48 CHAPTER 4 YIELD-LINE AND STRIP METHODS FOR SLABS 4.1 Introduction This chapter deals in a general way with plates but many of the applications are virtually limited to reinforced concrete slabs. For this reason, the term slab will be generally used. An elastic analysis of a reinforced concrete slab gives no indication of its ultimate load- carrying capacity and further analyses have to be made for this condition. An exact solution for the ultimate flexural strength of a slab can be found only rarely, but it is possible to determine upper and lower bounds, to the true collapse load. The yield-line method of analysis gives and upper bounds to the ultimate load capacity of a reinforced concrete slab by a study of assumed mechanisms of collapse. This method, developed by Johansen, is powerful tool for estimating the required bending resistance and hence the necessary reinforcement, especially for slabs of nonregular geometry or loading Two approaches are possible in yield-line theory. The first one is an energy method in which the external work done by the loads during the small virtual movement of the collapse mechanism is equated to the internal work. The alternative approach is by the study of the equilibrium of the various parts of the slab into which the slab is divided by the yield lines. We may note that it is the equilibrium of slab parts that is considered and not the equilibrium of forces at all points of the yield line. In contrast to the above, lower-bound solutions to the collapse load are obtained by satisfying equilibrium at al! points in the slab, and necessitate the determination of a complete- bending-moment field in equilibrium with the applied loading. We shall restrict our discussion of these lower-bound solutions to the special case where twisting moments are absent- the so- called strip method. This strip method is more of a direct design procedure than the yield-line method as the designer chooses the layout of reinforcement as the calculation progresses. Ultimate load designs according to the yield-line or strip methods do not guarantee safety against acking or excessive deformations. Therefore, an understanding of elastic behavior in necessary for the effective distribution of reinforcement when an ultimate load design is made 4.2 Fundamentals of Vield-line Theory The slab is assumed to collapse at a certain ultimate load through a system of yield lines or fracture lines, called the pattern of fracture. The working load is obtained by dividing this ultimate load by the required load factor. For design, the working load is multiplied by the load factor, and the required ultimate moment of resistance is determined.49 The basic fundamentals and main assumptions of the yield-line theory are as follows: 1, At fracture, the bending moment per unit fength along all the fracture lines is constant and equal to the yield value corresponding to the steel reinforcement. The fracture is assumed to occur due to the yield of the steel. Fig.4.1 Typical fracture patterns in slabs. (a) Slab simply supported on four sides. (b) Slab simply supported on three sides and free along the fourth side. (c) Slab simply supported on two columns and on one side. The slab parts rotate about axes along the supported edges. in a slab supported directly on columns, the axes of rotation pass through the columns. Figure 4.1 shows some typical fracture patterns. 3. At fracture, elastic deformations are small compated with the plastic deformations and are-therefore ignored. From this assumption and the previous one it follows that fractured slab parts are plane and therefore they intersect in straight fines. In other words. the yield lines are straight 4. The lines of fracture on the sides of two adjacent slab parts pass through the point of intersection of their axes of rotation. Pigure 4.2 shows the fracture pattern of a uniformly loaded slab simply supported on three sides, It is readily seen that the pattern satisfies the requirements given above. Each of the three related to the rotation of the other parts. Let points E and F have a virtual downward jab parts rotates about its axis of rotation by an angle 0, which is displacement w = 1. The rotations of the slab parts are then, 6: ® = and 03 = I Cr50 4.2.1 Convention of Representation The different conditions of supports will be indicated thus Angle of Fig. 4.2. Angular rotation of slab parts. A positive ultimate moment m per unit length causes yield of the bottom reinforcement. A yield line formed by a positive moment is referred to as a positive yield line. Negative ultimate moment m' per unit length causes yield of the top reinforcement along a negative yield line. 4.2.2 Ultimate Moment of a Slab Equa Perpendicular Directions y Reinforced in Two Consider a slab reinforced in two perpendicular directions; x and y, with different reinforcement corresponding to ultimate positive moments my and mz fig (4.3a). For equilibrium of the element shown in fig. 4.3b. i " ™ @) wb) Fig. 4.3. Moments at a fracture line inclined to the direction of reinforcement52 The virtual-work