WORKING STRESS DESIGN

Rectangular beams in bending

o Design of beams for bending (WSD) assumptions
 plane sections remain plane
 stress is proportional to strain
 perfect bond between steel and concrete
 concrete does not take tension

o Loading stages
 un-cracked section
 cracked section (WSD)
 ultimate strength (USD)
 definitions
o fc – compressive strength of concrete in general
= 0.45 fc’
o fc’ – 28-day compressive strength of concrete , MPa
o n – modular ratio (ES / EC )
o EC – modulus of elasticity of concrete, Mpa
= 4700 𝑓𝑐′
o gC – Unit weight of concrete, 24 kN/m3
 Code requirements
o minimum concrete cover
 f16 mm bar and smaller = 40 mm
 f20 mm to f36 bar = 50 mm
o minimum clear spacing shall be db but not less than
25 mm.
o db – nominal diameter of bar
Philippine Standard reinforcing bars,
nominal areas and nominal Mass
Table 407-2 Steel Reinforcement Information
Bar Size Designation Nominal Area, mm2 Unit Mass, kg/m

10 79 0.618
12 113 0.890
16 201 1.580
20 314 2.465
25 491 3.851
28 616 4.831
32 804 6.310
36 1019 7.986
42 1385 10.870
58 2642 20.729
 BEGIN
Input: fc’, Es,
b, h, M, cover
Calculate EC (Eq. 1.2) Calculate depth of
compression zone kd

Calculate n = Es / EC
Calculate moment of inertia I

Calculate d
Calculate maximum concrete
compressive stress fc (Eq. 2.14)
Calculate As

Calculate stress in the tension steel fs

Calculate As = b/d (Eq. 2.15)

Output: fc
Calculate coefficient k and fs
(Eq. 1.2) END
Calculation of maximum stresses of singly-reinforced rectangular concrete beam section under elastic bending
 BEGIN
Input: f ’c , Es, b,
h, cover
Calculate EC (Eq. 1.2) Calculate coefficient, j = k/3

Calculate n = Es / EC Calculate maximum concrete

compressive force Cmax (Eq. 2.16)

Calculate d
Calculate maximum tension force, Tmax (Eq. 2.17)

Calculate As

Calculate As = b/d YES Cmax > Tmax NO

Calculate Mr = Cmax jd Calculate Mr = Tmax jd

Calculate coefficient k (Eq. 1.2)

Calculate depth of Output: Mr

compression zone kd
END
Calculation of elastic bending strength of singly-reinforced concrete beam section
 Calculation for nominal bending moment strength of
singly-reinforced rectangular concrete beam section

BEGIN
Input: f ’c , fy, b, h Calculate m

Calculate d = h - cover
Calculate ku
Beam section under-
Calculate As
reinforced (fs – fy)
Calculate kud

Calculate r = As/bd
Calculate a (Eq. 2.67) Calculate a = b1kud
Calculate rb (Eq. 2.55)

Calculate Mn (Eq. 2.64) Calculate Mn (Eq. 2.66)

YES NO
r ≤ rb
Output: Mn

END
 Working Stress Design (WSD) of
singly-reinforced rectangular beams for bending
o Working stress design (WSD) was used from 1900s until
1960s

o In WSD, a structural element is designed so that the stresses

resulting from the service loads (or working loads) and
computed by the mechanics of elastic members don’t exceed
some predesigned allowable values.

o Service load is the load, such as dead, live, wind and

earthquake, which is assumed actually to occur when the
structure is in service.
 Working Stress Design (WSD) of
singly-reinforced rectangular beams for bending
o WSD proceeds from using the linear relationship between
stress and strain in the compression concrete

o The NSCP refers to this as alternate design method (See

Section 424)
 NSCP 424
Alternate Design Method
424.4.1 Stresses in concrete shall not exceed the following:
Permissible Service Load Stresses
o Flexure
Extreme fiber stress in compression: 0.45𝑓𝑐′
o Shear
Beams and one-way slab and footings
Shear carried by concrete: 𝑣𝑐 = 0.09 𝑓𝑐′
 NSCP 424
Alternate Design Method
424.4.2 Tensile stress in reinforcement fs shall not
exceed the following:
o Grade 275 reinforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 MPa

o Grade 415 reinforcement or greater and welded

wire fabric (plain or deformed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 MPa

o For flexural reinforcement, f10 mm or less, in one-

way slabs of not more than 4 m span but not
greater than 200 MPa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5fy
 Minimum Reinforcement for flexural members
410.6.1 At every section of a flexural member where tensile
reinforcement is required by analysis, except as provided in
Sections 410.6.2, 410.6.3 and 410.6.4, As provided shall not be
less than that given by:
𝑓𝑐′
𝐴𝑠,𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑏𝑤 𝑑
4𝑓𝑦
and not less than

