engineering judgement. Subsequently, codes have been engaged in the process of code calibration to determine
the range of the reliability index ß (or its equivalent Pf probability of failure) underlying the specified safety factors for
different practical situations. With every code revision, conscious attempts are made to specify more rational reliability-
based safety factors, in order to achieve practical designs that are satisfactory and consistent in terms of the degree of safety,
reliability and economy.
C. Load and Resistance Factor Design Format
Of the many multiple safety factor formats in vogue, perhaps the simplest to understand is the Load and Resistance Factor
Design (LRFD) format, which is adopted by the ACI Code [Ref. 3.5, 3.8, 3.9]. Applying the LRFD concept to the classical
reliability model, adequate safety requires the following condition to be satisfied:
𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (𝜙 𝑅𝑛 ) ≥ 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 (𝛾 𝑆𝑛 )
Where: 𝑅 = 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑆 = 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠.
𝜙 = 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝛾 = 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
The resistance factor, 𝜙 accounts for ‘under-strength’, i.e., possible shortfall in the computed ‘nominal’ resistance, owing to
uncertainties related to material strengths, dimensions, theoretical assumptions, etc., and accordingly, it is less than unity.
On the contrary, the load factor γ, which accounts for ‘overloading’ and the uncertainties associated with S, is generally
greater than unity.
The Ethiopian building code standard, ES EN 1992-1-1:2015 adopts the following safety factors.
Table 1: Partial factors for materials for ultimate limit state (ES EN 1992-1-1:2015 Table 2.1N)
Design Situation 𝛾𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝛾𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙
Persistent and transient 1.5 1.15
Accidental 1.2 1.0
For general purpose, the code adopts, safety factors, 1.35 and 1.5 for dead load and live load, respectively. In situations
where, more than one variable loads, come together, the code uses reduction factors. That is the design load PD is:
𝑃𝐷 = 𝛾𝐺,𝑘 𝐺𝑘 + 𝛾𝑄,𝑘 𝑄𝑘
− − − 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 − 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

5
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
𝑃𝐷 = 𝛾𝐺,𝑘 𝐺𝑘 + 𝛾𝑄,𝑘,1 𝑄𝑘,1 + ∑ 𝛾𝑄,𝑘,𝑖 𝜓 𝑄𝑘,𝑖
− − − 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Where:
𝐺𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝑄𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝛾𝐺,𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝛾𝑄,𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝜓 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖 − 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠

1.6 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF CONCRETE

1.6.1 CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTH OF MATERIALS
Design value of strength properties of concrete shall be taken from design codes, like EBCS 2,1995 or ES EN 1992: 2015.
For both concrete and reinforcement, the Code uses the term ‘characteristic strength’ instead of 28-day cured cylindrical
strength and yield stress, although it is related to these. The characteristic strength for all materials has the notation fk and
is defined as the value of the cylindrical strength of concrete (fck), the yield or proof stress of reinforcement (fy), below which
5% of all possible test results would be expected to fall. The value therefore is:
𝑓𝑘 = 𝑓𝑚 – 1.64𝑠
Where fm is the mean strength of actual test results determined in accordance with a standard procedure, s is the standard
deviation, and 1.64 is the value of the constant required to comply with 5% of the test results falling below the characteristic
strength, as indicated in Fig. 1-1.

