Reinforced Concrete Tanks (RC 4)

Lecture 2

Loads, loads combination & section design

PROF. DR. Abdulmalek AL-Jolahy
Loads:
How should we calculate loads?
Design loads are determined from the depth and unit weight of retained material (liquid or solid), the
external soil pressure, and the equipment to be installed.

Content loads
 Water 10 kN/m3

- Compared to these loads, the actual live loads are small

- Impact and dynamical loads from some equipment.
E.X: Loads on elevated tanks:
 Loads combination:
 The load combinations to determine the required strength (U) are given in ACI 318.
 ACI 350 requires two modifications:
 Modification 1 – the load factor for lateral liquid pressure (F) is taken as 1.7 rather than 1.2. This may be

over conservative due to the fact that tanks are filled to the top only during leak testing or accidental
overflow.
 Modification 2 – The members must be designed to meet the required strength. The ACI 350 required

strength U must be increased by multiplying with environmental durability coefficient.

 The increased design loads provide more conservative design with less cracking

 Required strength = Durability coefficient (Sd) * U (Appendix D – ACI 350).

Where, durability coefficient (sanitary coefficient) = 1.3 for flexure, 1.65 for direct tension, and 1.3
for shear beyond the capacity provided by the concrete (for Vs= Vu/∅-Vc).
Tensile stress in reinforced concrete structures:
A- Effect of shrinkage:
Figure (a) shows a block of concrete with a re-bar. The block
height is 1 m, corresponds to the wall thickness, the steel area
is As, and the steel percentage is r.
Figure (b) shows the behavior of the block assuming that the
re-bar is absent. The block will shorten due to shrinkage. C is
the shrinkage per unit length.
Figure (c) shows the behavior of the block when the re-bar is
present. The re-bar restrains some shortening.
The difference in length between Fig. (b) and (c) is C-xC for
which x is an unknown quantity.
Tensile stress in reinforced concrete structures:
Follow the Effect of shrinkage:
 The re-bar restrains shrinkage of the concrete. As a result, the concrete is subjected to
tension, the re-bar to compression, but the section is in force equilibrium
 Concrete tensile stress is fcs = xCEc

 Steel compressive stress is fss= (1-x)CEs

 Section force equilibrium. As*fss = Ac*fcs (divide both sides by Ac)

 So, 𝜌fss=fcs

 Solve for x from above equation for force equilibrium

 The resulting stresses are:

 fss=CEs[1/(1+nr)] (compression) and fcs=CEs[r /(1+nr)] (tension)

Tensile stress in reinforced concrete structures:
B- Effect of applied tension:
 The concrete stress due to an applied tension of T will be equal to:
𝐸𝑠
 fc=T/(Ac+nAs), where n= and 𝜌 = As/Ac
𝐸𝑐

Total of concrete tension due to shrinkage and the applied tension is,
fc= [T+CEsAs]/[Ac+nAs]
Where:
The values of C, coefficient of shrinkage for RC is in the range of 0.0002 to 0.0004.
Take C= 0.0003
𝐸𝑠
n= , (Es= 200,000MPa, Ec= 4700 𝑓𝑐′)
𝐸𝑐
Ac= 1000t, t: thickness.
As= r*Ac
T: the service applied tension.
Tensile stress in reinforced concrete structures:
C- Effect of flexure:
𝑀∗𝑐
The applied flexure will cause a tension in the concrete section. fcb =
𝐼
Where:
M= service applied bending moment.
C= t/2.
𝑏∗ℎ3
I=
12
Tensile stress in reinforced concrete structures:
C- Effect of flexure and axial stresses:
𝑀∗𝑐 𝑃
f= ±
𝐼 𝐴
Where:
M= service applied bending moment.
C= t/2.
𝑏∗ℎ3
I=
12
P= axial force (+ Tension, - compression)
A= cross-sectional area = b*𝑡
Wall thickness selection:
The thickness of a water tank is selected so that cracks are not permitted in the
water face, therefor, the concrete section shall be designed as a plane concrete.
Limit all the resulted tensile stresses due to shrinkage, applied direct tension &
tension due to flexure to 0.1fc’. If the tensile stresses due to the external forces
exceeds 0.1fc’, increase the thickness.
Minimum allowed thickness (ACI350-2020 section 15.7.2):
The minimum thickness of conventionally reinforced cast in place concrete walls
that are in contact with liquids and are at least 3m high shall be 300mm.
Reinforcements calculations:
1- Required reinforcements for an applied tension:
1.65∗𝑇𝑢
As= , distributed uniformly in the cross section.
∅𝑓𝑦

