Wachemo University CET Dep’t of Civil Engineering

CHAPTER 1: Introduction
 General review
 Behavior of plain concrete/reinforced concrete under loads
 Behavior of steel under tension
1.1 General review
Plain concrete, a heterogeneous construction material, is weak in resisting tension in any form, but
strong in resisting compressive load. The expected or required strength of concrete can easily be
achieved by altering the proportions of the ingredients and/or by changing the ingredients with
different properties. The strength properties of concrete can be improved by adding chemical
admixtures or any other additives.
Concrete has excellent formability, high fire and weather resistance, and high compressive
strength. On the other hand it is a relatively brittle material with less tensile strength which
prevents its economical use in structural members that are subjected bending, shear and tension.

Steel is also one of the most important construction materials, which has high tensile strength and
much greater ductility and toughness. But it is susceptible to corrosion and has low fire resistances.

To produce a concrete member which has to resist tensile loads by developing bending tensile
stresses, reinforcing steel rods (rebars) are used. Such a material is called as reinforced concrete.
A reinforced concrete is a composite material where concrete and steel act together to bear the
loads acting on it. Apart from tensile stresses, steel can be wisely used to resist other stresses like
shear, torsion and also a part of compressive stresses where necessary by forming a pattern of
skeleton. Thus the skeleton of reinforcement confines the brittle concrete and imparts to some
extent ductility. The earthquake resistant design of reinforced concrete structures is focused to
avoid brittle failure of concrete by making the reinforced concrete sufficiently ductile. If the
reinforcement and concrete has to resist stresses to their full efficiency, a technique called pre-
stressing can be done.
The art of proportioning the concrete is called concrete mix design. The art of deciding the size,
shape and quantity of steel to be provided in reinforced concrete structural component and the
fashion how to detail the rebars to bring out a skeleton of reinforcements is called the reinforced
concrete structural design. The major aim of structural design is to produce design for a safe,
serviceable and durable structure. The process of structural design requires conceptual thinking,
sound knowledge of engineering, imagination, knowledge of relevant design codes and by-laws
backed up by experience and judgement.

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The process of structural design involves the following stages:

1. Structural planning and configuration
2. Action of loads, their classification and combinations
3. Analysis for the stress resultants
4. Design of components
5. Drawing, detailing and preparation of schedules
Why Only Steel as Reinforcing Material
1. While setting, cement concrete shrinks a little and grips reinforcing bar perfectly;
 To develop perfect bond between cement concrete and steel
 Enables concrete to transmit its stress to steel after it has cracked.
2. The coefficient of linear expansion of steel is almost the same as that of cement concrete.
Due to this fact no internal stresses are set up within reinforced concrete due to rise and fall
in temperature.
3. It is cheapest metal and is available in abundance.
4. The tensile strength of steel is quite high to resist bending stress accordingly.
5. Coating of cement concrete around steel bar protects steel from corrosion and other adverse
effects of atmospheric agencies.

1.2 Reinforced Concrete (as a composite material)

It is known that plain concrete is quite strong in compression, weak in tension. On the other hand, steel
is a high cost material which able to resist both tension & compression. The two materials (plain
concrete & reinforcing steel) are best be utilized in logical combination if steel bars are embedded in
the plain concrete in tension zone close to the surface. In this case, plain concrete is made to resist the
compressive stresses and reinforcing steel resists the tensile stresses. Both plain concrete & reinforcing
steel bar together assumed to act as one composite unit and it is termed as reinforced concrete (RC).
The tensile stresses developed in the section are transferred to reinforcing steel by the bond between
the interfaces of the two materials.
In all RC members, strength design is made on the assumption that concrete does not resist any tensile
stresses. All the tensile stresses are assumed to be resisted by the reinforcing steel imbedded in tension
zone. Sometimes if necessary, reinforcing steel is provided in compression zone to assist the concrete
resisting compression in addition to reducing creep deformation.
Reinforcing steel & concrete may work readily in combinations due to the following reasons.
1. Bond between the bars & the surrounding concrete prevents slip of the bars relative to the
concrete. Adequate concrete cover for steel bar and embedment length of bar are
required to transfer stress between steel and concrete without slipping.
2. Proper concrete mixes provide adequate impermeability of concrete against bar corrosion.
0 0
3. Sufficiently similar rates of thermal expansion (0.00001/ C to 0.000013/ C for concrete
0
and 0.000012/ C for steel) introduce negligible stresses between steel and concrete
under temperature changes.
Advantages of Reinforced Concrete:
1. It is monolithic. This gives it more rigidity.
2. It is durable. It does not deteriorate with time.
3. While it is plastic, it can be moldable into any desired shape.
4. It is fire, weather and corrosion resistant.
5. By proper proportioning of mix, concrete can be made water-tight.
6. It maintenance cost is practically nil.
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Disadvantages of Reinforced Concrete:

1. It is difficult to demolish in case of repair of modification.
2. It is too difficult to inspect after the concrete has been poured.