1.4𝑏𝑤 𝑑
𝑓𝑦
 Elastic bending of singly-reinforced section

kd/3
b c fc

kd C
neutral axis
h jd
d-kd
nAs
T
s fs/n

Cracked section strain stress forces

 Balanced Condition
Balanced condition happens when the maximum
concrete stress fc and the tensile stress of steel reach
their allowable limits simultaneously
𝐶=𝑇
𝑘
1 𝜌𝑒 = balanced steel ratio
𝑓𝑐 𝑏𝑘𝑑 = 𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑠 2𝑟
2
1 𝑓𝑠
𝑓𝑐 𝑏𝑘𝑑 = 𝜌𝑒 𝑏𝑑𝑓𝑠 𝑟=
2 𝑓𝑐
𝑓𝑐
𝜌𝑒 = 𝑘
2𝑓𝑠
 Balanced Condition
Location of neutral axis at balanced condition
𝜀𝑐 𝜀𝑠
= 𝑛 𝑘
𝑘𝑑 𝑑 − 𝑘𝑑 𝑘= 𝜌𝑒 =
𝑛+𝑟 2𝑟
𝑓𝑐 /𝐸𝑐 𝑓𝑠 /𝐸𝑠
=
𝑘𝑑 𝑑 − 𝑘𝑑 when ractual < re then the beam
𝐸𝑠 /𝐸𝑐 𝑓𝑠 /𝑓𝑐 is under-reinforced
=
𝑘 1−𝑘 when ractual > re then the beam
𝑛 𝑟 is over-reinforced
=
𝑘 1−𝑘
 Balanced Condition
𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 𝑀𝑠 = 𝑇(𝑗𝑑)
Σ𝑀 = 0
1 𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑡
𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 𝑀𝑐 = 𝑓𝑐 𝑏𝑘𝑑(𝑗𝑑) 𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑠 (𝑗𝑑) 𝐴𝑠 =
2 𝑓𝑠 (𝑗𝑑)
𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑡
2
𝑏𝑑 = 𝐴𝑠 nb is the number
𝐾𝑒 𝑁=𝜋 of bars:
1 𝑑𝑏2
where: 𝐾𝑒 = 𝑓𝑐 𝑘𝑗 4
2
Check spacing:
𝑓𝑐 = 0.45𝑓𝑐′
𝑘 𝑏 − 𝑛𝑏 𝑑𝑏 − 2(𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟)
𝑗 =1− 𝑠=
𝑛𝑏 − 1
𝑛3
𝑘= 𝑠 ≥ 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟(25 𝑚𝑚, 𝑑𝑏 )
𝑛+𝑟
 Working Stress design (free) of singly-reinforced
rectangular concrete beam section for bending
BEGIN Calculate Mext
Input: fc’ , Es , fc,
fs, D, L, cover
Calculate bd2 = Mext/Ke
Calculate Ec (Eq. 1.2)

Select b, solve for d assume b (1/2 to 2/3 of

Calculate n = Es / Ec : use integer.
the depth)

Calculate r = fs / fc obtain h = d + cover + 0.5db

Calculate k (Eq. 2.71) Bypass these steps

Calculate beam self-weight if D includes self-
weight
NO YES
Calculate j: j = 1 – k/3 SW = assumed SW

Output: b, h, As
Calculate As (Eq. 2.74)
Calculate Ke (Eq. 2.70)
END
 Working Stress design (tied) of singly-reinforced
rectangular concrete beam section for bending
BEGIN
Calculate beam self-weight
Input: fc’ , Es ,
fc, fs, b, h, d, Bypass these steps if
D, L, cover D includes self-weight
Calculate M
Calculate Ec (Eq. 1.2)

Calculate n = Es / Ec use integer. Calculate Mr

Calculate r = fs / fc
NO YES
M ≤ Mr
Calculate k (Eq. 2.71)
Design as doubly-reinforced Calculate As (Eq. 2.74)
section (otherwise increase
Calculate j: j = 1 – k/3 beam size) Output: As

Calculate Ke (Eq. 2.70)

END
 EXERCISE NO. 1
Working Stress Design of a singly-reinforced
rectangular concrete beam section for bending
Using WSD method, determine the appropriate size of
a rectangular beam with uniformly distributed load of
wDL = 10 kN/m (excluding the self weight of the
beam) and wLL = 10 kN/m. Use fc‘ = 25 MPa and fs =
140 MPa. The beam is simply supported with a length
of L = 4.0 m. Design the appropriate reinforcement
and sketch the final designed section.
 EQUATIONS
Eq. 1.2 Eq. 2.74

𝐸𝑐 = 4700 𝑓𝑐′ 𝑀𝑟 = 𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑠 𝑗𝑑

Eq. 2.70
𝑓𝑐 𝑘𝑗
𝐾𝑒 =
2

Eq. 2.71
𝑛
𝑘=
𝑛+𝑟