Chapter one: Introduction, Materials and Design Concepts 1

Chapter One: Introduction, Materials and Design Concepts

1.1 Introduction

Concrete and reinforced concrete are used in structural and non structural
members in various civil engineering applications such as buildings of various
types, bridges, under ground structures, water tanks, offshore oil explorations
and production structures, dams, among others.

Concrete is obtained by mixing aggregate, cement and water and some times
admixtures to obtain workable mixture. Concretes in a wide range of properties
can be obtained by appropriate adjustment of the proportions of the
constituent materials. Properties of concrete depends on the amount and type of
cement, on the amount of fine and coarse aggregate, on water cement ratio, on
curing of concrete and on temperature and humidity during moulding.

Concrete has excellent formability, high fire and weather resistance, and high
compressive strength. On the other hand it is a relatively brittle material with
less tensile strength which prevents its economical use in structural members
that are subjected bending, shear and tension.

Steel is also one of the most important construction materials, which has high
tensile strength and much greater ductility and toughness. But it is susceptible
to corrosion and has low fire resistances.

Steel is used in two different ways in concrete structures: as reinforcing steel

and as prestressing steel. Reinforcing steel is placed in the forms prior to
casting of the concrete. Stresses in the steel as in hardened concrete, are
caused only by the loads on the structures. In contrast, in prestressed concrete
structures, large tension forces are applied to the reinforcement prior to
letting it act jointly with the concrete in resisting external loads.

Reinforced concrete is a strong durable building material which can be formed in

to many varied shapes and sizes ranging from a simple rectangular column to a
slender curved dome or shell. Reinforced concrete structures are obtained by
combining concrete, which is strong in compression and steel reinforcement,
which is used primarily to resist tensile forces.

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Reinforced concrete structures may be cast-in-place concrete, constructed in

their final location, or they may be pre-cast concrete produced in a factory and
erected at the construction site.

1.2 Materials

a) Reinforcing Steels

The most common types of reinforcement are hot-rolled

round deformed bars. The closely spaced rib shaped
surface deformations of the reinforcing bars provide a
high degree of interlocking of the two materials (see Fig.
1.1).
Fig. 1.1 Types of deformed
reinforcing bars

Reinforcing bars varying in size 6 to 35mm in diameter are

available in which most are surface deformed except 6. Some bar sizes and
areas for design purpose are given below.
Diameter(mm) 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
2 etc.
Area (mm ) 28 50 78.5 113 154 200 254 314 380 450

The most important structural properties of steel are yield strength and
ultimate strength, modulus of elasticity, shear modulus, poisons ratio,
coefficient of thermal expansion and its density.

The yield strength of ordinary reinforcing steels in tension as well as in

compressions about 15 times the compressive strength of common structural
concrete, and well over 100 times its tensile strength.

Reinforcing bars are available in different grades with fy ranges between

220MPa to 550MPa, with 300MPa common in Ethiopia. According to ASTM
(American Society for Testing Materials) specification, reinforcing bars are

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available in three grades with yield strengths of 40, 50 and 60 ksi, referred to
as Grades 40, 50 and 60 steels respectively. Of these, the third is most
commonly used in buildings and bridges. High strength deformed bars with yield
strength of 75 or 80 ksi have been used as reinforcement in lower-story
columns of high-rise buildings.

Stress-Strain Relation

The structural performance under load depends to a large degree on the stress-
strain relationship of the materials from which the structure is made, under the
type of stress to which the material is subjected in the structure.

The two important characteristics that determine the character of steel are its
yield point (generally identical in tension and compression) and its modulus of
elasticity Es. The typical stress-strain curves for
Grades 40, 60 and 75 reinforcement are shown in
Fig. 1.2

From the Figure:

- Grade 40 bars display a pronounced yield
plateau.
- Grade 60 bars have much shorter yield
plateau
- Grade 75 and 90 bars do not have well
defined yield point, which may be obtained
by a 0.2% strain offset line. Fig. 1.2 Typical stress-strain curves for
reinforcing bars

The slope of stress-strain curve in the elastic region gives the modulus of
elasticity or Young’s modulus, E. The modulus of elasticity for steel has values
ranging from 190 to 210 GPa. The modulus of elasticity doesn’t vary appreciably
for the different grades of steel used in the construction, and a value of 200
GPa is often used for design.

b) Concrete

The most important properties of concrete in reinforced concrete structures

are its strength and mechanical properties, its shrinkage, creep and thermal
volume changes properties, and its durability.

