5.

DESIGN OFAXIALLY AND ECCENTRICALLY LOADED

COLUMN
5.1. Introduction

Columns are defined as members that carry loads chiefly in compression, even though the bending
action may produce tensile forces over part of their cross section.

On the basis of construction and lateral ties, three types of reinforced concretes compression members
are in use.

(i) Members reinforced with longitudinal bars and lateral ties.

(ii) Members reinforced with longitudinal bars and continuous spirals.

(iii) Composite compression members reinforced longitudinally with structural steel

shapes, pipe, or tubing, with or without additional longitudinal bars, and various
types of lateral reinforcement.

Types 1 and 2 are by far the most common.

On the basis of the slenderness ratio columns may be classified as short or long (slender).

- For isolate columns, the slenderness ratio is defined by

where Le – is the effective buckling length

i - is the minimum radius of gyration of the concrete section only.

_ For multistory sway frames comprising rectangular sub frames, the following expression may be used
to calculate the slenderness ration of the columns in the same storey

Where; A= the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all the columns of the story.
Ki=the total lateral stiffness of the columns of the story (story rigidity)
With modulus of elasticity taken as unity,
L=the story height.
 The effective height (length) of a column is the distance between the two consecutive points of
contra flexure or zero bending moments. The figure shown below may serve this purpose.

L
0.5L 0.7L 1.2L 0.8L

However in accordance with EBCS-2, 1995, the effective length Le for an RC Column is given
as,

a. Non-sway mode

b. Sway mode

Or Conservatively
For the theoretical model shown below.

Lc2 Ic2

Ib22 Ib21
Lc Ic
Ib12 Ib11

Lc1 Ic1
Where K1 and K2 are column stiffness coefficients (EI/L) for the lower and the upper column
respectively. Kc is the stiffness coefficient (EI/L) of the column being designed.
Kij is the effective beam stiffness coefficient (EI/L)
= 1.0 (EI/L) for opposite end elastically or rigidly restrained.
= 0.5 (EI/L) for opposite end free to rotate.
= 0.0 (EI/L) for a cantilever beam.

For the purpose of design calculations, structures or structural members may be classified as braced or
unbraced depending on the provision or not of bracing elements and as sway or non- sway depending on
their sensitivity to second-order effects due to lateral displacements.

In a sway frame, additional internal forces or moments due to the effects of the horizontal displacements
of its nodes shall be taken into account for design. Additional internal forces or moments are neglected
in a non-sway frame since its response to in-plane horizontal forces is sufficiently stiff.
 For a non – sway frame
Where: Nsd – the design value of the total vertical load.
Ncr – critical vertical load for failure in a sway mode given as

EIe= O.2EcIc + EsIs (or EIe = )

Ec
I c= Moment of inertia of the concrete sections of the substitute column w.r.to centre
Is = Moment of inertia of reinforcement sections of the conc. section

A frame may be classified as braced if its sway resistance is supplied by a bracing system which is
sufficiently stiff to assume that all horizontal loads are resisted by the bracing system. (Not more than
10% of the horizontal loads are attracted by the frame)

Generally, the slenderness ratio of concrete columns shall not exceed 140.
Second-order effects in compressive members need not be taken into account in the following cases:
(a). For sway frames, the greater of the two

(b).For non – sway frames

Where M1and M2 are the first-order (calculated) moments at the ends. M 2 being always positive and
greater in magnitude than M1, and M1 being positive if member is bent in single curvature and negative
if bent in double curvature.

5.2. Renforcement arrangement & Minimum Code Requirements.

Functions of Lateral Reinforcement.

- they hold the longitudinal bars in position in the forms while the concrete is
being placed
- they prevent the slender longitudinal bars from buckling out ward by
bursting the thin concrete cover.