equation gives either the correct ultimate moment or a value smaller than the correct value. In other words. if the virtual-work equation is used to find the ultimate load for a slab with an assumed bending resistance then the value obtained will be an upper bound on the carrying capacity of the slab. This mean that the solution obtained is either correct or unsafe. In practical caléulations, one or two fracture patterns are assumed, and the value obtained is usually within 10 percent of the correct value. It seems to be a reasonable design procedure to increase the moment obtained by the work equation by a small percentage, depending ori the number of trails and on the uncertainty of the chosen fracture pattern. The theoretical exact pattern is that for which the ultimate moment is a maximum. This can be reached, if we define the fracture pattern by certain parameters x, x),......; the Work equation will then givé the value of m as a function of these parameters, ie. m= f(x, xy...) The value of the parameter corresponding to the maximum moment is determined partial differentiation: (@/@.x,) = 0, (@f/x,) = 0 etc. This process can become laborious except for simple slabs in which the designer can define a reasonable pattern and proceed as suggested above ‘The internal work done during a virtual rotation @ of a slab part is equal to the scalar product of a vector Af = m/anda vector 6 along the axis of rotation (Fig.4.5). The internal work for this slab part is then Mf .6 = mi (cos cx) ©, where ois the angle between the two vectors. This means that, for any part of the slab, the internal work is equal to the rotation of that part multiplied by the projection of the ultimate moment upon the axis of rotation. It is sometimes convenient to consider the components of the moments in two perpendicular directions x and y in the plane of the slab. The total internal virtual work for all the slab parts is then U= YM6=3M0,.+2M,6, (43) where @, and 6y are the x and y components of the rotation vector, and Myand My are the x and y components of the veetor m/ Fig. 4.5 Data for calculation of internal virtual work53 If x and y are the coordinates of any point on the slab and w is the vertical displace- ment corresponding to the virtual rotation of the slab parts, then the total external virtual work is We Jaw dx dy (4-4) where q is the load intensity. The virtual-work equation is W=U (45) whence E(My@x+My0y)= ff gw de dy (4-6) Example 4.1 Determine the ultimate moment of a square isotropic slab simply supported on three sides and subjected to a uniform load q per unit area. Because of symmetry the fracture pattern is fully determined by one parameter x; as shown in Fig.4.6. Let the junction of the three fracture lines have a virtual displacement w = 1. The rotations of the slab parts are 2 O=@s= 5 a The internal virtual work is usm 1 +2 2 x 7 where the first terms applies to part | and the second to parts 2 and 3. The work done by the distributed load is equal to the resultant on each part multiplied by the vertical displacement of its point of application, Thus {x1 of, 1 W=q {12-42 (=x) v 993 1¢ 5 Here again. the first term is for part 1 and the second term parts 2 and 3. Simply - supported ben Fig. 4.6 The slab considered in example 4.154 Equating the internal and external work. fl {lox m\—+4| =q?| += ly ) a (+a) 3-2 i m -=q?\ 7 6 4 Ax J The maximum value of m is obtained when dm/dx = 0, which gives x/I = 0.65. ‘The corresponding ultimate moment is 4.4. Equilibrium of slab parts The energy method of the last two sections gives, it will be remembered an upper bound value to the collapse load and can always be used for any assumed mechanism of collapse. Where the mechanism is complex and its layout is defined by several initially unknown dimensions the algebraic manipulation necessary to obtain a solution can be long and tedious. There can, however, be a saving of work in many cases by considering the equilibrium of the slab parts. In this approach, we abandon the virtual work equations of the energy method and consider instead the equilibrium of each slab part when acted upon by the extemal applied load, and by the forces acting at a fracture line. In general, these are bending moment, shearing force acting perpendicular to the slab plane, and twisting moment. To establish the equilibrium conditions it is not necessary to known the precise distribution of the shear and of the twisting moment: they can be replaced by two forces perpendicular to the plane of the slab, one at each end of the fracture line. These two forces are referred to as nodal forces and are denoted by V; they are considered positive when acting upwards, 4.4.1 Nodal Forces The formulas given here follow the original theory of Johansen, There are some restrictions on their use, although in the majority of cases they give a satisfactory solution, These restrictions have been studied by Wood and Jones. In fig.4.9a the shears and twists on fracture lines (1),(2) and (3) are represented by the equivalent nodal forces V; and Vetc., on ends of lines (1),(2), and (3). The