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Stress-Strain Diagrams

Although concrete is a very variable material having a wide range of strengths

and stress-strain diagrams, the typical
compressive stress-strain curves for concretes
of various strengths are as shown in Fig. 1.3

From the Figure:

- The modulus of elasticity, Ec, i.e., the
slope of the initial straight portion of the
stress strain curve, increases with an
increase in compressive strength. The
modulus of elasticity of concrete for
various strengths can be computed based
on the following empirical equation given Fig. 1.3 Typical compressive stress-strain
by EBCS 2: curves for concrete

Ecm  9.5 f ck  8
13

Where: Ecm is secant modulus in GPa

fck is characteristic cylinder compressive strength in MPa
- The strain o at maximum stress increases with an increase in concrete
strength.
- The maximum strain cu decreases with an increase in concrete strength.
For most structural concrete, cu tends to be a constant value of 0.0035.
- The compressive strengths, which are the maximum stresses, lie at a
strain that ranges from 0.002 to 0.003 for normal weight concrete.

Time-Dependant Volume Changes

Concrete undergoes three main types of volume changes which may cause
stresses, cracking, or deflections, which in turn affect the serviceability
behavior of reinforced concrete structures. These are shrinkage, creep and
thermal movement.

Shrinkage:

Shrinkage is the reduction in volumes as the concrete hardens. If the change in

volume of concrete is allowed to take place freely with out restraint, there will

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be no stress change with in the concrete. If restrained, shrinkage strains can

cause cracking of concrete and will generally cause the deflection of structural
members to increase with time. Fig. 1.4 shows the increase in shrinkage strain
with time. The shrinkage occurs at a decreasing rate with time. The final
shrinkage strains vary greatly, being generally in the range 0.0002 to 0.0006 but
sometimes as much as 0.001.

Fig. 1.4 Typical shrinkage curve for concrete

Thermal movement:

Just like other materials, concrete expands with increasing temperature and
contracts with decreasing temperature. The effects of such volume changes are
similar to those caused by shrinkage. Therefore, codes of practice specify
minimum quantity of reinforcement in a member for this purpose.

Although the coefficient of thermal expansions and contraction varies some

what, depending up on the type of aggregate and richness of the mix, a value of
10 x 10-6 per oC may be used for the calculation of stresses and deformations
caused by temperatures changes.

Creep

Creep is a continuous deformation of a member under sustained load and it is

pronounced in concrete. The nature of creep process is shown schematically in
Figure 1.5.

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Fig. 1.5 Typical creep curve

The characteristics of creep are:

- The deformations are roughly proportional to the intensity of loading (to
the magnitude of the applied loads) and to the inverse of the concrete
strength (high strength concrete shows less creep than low strength
concrete).
- The creep strains, c, are on the order of one to three times the
instantaneous elastic strains.
- The creep coefficient,, which is the ratio of the creep strain to elastic
strain, is affected by the ratio of the sustained stress to the strength of
concrete, the humidity of the environment, the dimensions of the
element, and the composition of the concrete.
- If the load is removed, most of the instantaneous elastic deformation will
recover.

Durability

Concrete can be exposed to a wide rang of conditions such as soil, sea water,
stored chemicals or others. And a durable concrete should perform
satisfactorily in its intended environment for the life of the structure. The
durability of concrete depends on the quality of concrete and the environmental
conditions to which the concrete will be exposed. Accordingly, the severity of
the exposure governs the type of concrete mix required and the minimum cover
to the reinforcing steel.
1.3 Design Procedure

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There are a number of phases in a design process - from inception to detailing

and quantity estimation.