Rules for the arrangement:

- Diameter of ties, t t  6mm or

- C/C spacing 
- Pitch of spiral  100mm
 - Ties shall be arranged such that every bar or group of bars placed in a
corner and alternate longitudinal bar shall have lateral support provided by
the corner of a tie with an included angle of not more than 135o and no bar
shall be farther than 150mm clear on each side along the tie from such a
laterally supported bar.
Equal or less
than 150mm
At center
0
135
At center
15t  300mm

May be greater than 150mm

t l
No intermediate tie is required

15t  300mm

Main or Longitudinal reinforcement

- Area of longitudinal reinforcement, Ae.
0.008Ac  Ae  0.08Ac or 0.008 

- Min. # of bars
- The diameter of longitudinal bars,
- The minimum lateral dimension of a column shall be at least 150mm and
the minimum diameter of a spiral column is 200mm.
- The Min. cover to reinforcement should never be less than
(a)
(b)
dg – the largest nominal maximum aggregate size.

Example 5.1 (Classification of columns).

The frame shown in figure below is composed of members with rectangular cross sections. All members
are constructed of the same strength concrete (E is the same for both beams and columns). Considering
bending in the plane of the frame only, classify column EF as long or short if the frame is (a) braced and
(b) unbraced. All girders are 300 x 600 mm.
600 525 KN
F I
C F M1 = 30 KNm
350
3.80 m 300 x 350
600
B E H

3.80 m 400
300 x 400 E M2 = 45 KNm
A D G
9m 7.5 m
Solution:

Moments of inertia

Girders:

Columns:

Stiffness Coefficients:

Columns:

The column being considered is column EF.

Rotational stiffnesses at joints E and F.

Joint E:

Joint F:

(a) For a braced column (Non sway structure ) for design

Le= (0.66) (3.8) = 2.508m = 2508mm

 The slenderness ratio:

(b) For unbraced column (sway structure)

5.3 Short Versus Long Columns in Axial Compression.

In Compression, both the longitudinal steel and concrete contribute to the resistance of the
applied axial force. For the design of short columns in pure compression, EBCS-2 limits the
strain in the concrete to 0.002, since generally this is the strain at which the stress in the
concretes is maximum. The capacity to resist compressive force, Pult is approximately equal to:

Pult = fck (Ag-As)+ fy As , Pd=

Where  = Coefficient, generally taken as 0.85.

fck = Characteristic compressive cylinder strength of concrete
Ag= gross cross-sectional area (bh).
As = area of longitudinal reinforcement.
fy = yield strength of reinforcement.
c & s = Partial factors of safety for concrete and steel.

Short columns usually fail by crushing. Slender column is liable to fail by buckling. The end moments
on a slender column cause it to deflect sideways and thus bring into play an additional moment. The
additional moment causes a further lateral deflection and if the axial load exceeds a critical value, this
deflection and the additional moment become self -propagating until the column buckles.
For Pin ended columns:
Pcr=
A column is classified as short if both Lex/h and Ley/b are:
 15 for a braced column
 10 for an unbraced column

Example 5.2 The 300x400mm Column shown below is having eight 16mm diameter
bars. Calculate the ultimate capacity to resist compressive and tensile
force if (a) L=5.5m (b) L=7m
Take, fy =460 N/mm2
fck =35N/mm2

Es= 200GPa

Solution: The Column is braced.

(a) For L = 5.5m

Le= 0.7L (for one end fixed the other pinned – nomograph)
 Le = (0.7) (5.5) = 3.85.

 The Column with this length and restrain Conditions is a short column.
 Ag=300x400= 120000 mm2 (gross area).
As = (8 *162)/4= 1608mm2 (reinforcement area).

Design Compressive force:

Taking c = 1.5
s =1.15
Nsd=
= 2991308 N = 2991.308 kN

In tension, the design axial load is:

Nsd =
 (b) For L=7m.
Le=

 The column is slender .

40mm 220mm 40mm

Ncr =
40mm 220mm 40mm
 16
400 mm

300 mm

Take minimum reinforcement Cover = 32mm

5.4 Design of Short Members for Axial Force and Uniaxial Bending

General:

A column is subjected to uniaxial bending when the load applied to a column is eccentric about one axis
only. The presence of this form of bending in axially loaded members can reduce the axial load capacity
of the member. It is the combined effect of axial compression and bending at the ultimate limit state that
tends to govern the design.