nodal forces are equal and opposite on the two sides of each fracture line. It is clear that a summation of all the nodal forces at any junction of the fracture lines is zero.55 Consider an elemental triangle ABC of area AA limited by positive fracture lines (2) and (3) (fig.4.9b) and any adjacent line at a small angle da. to fracture line (2). This adjacent line is assumed to have the same bending moment my as line (2) to a first order approximation. The resultant moment on the triangle AA is (m3 ~My) ds directed from C to A. For equilibrium of the triangle ABC, the moments about BC vanish: Vax ds sin y + (ms — ma) ds cos (180° - y) ~ dP dssiny =0 where Vaq is the nodal force at A replacing the twisting moment and shearing force on the fracture line (2) and the length ds of the fracture line (3), and dP is the external load on the triangle ABC, assumed to be uniformly distributed. As the triangle AA tends to zero > B and dP > 0 so that Vaa = (m3 — my) cot B (4-71) The general form of this equation is Vaaa = (Mags ~ M jong side) COL (acting upward) (4-8) Where the subscripts of m indicate the bending moment per unit length on the sides ds and the long side of the infinitesimal triangle. Equation 4.8 can be used to find the value of the nodal force V between any two lines at the junction of fracture lines. The nodal force between lines (1) and (3) in fig.4.7c is equal ‘and opposite to the sum of the two nodal forces Véq and Vee of the infinitesimal triangles CA and CB-that is, Vis = -Vea-Ven or Vi3 = -(m2-m)) cot Bo; - (mp-m3) cot B23 (4-9) Fig. 4.7 Nodal forces at a junction of fracture li56 It follows from the above that, when the reinforcement is equal in two orthogonal directions, the moments are m; = m2 = m3 = m, and all the nodal forces are zero at the junction of fracture lines of the same sign. At a junction where two positive fracture lines (1) and (2) meet one negative fracture line (3) in an isotropic slab (Fig. 4-7d) the nodal forces are: V2 = -(-m'-m) cot 3 - (-m'-m) cot B23 or V2 = (m'+m)(cot B)3+ cot B23) (4-10) where m’ is the absolute value of the bending moment on the negative fracture line. Similar equations can be written for the forces between other lines. When a fracture line meets a free or simply supported edge (Fig. 4.8a), we have Viz = m cot B. When the fracture line is positive the nodal force V is downward. If the edge rotation is restrained or otherwise subjected to a negative moment m' (Fig. 4-8b), the nodal force is V2 = (m+m')cot B,acting downward in the acute angle. Frac oramy sported oye @ a Vag = mem corp ™ Restrained edge (b) Fig. 4.8 Nodal force at a free or simply supported edge and at a restrained edge. 4.5 Equilibrium Method As mentioned earlier . the slab parts are in equilibrium under the effect of the external loading . the moments on the yield lines . the nodal forces and the support reactions. For each slab part. three equations of equilibrium can be written , viz., two moment equations about two axes in the plane of the slab and an equation for the forces perpendicular to the plane of the slab which add up to zero, ‘The fracture pattern for a slab s completely defined if the axes of rotation are known, together with the ratios of the rotation 8), 6, of slab parts when the mechanisin acquires a small virtual deflection. For n parts, we require (n-1) ratios. The fracture pattern in57 Fig 4-9a is determined by drawing contour lines of the deflected mechanism. The contour line of deflection w is composed of n straight segments parallel to the axes of rotation. so CS atc Fig. 4.9 Determination of the fraction pattern from axes of rotation and the ratios between the virtual rotations of slab parts . (a) Fracture pattern . (b) Cross section through the ith slab part in a direction perpendicular to its axis of rotation and distant from them w/@,, w/6, defines points on the fracture lines. For a part supported on one side , the position and magnitude of the reaction are unknown, thus representing two unknowns. For a part supported on a column, the axis of rotation passes through the column, but its direction is unknown and so is of course the magnitude of the reaction; hence. again there are two unknowns for the part of the slab . For a nonsupported part, the direction and position of the axis of rotation are unknown, so that once -,w/8, (see Fig 4-9b).The intersections of the segments again we have wo unknowns. For n parts of a slab the unknowns are: the value of the ultimate moment m,(n-1) reactions between the rotations of the parts, and two unknowns for each part Hence the total number of unknowns is 3n -the same as the number of equations of equilibrium (three for each part) The formulation of the equilibrium equations becomes complicated except in ses such as the slabs considered below. (a) Isotropic square slab, simply supported on four edges and carrying distributed load q per unit area, The fracture pattern is shown in Fig. 4-10. simple c58 SE | ; | g Four Typical stab simply . part supported edges Total load W *a/? 