Functional Planning: It is the development of a plan that will enable the

structure to fulfill effectively the purpose for which it is to be built. If the
structure is a building, for example, the designer must create a plan which is
adapted to the site; which provides a suitable arrangement of rooms, corridors,
stairways, elevator, etc.; which will be aesthetically acceptable, and which can be
built at a price the client is prepared to pay.

Structural Planning: It is the planning of the structural scheme, arrangement of

the structural elements such as columns and beams to meet the functional
planning.

Structural Analysis: It involves modeling the loads and the structural

framework to obtain internal forces and desired deflections.

Design: It involves proportioning the members of the structural system so that

they will be able to withstand, with an appropriate margin of safety, the forces
which the structural analysis has disclosed.

Loads
One of the most important factors to be considered in design of structural
member is the assessment of the loads that the member must support or resist.
Some of the most common kinds of loads are:

Dead Loads: those which are constant in magnitude and fixed in location
throughout the life time of the structure. Usually the major part of the dead
load is the weight of the structure itself. It will comprises the forces due to
the static weights of the structure as well as attachment to the structures such
as walls, partitions, floors, roofs and finishes, together with any other
permanent construction. Dead loads can be calculated from the unit weights
given in EBSC 1 (reproduced here as Tables 1 & 2).

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Live loads/Imposed loads: these are gravity loads acting when the structure is
in service, but varying in magnitude and locations with respect to time. These
are loads assumed to be produced by the intended occupancy or use of the
structures. Examples of live loads are human occupants, furniture, stored goods
in buildings and traffic loads in bridges. EBCS 1 gives the various types of
imposed load for different types of buildings and components (see from Table 4
up to 10).

Wind Loads: All structures are subjected to wind load, but it is usually only
those more than three or four stories high for which consideration of wind is
required. Wind exerts pressure on the windward sides and suction on the
leeward side, as well as either uplift or downward pressure on the roof. Most
building codes specify design wind pressure. Factors considered in the standards
include probable wind velocity, exposure (urban vs. open terrain), height of the
structure, the importance of the structure(I.e., conseconces of failure) (See
Appendix A of EBCS 1).

Earthquake loads: An earthquake consists of horizontal and vertical ground

motions, with the vertical motions usually having much the smaller magnitude.
Since the horizontal motion of the ground causes the most significant effect, it
is that effect which is usually thought of as earthquake load. Seismic forces
may be found for a particular structure by elastic or inelastic dynamic analysis,
considering expected ground accelerations, and mass, stiffness and damping
characteristics of the structure. However, often the design is based on
equivalent static forces calculated from codes provision (see EBCS 7).

Design Philosophies

Structural design should be performed to satisfy three criteria: strength,

serviceability, and economy.

Strength pertains to the general integrity and safety of the structure under
extreme load conditions. The structure is expected to withstand occasional
overloads without severe distress and damage during its lifetime.

Serviceability refers to the proper functioning of the structure as related to

its appearance, maintainability, and durability under normal, or service load

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conditions, deflection, vibration, permanent deformation, cracking, and corrosion

are some design considerations associated with serviceability.

Economy concerns the overall material and labor costs required for the design,
fabrication, erection, and maintenance processes of the structure

As a result of the various design criteria, two major design methods have
evolved in practice for the design of reinforced concrete structures.

i) Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

In the al1owable stress design (ASD), a member is selected such that under
expected loads, known as service or working loads, the stress will not exceed one
of the previously described limits of usefulness. This design methodology has
been in use for decades for reinforced concrete design of buildings and bridges.
Allowable stresses are usually expressed as a function of the yield stress (f y) or
tensile stress (fu) of the material. To account for overload, under-strength, and
approximations used in structural analysis, a factor of safety is applied to
reduce the nominal resistance of the structural member to a fraction of its
tangible capacity.

In so far as the method of analysis is concerned, allowable stress design is

based on elastic analysis to obtain the structural responses such as moments,
shear and axial forces that a member must be designed to carry.