Design load for axially loaded columns (ideal columns)

Stress

-No moment considered.

Pod fy Steel

fc’ Concrete
A A Section A-A
0 0.001 0.002 0.003
Strain
 Pod

fc’
fy fy

In practice column loads will have eccentricities at least due to imperfect constructions.

Design Eccentricity

ed = ec + ea + e2

Where ee =equivalent constant first-order eccentricity of the design axial load.

ee = eo for eo equal at both ends of a column

Higher of ee= 0.6 eo2+0.4eo1

ee=0.4eo2 For moments varying linearly along the length.

eo1 and eo2 are first order eccentricities at the ends with e o2 being positive and greater in magnitude than
eo1.
ea=additional eccentricity in account of geometric imperfections.

ea=
e2 = Second-order eccentricity.
For non – sway frames, e2=

Where d = the Column dimension in the buckling plane less the cover to the center of the longitudinal
reinforcement.

K2 =
Md = design moment at the critical section including second-order effects.
Mbal = balanced moment capacity of the column.
 The sway moments found by a first-order analysis shall be increased by multiplying
them by the moment magnification factor:

Provided

Ultimate Limit state

As a loading approaches the ULS, the following valid assumptions are made.
 Non elastic redistribution of stresses take place
 Plane section before loading remain plane after loading
 Failure of concrete is governed by the maximum strain criteria.

0.01 0 -0.002 -0.0035

B

h d C
sy A
0.01 s c
0 -0.002
Strain Diagram at ULS
 The maximum compressive strain in the concrete is taken to be: 0.0035 in bending (simple or
compound) 0.002 in axial compression.
 The maximum tensile strain in the reinforcement is taken to be 0.01.
 The strain diagram shall be assumed to pass through one of the three points A,B Or C.
 The design stress – strain curve for concrete (fig. a) & steel (fig. b) are as shown below.

fc fs Idealized Diagram
Idealized Diagram

Design Diagram
Design Diagram

-0.001 -0.002 -0.0035 c 0.01 s

(a) (b)

Consider the rectangular section when subjected under an axial load Pd with large eccentricity e, as
shown below. For the purpose of stress calculation, the actual non-linear stress distribution shown can
be replaced with equivalent rectangular stress distribution.
Pd Pd Pd
fcd c fcd
e Ns2 s’ Ns2
d’ As’ x Nc a a  0.8x
h e’ Nc
d
d’ As Ns1 s
b Ns1
Cross – section Actual stress Strain Simplified stress
Applying force equilibrium.

Design Criteria

Balanced Condition:
For a given cross-section a design axial force P da acts at one specific eccentricity e’ =eb’ (or e = eb) to
cause failure by simultaneous yielding of tension steel and crushing of concrete. For simplification
purpose symmetrical reinforcement is considered and compressive steel is assumed to be its limiting
stress level.

Since part of the concrete is under tension,

c = cu = 0.0035 ,and s = yd =

in which =

In case where compression steel is not at its limiting stress.

& f’s =Es s’  fyd.

Whenever, fs’ < fyd , a value of a force A s (fyd – fs’) shall be subtracted from pnb of eq’n (5) and fyd in (6)
shall be replaced with fs’

Tension Failure Controls:

Again As = As’ assumed & both steel are stressed to fyd. The two equilibrium equations yield.

Pd = fcd bd

Where
Compression Failure Controls (very small eccentricity):

In this case fs < fyd & it is not known whether the steel furthest from the load is under compression or
tension. This situation makes the solution procedure more complicated. Column interaction diagrams
can be used to simplify the design.

Column Interaction Diagram (Dimensionless).

- It is a plot of a column axial load capacity against the moment it sustains.

P
Pdo Compression failure zone
Pd
Balanced failure
Pnb
Tension failure zone
O
Md Mnb M
- Any loading within the curve is a possible safe loading combination.
- Any combination of loading out side the curve represent a failure combination.
- Any radial line from point O represents a constant ratio of moment to load  Constant
eccentricity.
- The full line curve in compression failure range can be conservatively replaced by the
dashed line as shown. Knowing the coordinates (O, Pdo) & ( Mnb, Pnb), the design
capacity Pd for a known moment Md, [ Md = ed Pd] can be obtained using the straight
line equation as :

Here ed & eb are design eccentricity & eccentricity for balanced condition respectively.