1.3 Behavior of plain concrete/reinforced concrete under loads

Behavior under compressive load: The compressive stress behavior of plain concrete is studied
by testing cube specimens of 150 mm sides or cylinder specimens of 150 mm diameter and 300
mm depth in compression testing machine. The compressive strength of concrete is defined as the
load, at which the standard specimen fails when subjected to uni-axial compression under a
specified rate of loading, divided by the area of load application.
Experiments have shown that the stress-strain relationship of concrete under direct compression is
non-linear. Mainly, it is a function of grade of concrete. Figure below shows typical stress-strain
curve obtained from cubes of different strengths loaded in uni-axial compression.

25

Stress 20
N/mm2
10

0.002 Strain

Stress strain relationship of concrete under compression

From the stress-strain curves the following important points should be noted.
1. The maximum compressive stress occurs approximately at a strain of 0.002.
2. The value of failure strain of low grade concrete is more than that of high grade concrete.
3. Ultimate or failure strain varies between 0.003 and 0.005.
4. The variation is almost linear up to half of the maximum strength.
5. There is no fixed ratio of stress/strain to define modulus of elasticity E of concrete and this
is usually taken as secant modulus.
Tensile strength of concrete: The tensile strength of plain concrete can be determined indirectly
by split tensile test. The test method consists of applying a diametrical compressive force along
the length of the cylindrical concrete specimen of 150 mm diameter and 300 mm length at a
prescribed rate of loading till failure occurs. This load induces tensile stresses on the plane
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containing the applied load relatively high compressive stresses in the area immediately around the
applied load. Tensile failure occurs rather than compressive failure because the areas of load
application are in the state of triaxial compression, thereby allowing them to withstand much
compressive stresses than would be indicated by uniaxial compressive strength test results. Thin
plywood bearing strips are used so that the load is applied uniformly along the length of the
cylinder. The maximum load sustained by the specimen is divided by appropriate geometrical
factors to obtain the splitting tensile strength of concrete. Generally, the tensile strength of
concrete is between 1/8th and 1/12th of cube compressive stress.

The splitting tensile strength of concrete is calculated as T = 2P/πLD.

Where, T = Split tensile strength in MPa or kN/sq.m
P = Maximum applied load indicated by the testing machine in N or kN
L = Length of the specimen in mm or m.
D = Diameter of the specimen in mm or m.
Tensile strength of concrete can also be determined by flexural test. Flexural test specimens can
be prepared to specified sizes, tested by supporting simply at the ends by applying load either at
the mid span or at third points as per the specification. The modulus of rupture (maximum tensile
stress) fcr can be determined by the flexure formula, fcr = M/Z =6M/bh2
where M = the maximum bending moment and Z = the section modulus, b= width of specimen and
h=overall depth of specimen.

Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio: Since concrete is an inelastic material the modulus of
elasticity which is the ratio of stress to strain with in the elastic limit, cannot be determined
uniquely. If the tangent to the curve is drawn at the origin, the slope of this line is known as initial
tangent modulus and corresponds to elastic deformation. As the stress-strain relationship of
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concrete is not a straight line, this modulus is of not much importance. The slope of the tangent at
any point (say A) is called tangent modulus, which gives the rate of change of stress with strain at
that point. In practice it is of interest to know the stress corresponding to strain at a point or the
ratio of stress upon strain at a point. To obtain this ratio for the use in design, a straight line is
drawn from the origin to the desired point (say B) on the stress-strain curve. The slope of this line
which is the ratio of stress to strain at the point under consideration is called the secant modulus.
The short term static modulus of elasticity of concrete refers to secant modulus.

Stress-strain curve for concrete showing tangent modulus and secant modulus

Creep of concrete: Creep is defined as plastic deformation under constant load or stress. Concrete
under the action of constant load or stress continues to deform with time. This plastic deformation
grows rapidly and reaches highest intensity in the first three to four months after application of
load and then continues to increase gradually approaching the limiting value in a period of five
years. Since the creep increases at a faster rate in early stages the erection of walls on newly

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formed concrete should be prolonged otherwise cracks develop in walls after a period of 6 to 12
months. The variation of creep deformation with time is schematically shown in figure below. It
can be seen from the figure that at any time when the load is removed the elastic recovery takes
place immediately while part of creep deformation recovers at a slower rate leaving permanent
deformation locked inside the concrete material.