The general formula for an allowable stress design has the form:
Rn m
  Qi
Fs i 1
Where: Rn = nominal resistance of the structural component expressed in units
of stress
Qi = service or working stress computed from the applied working load
type i.
i = load type (dead, live, wind, etc.)
m = number of load types considered in the design
 allowable stress of structural component
Rn
Fs

ii) Limit State Design (LSD)

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Limit state is a probabilistic design procedure in which a structure being

designed will not become unfit for use during its expected life. Therefore the
various ways in which the structure could become unfit for use should be
examined. The condition of a structure when it becomes unfit for use or
unserviceable is called a limit state.
Mathematically it can be expressed as:
Rn m
   li Qi
m i 1

Where:
Rn
 design strength
m
m
  li Qi  the required strength or load effects for a given load combination
i 1

Specifications and Building Codes

Then design of concrete structures is generally done within the framework of

codes giving specific requirements for materials, structural analysis, member
proportioning, etc. Specification serves as a guide for the engineer to arrive at a
safe and acceptable design. It is also a guarantee to the owner that the
resulting structure will comply with basic standards to ensure safety, utility and
economy.

The designer doing concrete structures in various disciplines, such as buildings,

bridges, etc., will have to follow closely the relevant design requirements in the
appropriate specifications and design codes as minimum requirements.

The following are some important specifications for concrete structures.

- EBSC 1 Ethiopian Building Code Standard for Basis of Design and

Actions on Structures
- EBCS 2 Ethiopian Building Code Standard for the Design of Concrete
Structures
- EBCS 4 Ethiopian Building Code Standard for Design of Composite Steel
and Concrete Structures
- EBCS 7 Ethiopian Building Code Standard for Basis Earthquake design
of Structures.
- EC 2 European Standards for the Structural Use of Concrete

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- ACI American Concrete Institute (building code requirements for

structural concrete)
- AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials
- BS 8100 British Standards for The Structural Use of Concrete
Works in Buildings
- ASTM American Society for Testing Materials

Table 1.1 Densities of Construction Materials

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Table 1.2 Flooring and Walling

Table 1.3 Design Working Life Classifications

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Table 1.4 Categories of Building Areas

Catego Specific use Example
ry
A Areas for domestic Rooms in residential buildings and houses
and Residential Rooms and wards in hospitals
activities Bedrooms in hotels and hostels
Kitchen and toilets

B Areas where people With the exception of areas defined

may congregate under category A, C, D and E
C Areas susceptible C1: Areas with tables, etc., e.g. areas
to overcrowding in schools, cafes, restaurants, dinning
halls, reading rooms, receptions etc.

C2: Areas with fixed seats, e.g. areas

in churches, theatres or cinemas,
conference rooms, lecture halls,
assembly halls, waiting rooms, etc.

C3: Areas without obstacles for moving

people, e.g. areas in museums,
exhibition rooms, etc and access areas
in public and administration buildings,
hotels, etc.

C4: Areas susceptible to overcrowding,

e.g. dance halls, gymnastic rooms,
stages, etc.

C5: Areas susceptible to overcrowding,

e.g. in buildings for public events like
concert halls, sport halls including
stands, terraces and access areas, etc.
D Shopping areas D1: areas in general retail shops, e.g.

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areas in warehouses, stationery and

office stores, department stores, etc.
E Areas susceptible Areas for storage use including
to accumulation of libraries.
goods, including
access areas
Table 1.5 Imposed Loads on Floors in Buildings

Note: The local concentrated load shall be considered to act at any point of the
floor or stairs and to have an application area comprising a square with a 50mm
side.

Table 1.6 Traffic Areas in Buildings

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Table 1.7 Imposed Loads on Garages and Vehicle Traffic Areas

Table 1.8 Categorization of Roofs

Table 1.9 Imposed Loads on Roofs

Table 1.10 Horizontal Loads on Partition Walls and Barriers due to Persons

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