2- Required reinforcements for an applied flexure:

Steel area can be calculated from the following equation:
𝐴𝑠𝑓𝑦
1.3Mu= ∅𝐴𝑠𝑓𝑦 𝑑 − , the calculated steel area shall be provided in the tension face.
1.7𝑓𝑐 ′ 𝑏

3- Required reinforcements for an applied flexure and compression:

If the compression force is less than 0.1fcAg, ignore the effect of compression.
If the compression force is more than 0.1fcAg, design the section using an appropriate
interaction diagram, or by using the approximate approach.
Simplified approach:
Design aids in the form of interaction diagrams offer the most convenient method of
design of eccentrically loaded section. However, those aids are not always available
for all common section and arrangements of reinforcement.
As an alternative to this method, a simplified approach may be used. It is applicable
to the design of eccentrically loaded sections belonging to the tension failure zone
which include sections subjected to big eccentricity ; e>d .
The method is based on replacing the design bending moment Mu and axial load Pu
by an equal load Pu acting through the centroid of the tension reinforcement and an
increased bending moment Mu′ where:
Simplified approach (follow):
Simplified approach (follow):
The required area of steel reinforcement is determined in two steps as follows:
1) The section is designed as a singly reinforced or doubly reinforced section to
resist the increased bending moment Mu ′. The capacity reduction factor  varies
between 0.65 and 0.9 according to the following equation:

2) Calculate the required steel using the calculated moment & the calculated
reduction factor:
𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑦
1.3 𝑀𝑢′ = 𝜙𝐴𝑠𝑓𝑦(𝑑 − )
1.7𝑓𝑐 ′ 𝑏
𝑃𝑢
2) The area of steel reinforcement on the tension side is reduced by ,
∅𝑓𝑦
Reinforcements calculations: (Follow)
4- Required reinforcements for an applied flexure and a tension force:
For a design of an applied flexure & a tension force, the appropriate interaction
diagrams may be used, however, they are not always available for this mater.
A simplified approach can be used to calculate the required steel:
𝐴𝑠 = 𝐴𝑠1 + 𝐴𝑠2 Where:
𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑦
As1 : required reinforcement area for flexure, 1.3 𝑀𝑢′ = 𝜙𝐴𝑠𝑓𝑦(𝑑 − )
1.7𝑓𝑐 ′ 𝑏
1.65 𝑃𝑢
As2 : required reinforcement area for the tension force=
𝜙𝑓𝑦

𝑀𝑢′ = Pu. 𝑒 ′ 𝑒 ′ = e-d+h/2

 Reinforcement limitations:
A- Temperature and shrinkage reinforcements according to ACI350-2006.
The amount, size and spacing of reinforcement have a great effect on the extent of cracking.
◦ The amount must be sufficient for strength and serviceability including temperature and shrinkage effects
◦ The amount of temperature and shrinkage reinforcement is dependent on the length between movement joints
Follow Reinforcement limitations:
 Follow Reinforcement limitations:
Important notes:
1- The size of re-bars should be chosen recognizing that cracking can be better controlled
by using larger number of small diameter bars rather than fewer large diameter bars.
2- The size of reinforcing bars should not exceed 32mm. Spacing of re-bars should be
limited to a maximum of 300mm. Concrete cover should be at least 50mm (may be taken
30 mm provided that protection layers are exist).
3- Reinforcement splices should confirm to ACI 318.
◦ The length depends on the class of splice, clear cover, clear distance between adjacent
bars, and the size of the bar, concrete used, bar coating, …. etc