Factors influencing creep:

(a) Magnitude of stress: Creep grows with the increase of stress level in concrete specimen.
(b) Age at loading: Loading at an earlier age causes high creep strain.
(c) Rate of loading: Creep increases with increase in the rate of loading.
(d) Humidity: Creep is reduced with increase in humidity or moisture content of the
surrounding air.
(e) Composition of concrete: An increase in water-cement ratio and the amount of cement per
unit volume of concrete increases creep.
Shrinkage of concrete: The property of diminishing in volume of concrete during the process of
hardening is termed shrinkage. The factors affecting shrinkage are:
(a) Environmental condition (humidity and temperature)
(b) Water-cement ratio
(c) Duration of exposure (not duration of loading)
(d) Percentage of steel

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Greater the percentage of steel lesser is the shrinkage, because the reinforcement restrains the
shrinkage. The shrinkage is also a time dependent process. For computational purpose it may be
assumed that 50% of ultimate shrinkage occurs in the first one month and the remaining 75% in six
months from the commencement of drying. Creep and shrinkage occur simultaneously, and jointly
influence the behavior or reinforced concrete member. In limit state method, it is necessary to
assess deformations due to creep and shrinkage from serviceability considerations.
Behavior of reinforced concrete member under flexure: A beam is a structural member carrying
transverse load and/or moment contained in the centroidal plane, cause bending moment and shear
force along the span. If a transverse vertical load is applied to a simply supported beam it would
bend in such a way that the layers or fibers above the neutral plane are subjected to compressive
stresses and that below the neutral plane, to tensile stresses as shown in the figure below. In the
design theories, it is assumed that the entire tensile stress developed in the tensile zone is resisted
by the reinforcements alone as the concrete is weak in tension.

The internal forces set up within the beam comprises of total compressive force C and the total
tensile stress T acting at the centers of gravity of the stress block with a lever arm z. Two
equilibrium conditions must be satisfied at a section subjected to bending. (1) Internal
compressive force C = Internal tensile force
Since the internal compressive and tensile forces are equal and acting in opposite direction they
constitute a couple and the moment of the couple, called as moment of resistance, is the resistance
set up by the beam to counteract the external unbalanced moment (i.e., bending moment). Hence
the required second equilibrium condition to be satisfied is given by, (2) Moment of internal
couple = External bending moment.
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Let σc = Maximum compressive stress; σs = Maximum tensile stress

x = Depth of neutral axis from the top fiber.

Total compressive force C = Average stress x Area of cross section on which it acts
1
C c  b  x
2
Similarly, total tensile force T   s  As , where As = Total area of cross section of steel rebars

Moment of resistance can be expressed as M = Cz = Tz

1.4 Reinforcing Steel

1.4.1 Behavior of steel under tension

The steel used in reinforced concrete structures are of different types such as plain round bars of
circular cross section, deformed bars or ribbed steel bars having spiral ribs in the surface of
circular cross section, thermo mechanically treated bars (TMT bars), and steel wire fabrics. The
round bars generally called as mild steel have lesser strength than the deformed bars and TMT
bars. The stress strain relationship for all the types of reinforcements are shown in the figure
below. It can be noted that the mild steel exhibits a definite yield point where as the other higher
strength steels show a smooth transition from elastic to plastic stages of stresses. In high strength
steels, the stress corresponding to a strain value of 0.002 is said to be the proof stress, which is
equivalent to the yield stress in case of mild steel. Apart from single reinforcing bars, welded wire
reinforcement also called as welded wire fabric is often used for reinforcing slabs and other
surfaces such as shells and for shear reinforcements in thin beam webs particularly in prestressed
beams. Welded wire reinforcement consists of sets of longitudinal and transverse cold drawn steel
wires at right angles to each other and welded together at all points of intersection. The size and
spacing of wires may be the same in both directions or may be different, depending on the
requirements of the design. The size of wires used in the welded wire fabric may vary from 2 mm
diameter to 6 to 7 mm diameter. For prestressing the steel is used in three forms: round wires,
stranded cable and alloy steel. Prestressing steels have high yield strength more than 1000 N/mm2.
Based on the strength requirements, the steel may be selected for use.
A wide range of reinforcing bars is available with nominal diameter ranging 6mm to 35mm. Most
bars except 6mm diameter are deformed one. Some of the common bar size with their application
in concrete works are given in table below.

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Strength of reinforcing steel: - Reinforcing steel is capable of resisting both tension and compression.
Compared with concrete, it is a high strength material. For instance, the strength of ordinary
reinforcing steel is about 10 & 100 times, the compressive & tensile strength of common structural
concrete.
Typical stress-strain curves for mild-steel and high-yield (cold-worked) steel are shown in figures
below.

The strength of mild steel is taken as yield point or yield stress of steel whereas for high-yield steel is
based on specified proof stress of steel. 0.2% proof stress is specified in most codes to determine
strength of high-yield steel. A 0.2% offset is drawn parallel to the linear part of the stress-strain curve
to determine 0.2% proof stress.
The shape of the stress-strain curve is similar for all steel, and differs only in the value of strength of
steel, the modulus of elasticity, ES being for all practical purposes constant. ES is taken as 200GPa. For
a design of RC members, reinforcing steel up to grade of 550MPa can be used. If steel with grade
beyond 550MPa is used for RC member, the sections are under utilizing the reinforcement. This is
because the width of concrete crack is wide if the steel is fully stressed.

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