Frequency of
results Characteristic
Strength Mean Strength

𝟏. 𝟔𝟒 𝒔
5% of results to left of this line

𝒇𝒌 = 𝒇𝒎 − 𝟏. 𝟔𝟒 𝒔 𝒇𝒎 Strength

Figure 1-1: Characteristic strength

6
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
1.6.2 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
The strength of concrete for design purposes will be based on compressive tests made on cubes at an age of 28 days unless
there is satisfactory evidence that a particular testing regime is capable of predicting the 28-day strength at an earlier age.
These 28-day characteristic strengths determine the grade of the concrete and it is important to select the correct grade
appropriate for use. The concrete has to provide the durability for the environmental conditions as well as adequate strength
for the loading requirements.
Table 2: Grades of Concrete
Class Permissible Grades of Concrete
𝐶5 , 𝐶7 , 𝐶12/15, 𝐶16/20, 𝐶20/25 , 𝐶25/30 , 𝐶30/37 , 𝐶35/45 ,
I
𝐶40/50 , 𝐶45/55 , 𝐶50/60 , 𝐶55/67 , 𝐶60/75 , 𝐶70/85 , 𝐶80/95 , 𝐶90/105
II 𝐶5 , 𝐶7 , 𝐶12/15 , 𝐶16/20
In the designation, C stands for concrete, the first number for cylindrical strength, and second number for cube strength.
For instance, C25/30 refers to concrete of 25 MPa cylindrical strength, and 30 MPa of cubic strength.
In other literatures, there may be extra designations. For example, in Indian and American Codes, there is a concrete grade
designation, as Mx. Here M stands for mix, and x for strength. For example, concrete grade of M30 refers to concrete mix
of 30 MPa cylindrical strength.
In accordance with Ethiopian Standards, compressive strength of concrete is determined from tests on 150 mm cubes at the
age of 28 days. Cylindrical or cubical specimens of other sizes may also be used with conversion factors determined from a
comprehensive series of tests. In the absence of such tests, the conversion factors given in Table 1.3 may be applied to obtain
the equivalent characteristic strength on the basis of 150 mm cubes.
Table 1-3: Conversion Factors for strength
Size and Type of Test Specimen Conversion Factor
Cube (200 mm) 1.05
Cylinder (150 mm diameter 300 mm height) 1.25
The characteristic cylinder compressive strengths fck are given for different grades of concrete in Table 4.
Table 4: Grades of Concrete and Characteristic Cylinder Compressive Strength (MPa).
Grades of Concrete C12/15 C16/20 C20/25 C25/30 C30/37 C35/45 C40/50 C45/55 C50/60 C55/67
fck 12 16 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
fctk 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.0
Ecm 27000 29000 30000 31000 33000 34000 35000 36000 37000 38000
In selecting an appropriate grade of concrete, the designer has to determine the environment and exposure conditions to
which the members of the structure will be subjected.

7
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
Stress – Strain Curve: As there is no fixed ratio of fck/ to define the term modulus of elasticity, whenever E is used without
further designation, it is usually meant the secant modulus Ec in

MPa.
The modulus of elasticity depends not only on the concrete grade
but also on the actual properties of the aggregates used. In the
absence of more accurate data, according to EBCS 2, 1995,
Ec = 9.5( fck + 8) 3
1


Tan - Secant Modulus Where, Ec is the secant modulus.

Tan - Tangent Modulus Creep
 Another important factor to be considered in stress-strain of

concrete is creep: a property where increase in strain under

constant load with time is observed. The factors attributing to
creep are: loading at an early stage, high water – cement ratio, exposing the concrete to drying condition.
1.6.3 TENSILE STRENGTH
 Important in design to resist shear, torsion & control crack width.
 Difficult to obtain from test because of handling problems. Based on tests for other property empirical relations are used
to obtain tensile strength. For instance, in Ethiopian standards (EBCS 2 1995), f ctk = 0.21 f ck , where fctk = tensile
23

strength of concrete in MPa and fck = characteristic cylindrical compressive strength in MPa.
1.7 REINFORCING STEEL
 It is high strength and high costing material.
 The two materials – concrete and steel are best used in combination (the concrete is made to resist the compression stresses
and the steel, the tensile stresses).
 When RC elements are used, sufficient bond between the two materials must be developed to ensure that there no relative
movements of the steel bars and the surrounding concrete. This bond may be developed by:
 chemical adhesion
 natural roughness
 closely spaced rib-shaped surface deformation of reinforcements.
 Reinforcing bars varying in size 6 to 36 mm in size are available in which most are surface deformed except  6. Some bar
sizes and design areas for design purpose are given below.
Table 1-5: Sample, Used Bar Sizes

Diameter ( mm) Area (mm2) Diameter ( mm) Area (mm2)

