DESIGN

OF
BRACKETS or CORBELS
by
Dr. Prem Pal Bansal
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala
Introduction

■ Short Cantilever projections/beams or

■ Cantilever beams with load acting near the support
■ Ratio of distance of load from support (av called shear span) to
effective depth (deff) of the beam is small
Introduction

■ Generally it is Found that if av / deff < 2 cantilever beam behaves like

bracket or corbel
■ However, as per IS:456 Cl. 28.1, av / deff < 1
■ Common Application is brackets for supporting Gantry Girders in
Industrial Buildings
■ Load transferred by ‘Strut’ action rather than bending
Behavior

■ So, rather than diagonal tension design concept, shear friction

concept used for design
■ When brackets subjected to heavy load, possible mode of failure is
‘Shear Friction Failure’
■ Possible location of failure is along the face of the column
Behavior

■ Frictional forces develop at failure plane, as concrete tries slip along

failure plane
■ Tensile reinforcement provided across the crack resist direct tension
developed along cracked surface.
■ Assumed at crack width 0.03mm tension reinforcement yields
■ Reinforcing bars should be anchored suitably on both sides of crack
Preliminary Dimensions
■ Ultimate bearing pressure on concrete should not exceed
– 0.4fck - bearing with no padding material
– 0.6fck – bearing in cement mortar
– 0.8fck – bearing on steel plate
– 0.5fck – bearing on flexible pad
■ Generally av / d < 0.6 but in no case >1
■ av / d should be as small as possible i.e. ‘d’ should be large
■ Depth at face of support should not be greater than twice the depth at
free end.
Analysis of Design Forces

■ Vertical force ‘Fv’ acting on corbel is resisted by

– Compressive Force ‘Fc’ developed in concrete due to strut action
– Tensile force ‘Ft’ in reinforcement in horizontal direction
Fv

Ft
Fc
Z
N.A.

x
C
0.45 x
Analysis of Design Forces

■ External moment developed is resisted by couple due to horizontal

component of ‘Fc’ and ‘Ft’
■ Vertical distance between line of action of horizontal component of
‘Fc’ and ‘Ft’ is lever arm, denoted by ‘Z’
Fv

■ If ‘a’ is distance of load from face of support a

■ ‘b’ is width of the bracket

Ft
Fc
Z
N.A.

x
C
0.45 x
Analysis of Design Forces

■ ‘d’ effective depth at the face of the support

■ Then from equilibrium equations
■ Ft = Fv (a/Z)
Fv

a
■ Fc = Fv ((a2+Z2)1/2 /Z) ……….. 1
Ft
Fc
Z
N.A.

x
C
0.45 x
Analysis of Design Forces

Fv

Ft
Fc
Z
N.A.

x
C
0.45 x
Analysis of Design Forces
 DESIGN
OF
BRACKETS or CORBELS
by
Dr. Prem Pal Bansal
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala
Analysis of Design Forces
Analysis of Design Forces

■ The values of Z/d for given values of a/d and Fv/(fck bd) can be
calculated.
Reinforcement

■ Once lever arm ‘Z’ is known tension steel, shear steel and
compressive steel can be calculated as follows
■ Main steel Ast – In Horizontal Direction
■ Ast = Ft + Fh / fs
■ Where Ft is tension in horizontal direction due to Fv and should not be
less than 0.5 Fv
■ Fh is horizontal force acting at bearing, if any
Reinforcement
Reinforcement - Shear

■ Shear steel (Asv) is provided as horizontal closed stirrups or ties

parallel to the main tension steel.
■ Asv should not be less tha ½ Ast
■ Shear steel is provided in upper 2/3rd effective depth of the bracket at
face of support
Reinforcement - Compression

■ Compression steel (Asc) theoretically no compression steel required.

■ Provided on front face of bracket to anchor horizontal stirrups
■ Practically all main tension bars are bent to form loop to act as
compression steel
■ If beam is resting on bracket, due to thermal movements, a horizontal
acts on the bracket.
■ To take care of this bearing plate should be welded to main steel
■ Design horizontal force will be equal to 0.2Vu
Stepwise Design Procedure

■ Step1
■ Corresponding to allowable bearing pressure and vertical reaction on
bracket calculate width and length of the bracket required.
■ Calculate effective depth ‘d’ from shear criteria
– Assume Allowable shear stress (Tc) approximately equal to
maximum allowable shear stress (Tcmax)
– d = Fv / Tc
– Assume total depth D = d + Cover + (dia/2)
Stepwise Design Procedure
Stepwise Design Procedure
Stepwise Design Procedure
Stepwise Design Procedure
Example – 1 : Design a corbel to carry a factored load
of 500kN at a distance 200mm from face of 300 x
300 mm column. Use M30 grade concrete
■ Assume width of the corbel = width of column = 300 mm
■ Assume width of bearing plate = 300 mm
■ Assume steel bearing plate
■ So, allowable bearing pressure = 0.8fck = 0.8 x 30 = 24 Mpa
■ So length of bearing plate required = (500 x 1000) / (24 x 300)
■ = 69.4 mm
– Provide bearing plate of 90 x 300 mm
 – Provide 4 – 16 mm dia.
– pt = 4 x 201 x 100 / 300 x 555 = 0.48% > 0.4%
– < 1.3% OK
– Asv = 0.5 Ast = 0.5 (4 x 201) = 402 mm2
– Provide 10 dia 4 No horizontal link in top (2/3) 555 = 370 mm
■ Check for Shear
– Tc = 0.49 MPA for pt = 0.48
– a/d = 0.36
– Tm = (0.49 x 2) /(0.36) = 2.72 Mpa
– Shear capacity of concrete = (2.72 x 300 x 555) / 1000
– = 452.9 kN
– Shear capacity of steel = 0.87 fy As d / Sv
– Spacing of horizontal rings 370/3 = 123.33 mm
– So, = 0.87 x 415 x (2 x 78.5)x 555 / 123.33 x 1000 = 255.1 kN
– Total shear capacity = 452.9 + 255.1 = 708 kN > 500
– Safe
■ Development length (in tension) Ld = 50d – 8d (for 900 = 50 x16 – 8x16 = 672 mm
■ Similarly, calculate development length in compression
4-20

350
370
672

605

10 dia – 4 Nos
Horizontal Rings
References
■ IS:456-2000, Code of Practice for Plain and Reinforced Concrete,
Bureau of Indian Standard, New Delhi, 2000

■ IS:875 (Part 1 to 4)-1987, Code of Practice for Design Loads for

Buildings and Structures, Bureau of Indian Standard, New Delhi, 1989

■ SP:24 – 1983, Explanatory Handbook on IS:456-1978, Bureau of

Indian Standard, New Delhi, 1982

■ SP:34 – 1983, Handbook on Concrete Reinforcement and Detailing,

Bureau of Indian Standard, New Delhi, 1987
References
■ Dayaratnam, P., Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Oxford &
IBH, New Delhi, 1984.

■ Gambhir, M.L., Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Prentice-Hall

of India, New Delhi, 2010

■ Jain, A.K., Reinforced Concrete, Nem Chand & Bros, Roorkee, 2002.

■ Varghese, P.C., Limit State Design of Reinforced Concrete, Prentice-

Hall of India, New Delhi, 1994