When Pd = 0
Md = fcd (0.8bx - As’ ) (d – 0.4x) + As’fs’ (d – d’).

in which

and x

Example 5.3 (Analysis)

A rectangular column 300x500 (mm x mm) reinforced with 4  26 (As’ = As =1060mm2) one at each
corner with Determine the design strength P d when the design eccentricity from centerline of
column x-section including all effects is
a) eb (balanced ) b) 20mm c) 150mm d) 400 mm e)Very large approaching  .

Design of Columns for uniaxial Bending

Given Pd and ed , the design requires the following procedure.

- A trial cross section and steel area g are selected.
- The section in question is investigated which load combination it can sustain. More
suitably, for a fixed value of ed, determine Pdn (its capacity) such that .
If Pdn  Pd , safe but is it economical ?

If Pdn  Pd , Unsafe , choose new cross section and /or

- Thus, the trial shall be repeated until the value of Pdn is close enough and Pdn  Pd

On the other hand, interaction chart are prepared using dimensional parameters such that

 d’
=1.0 h
=0.2 d’
=0.1 b


h is in the direction of the bending moment.
- Families of curves are drawn for fixed ratio [ranges 0.5 to 0.25] each curve
representing a particular mechanical steel ratio.

- The cover to reinforcement should not be too large [problem of spalling – concrete
cover falling off ] & also not too small to prevent corrosion /fire. Usually for column,
cover  25mm.

In using the chart for design the following procedure can be used .
Given Pd and ed such that Md = Pded.
Assume a cross – section, d’ and evaluate
- Find  and 
- If the coordinates (, ) lies with in the families of the curve, the assumed cross-
 section is feasible, which otherwise need to choose new large section.
- The coordinate (,) gives the value of .

- Obtain  or Ast using Ast = and arrange the reinforcement.

- Check minimum and maximum provisions.

Example 5.4

Design a column to sustain a design axial load of 1100KN & design bending moment of 160KNm,
which includes all other effects, assume concrete C-30, steel S- 400 class I work. Approximate b=0.6h.

Example 5.5

Design a column to sustain a design axial load of 550 KN acting with a design bending moment of 200
KNm including all other effects. Use the same materials example 1.4.2.

Circular Columns

Consider the cross – section shown reinforced with 6 longitudinal bars (the No of bars can vary from 6
to 10).

Pd a
Pd a

cu
a' 1 Ns1
a e x e a
2 Ns2
h

3 Ns3
4 Ns4

Strain Stress Simplified

- For bars with strains in excess of yield strain

- For the cross section with tension crack,
- For bars with smaller strains the stress is found using which the strain
obtained from the strain geometry.
- For analysis or design, the iterative procedure involves the following.

1. Assume a, equivalent stress block depth and compute

 2. Evaluates the stress fs or fyd assuming
3. Determine Pd and then a (or x), using the two equilibrium equations.

To simplify the iterative procedure of determination of the unknowns an approximate empirical

formula modified to confirm LSD of the local standard, for circular column of diameter h failing in
compression is given [Whitney].

This approximate formula holds, for e  eb & eb for this purpose may be approximated as
eb = (0.2 + 0.9gm’)h.
For practical problems interaction charts are available for use.

Example 5.6

Design a circular column for design axial load of P da=1225 kN & design bending moment of Md=180
KN.m. Use C-30, S-300, class I work.

5.5 Short columns under Biaxial Bending

Consider an RC column section shown when subjected to design axial force p d acting with eccentricities
edx & edy, such that

Pd
e dx Y cu
Asci f cd
e dy sci f sci Nci + Nsci
x ci f ci
Aci

sti f sti Nsti

Y
Cross-section Strain Stress in Stress in
concrete steel

Computation begins with an assumed

neutral axis depth and:
The procedure using the expressions developed so far is tedious, as the determination of the neutral axis
requires several trials. Thus the two commonly used methods proposed by Bresseler shall be discussed
below.
A. Bresseler’s Method I - Inverse load versus eccentricities gives bowel shaped failure
surface.