7 ) }/_—— Fig. 4.10 Equilibrium condition for an isotropic square slab under a uniformly distributed load of total magnitude W. Taking the moment about a supported edge for one of the parts, we obtain 2 Ima ft 4x6 whence m= £ (4-11) or pee (4-11a) 24 where W is the total load Typical slab pact Fig. 4.11 Equilibrium condition for an isotropic polygonal slab under uniformly distributed load of total magnitude W.89 (b) Isotropic polygonal slab simply supported on n equal sides. carrying a uniform load whose total magnitude is W. The fracture pattern is shown in Fig. 4- 11.Taking moments about the edge for any slab part, it can be shown that Ww 6ntan(z/n) a The values of the ultimate moment for simply supported slabs in the form of different regular polygons are given in Fig. 4-12.They are calculated by Eq. 4-12 with n tending to infinity for the circular slab. w on oe a ” “ws = ott m eR Fig. 4-12 Ultimate moment for simply supported polygonal slabs under a uniform load of total magnitude W. (©) Isotropic square slab simply supported at comers, carrying a uniform load whose total magnitude is W. Taking moment for one slab part (Fig. 4-13) about the axis of rotation passing through the corner support and inclined at 45° to the edges, we find Fig. 4-13 Equilibrium condition for an isotropic square slab supported at corners and carrying a uniformly distributed load of total magnitude Hi60 4.6 Strip Method We remember that the yield -line method of analysis for slabs always gives an upper bound to the true collapse load, though for certain simple cases the exact collapse load can be intuitively achieved by guessing the correct mechanism of failure. It is clear that for design purposes we might justifiably consider a lower bound to the true collapse load to be preferable Any lower-bound solution for a slab with given loading must have a moment field which satisfies the governing equilibrium equation at all points, and must not violate the particular yield criterion anywhere. The equilibrium equation in rectangular coordinates is aM, OM, 3M, axdy This equation must hold for both lower-bound and exact solutions regardless of the (4-13) material properties of the slab , and it is evident that there is an infinite number of moment fields which satisfy Eq. 4-13 If we derive a complete moment field in equilibrium with the desired ultimate load and then provide reinforcement such that the ultimate moments of resistance at all points exceed or are equal to the equilibrium moments then a lower-bound solution will be achieved. a yield-line analysis of the completed design will of course give an upper-bound to the collapse load. Because of the infinite number of possible equilibrium moment fields for a given slab and loading and the difficulties of proportioning reinforcement in the cases where twisting moments are present, Hillerborg suggested that the twisting moments Myy be made zero at the outset of the analysis. In this case , the equilibrium Eq.4-13 reduces to @M, OM ox x and the load q is carried by strips running in the x and y directions. This strip method has been critically examined by Wood, who found that if the reinforcement in the slab is curtailed so correspondence between the ultimate moment field and the equilibrium moment field is obtained, then the strip method gives an exact correspondence between the design load (4-14) that precis and the collapose load To determine how the load is shared between the strips in the x and y directions, we partition Eq.4.14 as follows > (4-15) (= ag where the parameter « governs the way in which load is dispersed at all points in the slab. This load dispersion parameter may have any value between 0 and 1, and can vary from point to point in the slab, In practice, for simplicity of design , o will normally have a constant value in specified zones within the slab. Because we are now dealing with beam equations of the type of Eq.4-15, the moment profiles are easily obtained61 Consider the design of a simply supported slab shown in Fig. 4-14a, which carries a uniformly distributed load q per unit area. We can assume the load dispersion discontinuity lines as shown in the figure: they are consistent with the major part of the slab spanning one- way in the short-span direction, The slab strip 1-1 carries then the full load q over its full length and the maximum moment will be q/”/8.Slab strips 2-2 and 3-3 are loaded over the end regions only as shown in Fig.4-14b.In these cases the maximum moment is qc”/2, the moment being constant in the unloaded region. Since the full bending-moment pattern for the slab is known, the reinforcement can be provided at all points to ensure that the ultimate moment of resistance is greater than the calculated value. For efficiency in design, variable reinforcement in the end-loaded strips (Fig.4-14b) will be necessary. This is difficult to handle in practical cases and it is preferable to use reinforcement in distinct uniform bands ; Co ; Fes : 2 rR. ——4 z eA eG heed bee Fig. 4-14 Loading in the strip method. (a)Assumed c. values. (b)Loading and bending moment diagrams for strips of unit width : 2-2 and 3-3.