6 28 16 200
8 50 18 254
10 78.5 20 314
12 113 22 380
14 154 24 450

8
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
Characteristic properties of a reinforcement bar is expressed using its yield strength fy(fyk) and modulus of elasticity Es. fy
is varying between 220 to 550 MPa, with 300 MPa common in our country. Es ranges between 200 to 210 MPa.
1.8 BEHAVIOR UNDER LOAD
1.8.1 LOADS
Loads that act on structures can be divided into three categories: dead loads, live loads, and environmental loads.
Dead loads are those that are constant in magnitude and fixed in location throughout the lifetime of the structure. Usually,
the major part of the dead load is the weight of the structure itself. This can be calculated with good accuracy from the
design configuration, dimensions of the structure, and density of the material. For buildings, floor fill, finish floors, and
plastered ceilings are usually included as dead loads, and an allowance is made for suspended loads such as piping and
lighting fixtures. For bridges, dead loads may include wearing surfaces, sidewalks, and curbing, and an allowance is made
for piping and other suspended loads.
Live loads consist chiefly of occupancy loads in buildings and traffic loads on bridges. They may be either fully or partially
in place or not present at all, and may also change in location. Their magnitude and distribution at any given time are
uncertain, and even their maximum intensities throughout the lifetime of the structure are not known with precision. The
minimum live loads for which the floors and roof of a building should be designed are usually specified in the building code
that governs at the site of construction. Representative values of minimum live loads to be used in a wide variety of buildings
are found in Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and other structures.
Live loads in codes are usually approximated by uniformly distributed load. In addition to these uniformly distributed loads,
it is recommended that, as an alternative to the uniform load, floors be designed to support safely certain concentrated loads
if these produce a greater stress. Certain reductions are often permitted in live loads for members supporting large areas, on
the premise that it is not likely that the entire area would be fully loaded at one time.
Service live loads for highway bridges are specified by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) in its Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges. For railway bridges, the American Railway
Engineering Association (AREA) has published the Manual of Railway Engineering, which specifies traffic loads.
Environmental loads consist mainly of snow loads, wind pressure and suction, earthquake loads (i.e., inertia forces caused
by earthquake motions), soil pressures on subsurface portions of structures, loads from possible ponding of rainwater on flat
surfaces, and forces caused by temperature differentials. Like live loads, environmental loads at any given time are uncertain
both in magnitude and distribution.
Much progress has been made in recent years in developing rational methods for predicting horizontal forces on structures
due to wind and seismic action. Most building codes specify design wind pressure per square foot of vertical wall surface.
Depending upon locality, these equivalent static forces vary from about 0.48 KPa up to 2.4 kPa. factors considered in more
up to date standards include probable wind velocity exposure (urban vs. open terrain, for example), and height of the
structure, the importance of the structure (i.e. consequences of failure), and the guest response factors to account for the
fluctuating nature of the wind and its interaction with the structure.
Seismic forces may be found for a particular structure by elastic or inelastic dynamic analysis, considering the expected
ground accelerations and the mass, stiffness, and damping characteristic of the construction. However, often the design is
based on equivalent static forces calculated from provisions. The base shear is found by considering such factors as location,
type of structure and its occupancy, total dead load, and the particular soil condition. The total lateral force is distributed

9
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
to floors over the entire height of the structure in such a way as to approximate the distribution of forces from a dynamic
analysis.
1.8.2 CHARACTERISTIC LOADS
For loading we use the ‘characteristic’ load (Fk) as the basis. Ideally this should be determined from the mean load and its
standard deviation from the mean, and using the same probability as for the materials we should say that Fk = Fm + 1.64s.
The characteristic load would be that value of loading such that not more than 5% of the spectrum of loading throughout
the life of structure will lie above the value of the characteristic load (Figure 1.4.1).

Mean Characteristic
Frequency of results

Load Load
1.64s

5% of results
Figure 1-2: Characteristic load to right of this
line The characteristic dead,
imposed and wind loads
have the notation Gk, Qk,
Wk respectively, where the
Fm Fk = Fm + 1.64s Load upper-case letters denote
the total load on a span.
Lower-case letters denote uniform load per square meter, although in design examples for beams the lower-case letters have
been used for a uniformly distributed load, so that Gk = gkl.
1.8.3 BEHAVIOR
In RC structures such as beams, the tension caused by bending moment is chiefly resisted by the steel reinforcement while
the concrete alone is usually capable of resisting the corresponding compression. Such joint action of the two materials is
assumed if the relative slip is prevented which is achieved by using deformed bars, with their high bond strength at the steel
concrete interface. To illustrate the stress strain development for increased loading consider the following.
Increasing load
Very low load

Tension cracks

c fc c fc c fc

NA
D d
As s fs s fs s fs
Figure 1-3: Behavior

of RC beam underfct
load
 At low loads
ct

b where tensile
Strain stress is less than
Stress or equals
Strain to fctk stress-strain
Stress relation
Strain shown in figure
Stress 1.4.2a results.

(a) Very low loading (b) Increased loading (c) loading nearly at failure

10
 Reinforced Concrete Structures -I 18 06 16
 At increased load tensile stress produced is larger than fctk (figure 1.4.2b)  crack develops below neutral axis; the steel
alone carries all tensile force and hence the compressive stress at extreme fiber is less than fc (linear stress distribution).
 For further increment of load, the stress distribution is longer linear as shown in fig. 1.4.2c.
If the structure, say the beam, has reached its maximum carrying capacity, one may conclude the following on the cause of
failure.
(i). When the amount of steel is small – at some value of the load, the steel reaches it yield point. In such circumstances, the
steel stretches a large amount and tension cracks in the concrete widen visibly resulting significant deflection of the beam.
Compression zone of concrete increases ending up with crushing of concrete (secondary compression failure). Such failure is
gradual and is preceded by visible signs, widening and lengthening of cracks, marked increase in deflection.
(ii). When a large amount of steel is used, compressive strength of concrete would be exhausted before the steel starts yielding,
thus, concrete fails by crushing. Compression failure through crushing of concrete is sudden and occurs without warning.
Thus, it is a good practice to dimension sections in such a way that should they be overloaded, yielding of steel rather than
crushing of concrete would initiate failure.

11