Deflection

The bending deflections of reinforced concrete slabs are divided into:

 Immediate deflections, occurring instantaneously after the loads are applied.

 Long-term deflections, where concrete members continue to deflect with time under constant
loads, primarily due to the effects of shrinkage and creep.

General procedure for calculating the total deflection

In this section, we will explain the procedure for calculating the total deflection of reinforced concrete
members in accordance with the ACI Code.

Let us assume we have a continuous beam with uniformly distributed load and we want to calculate the
deflection for the 2nd span between supports 2 and 3.

Figure 1- Deflection check general example

1. Design the beam at ULS

2. Find the internal bending moment at supports and midspan for the following load cases
 DL
 DL + LL
 DL + % sustained LL
3. Calculate the moment of inertia:
3
bh
I g=
12
4. Calculate the moment of inertia of cracked transformed section:
3
b (kd )
I cr = + n A s (d−kd)2 +(n−1)
⏟ A 's (kd−d ')2
3
¿ 0 if singly reinforced beam

Where

k =√ 2n ρ+(n ρ)2−n ρ
As
ρ=
bd
5. Calculate the effective moment of inertia under each load case

(⏟) [ ] (⏟)
M cr 3 M 3
I e= I g+ 1− cr I cr ≤ I g
Ma Ma
≤1 ≤1

Where

f r Ig
M cr =
⏟y t
h /2

M a : The maximum moment in the member at the stage where the deflection is computed

6. Calculate the immediate deflection due to both load cases DL and DL + LL then check the deduce
the immediate deflection due to LL

Δ i , DL=
k ( 485 ) M DL l2
∧Δ i, DL+¿ =
k ( 485 ) M DL+¿ l2

Ec I e , DL E c I e, DL+¿

Δ i ,≪¿ Δ i , DL+¿ −Δ i , DL

Where

{
Cantilevered beam:2.4
Simply supported beam :1
k:
Ma
Continuous beam:1.2−0.2×
M0

With M 0: the maximum moment obtained if the beam was simply supported

l: span length

7. Calculate the immediate deflection due to DL + % sustained LL

M DL+ %Sustained ≪¿l

( )5 2

Δ i ,sustained =k ¿
48 Ec I e , DL+%Sustained ≪¿ ¿

8. Calculate the long-term deflection

Δ ¿= λ × Δ i , sustained

Where

ζ
λ= '
1+50 ρ
 {
2 for 5 years∨more
ζ : 1.4 for 12 months
1.2 for 6 months
1 for 3 months

9. Check the deflection limit from table 24.2.2 ACI 318-14

Figure 2- Maximum permissible calculated deflections

Deflection check for P01

In this section, we will perform a deflection check for beam P01. This process involves evaluating the
deflection at the 2nd span between supports 2 and 3 by following the methodology outlined in the
preceding section.

1. Design the beam at ULS

Figure 3- P01 section

2. Find the internal bending moment at supports and midspan for the following load cases
Moment (T.m)

Load case Span Left support Right support

DL 4.3 7.2 7.2

DL + LL 5.4 9 9
DL + 30% Sustained
4.7 7.7 7.7
LL
Figure 4- Bending moments in P01 under SLS

3. Calculate the moment of inertia:

3 3
b h 120 ×30 4
I g= = =270 000 cm
12 12
4. Calculate the moment of inertia of cracked transformed section:
 For midspan

{
As 13.77
ρ= = =0.0046
bd 120 ×25
E s 2040 000
n= = =8.5
Ec 240 000
k= √ 2 n ρ+(n ρ) −n ρ= √ 2 ×8.5 × 0.0046+(8.5× 0.0046) −8.5 × 0.0046=0.243
2 2

Let us find the position of the neutral axis to check whether the bars in compression are below the
neutral axis or not:

If the section is balanced:

' As f y 13.77 × 4200

A s f y =0.85 f c ba →We get a= '
= =2.27 cm
0.85 f b
c
0.85 × 250× 120

d '=5.45 cm> a=2.27 cm-> A's=0

3 3
b (kd ) 120(6.1)
I cr = + n A s (d−kd)2 = +8.5 ×13.77 ×(25−6.1)2=51 107 cm4
3 3
 For supports
 {
As 13.77
ρ= = =0.0046
bd 120 ×25
E s 2040 000
n= = =8.5
Ec 240 000
k= √ 2 n ρ+(n ρ) −n ρ= √ 2 ×8.5 × 0.0046+(8.5× 0.0046) −8.5 × 0.0046=0.243
2 2

3 3
b (kd ) 120(6.1)
I cr = + n A s (d−kd)2 = +8.5 ×13.77 ×(25−6.1)2=51 107 cm4
3 3

5. Calculate the effective moment of inertia under each load case

f r I g 31× 270 000
M cr = = =5.7 T . m
yt 15
M cr
Since >1 in midspan for all load cases then I e =I g
Ma

(⏟) [ ] (⏟)
M cr 3 M 3
I e= I g+ 1− cr I cr ≤ I g
Ma Ma
≤1 ≤1

Effective moment of inertia

(cm4)
Load case Span Right support

DL 270 000 159263

DL + LL 270 000 132985

DL + 30% Sustained LL 270 000 139532

Table 1- Effective moment of inertias

Now the effective moment of inertia of the span:

I e =0.5 I midspan +0.25(I support1 + I support 2 )
4
 DL: I e =214 632 cm
4
 DL + LL: I e =2 01 492 cm
4
 DL + % sustainedLL: I e =204 766 cm
6. Calculate the immediate deflection due to both load cases DL and DL + LL then check the deduce
the immediate deflection due to LL
 DL
Ma 7
k :Continuous beam:1.2−0.2 × =1.2−0.2 × =0.9
M0 4.3
 Δ i , DL=
k ( )
5
48
M DL l 2 0.9 ×
=
5
48 ( )
× 4.3 × 4.552
=0.1 6 cm
Ec I e , DL 240000 ×214632

 DL + LL

Ma 10
k :Continuous beam:1.2−0.2 × =1.2−0.2 × =0.8
M0 4.7

¿ Δ i , DL+¿ =
0.8 × ( 485 ) ×5.4 × 4.55 =0. 2 2 cm
2

240000× 214632

Δ i ,≪¿ Δ i , DL+¿ −Δ i , DL=0.22−0.16=0.0 6 cm

7. Calculate the immediate deflection due to DL + 35% sustained LL

Ma 8
k :Continuous beam:1.2−0.2 × =1.2−0.2 × =0. 9
M0 4.7
M DL+ %Sustained≪¿l
( ) 5 2

Δ i ,sustained =k ¿
48 Ec I e , DL+%Sustained≪¿ ¿

0. 9 × ( ) × 4.7 × 4.5
5 2
48
Δ i ,sustained = =0.18 c m
240000× 204766

8. Calculate the long-term deflection

For a period ≥ 5 years
2
λ= =2
1+ ⏟
'
50 ρ
0
Δ ¿=2× 0.18=0.36 cm

9. Check the deflection limit from table 24.2.2 ACI 318-14

{ Δi ,≪¿ 0.06 cm< l/360=1.26 cm

ΔT otal=0.36+0.06=0.43 cm<l/480=0.9 cm