Civil Engineering Design (1)

Civil Engineering Design (1)

Design of Reinforced Concrete Columns

2006/7

Dr. Colin Caprani,

Chartered Engineer

1  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

Contents
1. Introduction ...................
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1.1 Background..........
Background ...................
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1.2 Failure Modes ...................
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1.3 Design Aspects ....................
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1.4 Background Information...................
Information.............................
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2. Short Braced Axially Loaded Columns..................
Columns............................
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2.1 Development..........................
Development....................................
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2.2 Example ...................
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2.3 When loaded by Beams ...................
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.. 12
3. Short Braced Columns Resisting
Resisting Axial Load and Moment ....................
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3.1 Introduction...................
Introduction.............................
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... 13
3.2 Case 1: 0.9x ≤ h ...................
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3.3 Case 2: 0.9x > h ....................
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3.4 Combination of Cases...........................
Cases.....................................
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3.5 Description of Interaction Diagram.........
Diagram ...................
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3.6 Example ...................
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3.7 Design Using Standard Interaction Diagrams ....................
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4. Biaxial Bending..........
Bending ....................
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4.1 Introduction...................
Introduction.............................
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... 33
4.2 Method 1 – Resolution of Moments ....................
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4.3 Method 2 – 3-D Interaction Diagrams...........................
Diagrams.....................................
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... 37
4.4 Method 3 – Code Methods ....................
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4.5 Example ...................
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........ 41

2  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

Contents
1. Introduction ...................
.............................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
...................
...................
..................
........ 3
1.1 Background..........
Background ...................
...................
....................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
...................
..............
..... 3
1.2 Failure Modes ...................
.............................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
...................
......... 5
1.3 Design Aspects ....................
..............................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
................
...... 7
1.4 Background Information...................
Information.............................
....................
....................
...................
...................
....................
..............
.... 8
2. Short Braced Axially Loaded Columns..................
Columns............................
....................
....................
....................
............ 10
2.1 Development..........................
Development....................................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
....................
.............
... 10
2.2 Example ...................
.............................
...................
...................
....................
....................
....................
...................
...................
..................
........ 11
2.3 When loaded by Beams ...................
.............................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
............
.. 12
3. Short Braced Columns Resisting
Resisting Axial Load and Moment ....................
..........................
...... 13
3.1 Introduction...................
Introduction.............................
....................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
...................
............
... 13
3.2 Case 1: 0.9x ≤ h ...................
.............................
....................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
...............
..... 14
3.3 Case 2: 0.9x > h ....................
..............................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
.............
... 15
3.4 Combination of Cases...........................
Cases.....................................
....................
....................
....................
....................
.................
....... 16
3.5 Description of Interaction Diagram.........
Diagram ...................
....................
....................
....................
....................
..............
.... 18
3.6 Example ...................
.............................
...................
...................
....................
....................
....................
...................
...................
..................
........ 21
3.7 Design Using Standard Interaction Diagrams ....................
..............................
.....................
.................
...... 30
4. Biaxial Bending..........
Bending ....................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
....................
....................
...................
......... 33
4.1 Introduction...................
Introduction.............................
....................
....................
...................
...................
....................
....................
...................
............
... 33
4.2 Method 1 – Resolution of Moments ....................
..............................
.....................
.....................
....................
............ 34
4.3 Method 2 – 3-D Interaction Diagrams...........................
Diagrams.....................................
...................
...................
.............
... 37
4.4 Method 3 – Code Methods ....................
..............................
....................
....................
....................
....................
................
...... 39
4.5 Example ...................
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....................
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...................
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........ 41

2  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

1. Introduction

1.1 Background 

The two main parameters governing column design are:

• Bracing: if the column can sway additional moments are generated through the
P − δ  effect. This does not affect braced columns

• Slenderness ratio: The effective length divided by the lateral dimension of the
column. Low values indicate a crushing failure, while high values denote
 buckling.

Bracing
The two kinds of bracing are:
• Braced:
Lateral loads on the structure are resisted by elements other than the columns
in the structure; e.g. lift cores, shear walls. Hence these columns mainly take
axial load; however, bending moments may result in the columns due to
unsymmetrical arrangements of loads.
• Unbraced:
Lateral loads are resisted by the bending action of the columns. The axial loads
are also taken by the columns.

Slenderness ratio
The slenderness ratio is the ratio of the effective length le to the lateral dimension of 

the column in that direction. We have two directions on plan, and we can have two
ratios:
• Long side of column: slenderness ratio = lex h ;
• Short side of column: slenderness ratio = ley b .

3  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

Y 

 X X 
   h

Y 
b 

Standard Column

The effective length is calculated from a table in BS8110 and depends on the end-
conditions of the column, for each axis:

4  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

1.2 Failure Modes

We define:
•  N uz as the crushing load of a perfectly axially loaded column;
•  N crit  as Euler’s buckling load for the column.

The following graph is typical and shows how for different slenderness ratios,
different forms of failure are possible:

5  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

From the figure:

• For l h ≤ 15 the crushing capacity is much lower than the buckling capacity
and so the column crushes.
• For l h > 32 the buckling capacity is less than the crushing capacity and so the
column buckles.
• For  l h values in between, the failure mode is not clear and depends on
imperfections in the column and the way the load is applied.

Therefore, BS8110 defines:

• Short columns: l h ≤ 15 for a braced column and l h ≤ 10 for an unbraced
column. These ratios must be met for both axes.
• Slender columns: any column not meeting the criteria for short columns.

As this module is short, we will only consider short, braced columns.

6  Dr. C. Caprani
Civil Engineering Design (1)

1.3 Design Aspects

At SLS, the axial compression tends to close up the cracks, which is beneficial.
Hence crack widths do not normally need to be checked in columns (crack widths are
checked in beams and slabs in water retaining structures and bridges, but don't need
to be for columns). Further, deflections do not normally need to be checked in
columns.

It is ULS conditions that govern the design of columns, i.e., their strength.

Areas of reinforcement are given for reference:

2
Cross Sectional areas of groups of bars (mm )

Bar Size (mm) 6 8 10 12 16 20 25 32 40

1 28 50 79 113 201 314 491 804 1257
2 57 101 157 226 402 628 982 1608 2513
  s 3 85 151 236 339 603 942 1473 2413 3770
  r
  a 4 113 201 314 452 804 1257 1963 3217 5027
   b
   f
  o 5 141 251 393 565 1005 1571 2454 4021 6283
  r
  e 6 170 302 471 679 1206 1885 2945 4825 7540
   b
  m 7 198 352 550 792 1407 2199 3436 5630 8796
  u
   N
8 226 402 628 905 1608 2513 3927 6434 10053
9 254 452 707 1018 1810 2827 4418 7238 11310
10 283 503 785 1131 2011 3142 4909 8042 12566
Circumference 18.8 25.1 31.4 37.7 50.3 62.8 78.5 100.5 125.7

7  Dr. C. Caprani