A q B
C Q

edx
edy
R ex

ey

Consider the surface in the region of interest at pt. Q where e dx & edy for the respective
uniaxial eccentricities are approximated using pt. A & B. Let pt. c represent the reciprocal of the
concentric design load capacity.

The pt. Q on the interaction surface is approximated by a point of which generally gives a conservative
estimate of the strength. On this basis the strength may be obtained from

Where,
Pd = design axial force capacity under biaxial bending edy & edx .
Pdx & Pdy = Capacities for uniaxial bending with eccentricities edy & edx respectively.
Pdo = concentric axial force capacity.

B) Bresler’s Method II

i) Assume the cross- Sectional dimensions, area of steel and its distribution.
ii) Compute concentric load Capacity Pdo and
iii) Determine uniaxial moment capacities Mdxo and Mdyo of the section combined with given
axial load Pda with the use of interaction curves for axial load and unixial moment.
iv) Then the adequacy of the column section can be checked either with the interaction equation
or interaction curves. For checking the adequacy of column section with interaction equation,
 determine which shall be 1< n <2. Then compute

, otherwise the section is unsafe. Then the section is

modified and checked again. For checking the adequacy of section with interaction curves,
the values of Mdx/Mdxo and Mdy/Mdyo are plotted as Px and Py respectively. If the plot is within
the interaction curve for then the assumed section is safe.

However interaction charts prepared for this purpose can be used for actual design using the following
procedure.
Mb

h’

h
0
Mh
’
Range values of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, … , 0.25 are available
h

b’ b’
b

- Select A Cross section dimension h & b, h’ , b’

- Compute:
Normal force ratio  =
Moment ratio

- Select suitable chart, which satisfy

- Enter the chart & pick , mechanical steel ratio.
- Compute Atot =
Check Atot satisfies the max. & min provisions
- Select suitable bass

Example 5.7

Design a column to sustain a factored design load of 900 KN and biaxial moments of
Mdx = 180 KNm, Mdy = 270 KNm including all other effects. Assume materials of concrete C-30, steel
S-300, class I work.

5.6 Slender Columns (ACI Provisions)

A Column may be classified as long when the slenderness factor g defined as g = For such
Columns a load reduction factor C r is introduced in such a way that the concentric design axial load
capacity may be obtained as

Pdw = Cr Pdo in which Cr = 1.25

Slender Columns

Summary

 The strength of Concentrically loaded Columns decreases with increasing slenderness ratio

 In Columns that are braced against side sway or that are parts of frames braced against side sway,
the effective length , the distance b/n inflection points, falls between , depending
on the degree of end restraint.
 The effective lengths of Columns that are not braced against side sway or that are parts of frames
not so braced are always larger than the more so the smaller the end restraint .In consequence,
the buckling load of a frame not braced against side sway is always substantially smaller than that
of the same frame when braced.

 In flexural members the presence of axial Compression causes additional deflections and additional
moments Py. Other things being equal, the additional moments increase with increasing
slenderness ratio

 In members braced against side sway and bent in single curvature, the maxima of both types of
moments, Mo and Py, occur at the same or at nearby locations and are fully additive, this leads to
large moment magnifications. If the M o moments result in double curvature (i.e., in the occurrence
of an inflection point), the opposite is true and less or no moment magnification occurs.

 In members of frames not braced against side sway the maximum moments of both kinds, M o and
Py, almost always occur at the same locations, the ends of the column, they are fully additives,
regardless of the presence or absence of an inflection point. Here, too, other things being equal, the
additional deflections and the corresponding moments increase with increasing

Moment Magnification

Non – sway: (According to ACI).

Mc=

1
Where Pu=Factored Load.
 Pc=Critical Load

Cm=0.6+0.4

For members braced against side sway and without transverse loads between supports. Here M 2 is larger
of the two end moments, and is positive when the end moments produce single curvature and
negative when they produce double curvature.

For unbraced frame, Cm=1.0.