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COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC., BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 2006


CONCRETE SHELL REINFORCEMENT DESIGN
Technical Note
Design Information
SAP2000

Background
The design of reinforcement for concrete shells in accordance with a prede-
termined field of moments, as implemented in SAP2000, is based on the fol-
lowing two papers:
Optimum Design of Reinforced Concrete Shells and Slabs by Troels
Brondum-Nielsen, Technical University of Denmark, Report NR.R 1974
Design of Concrete Slabs for Transverse Shear, Peter Marti, ACI Struc-
tural Journal, March-April 1990
Generally, slab elements are subjected to eight stress resultants. In SAP2000
terminology, those resultants are the three membrane force components f
11
,
f
22
and f
12
; the two flexural moment components m
11
and m
22
and the twisting
moment m
12
; and the two transverse shear force components V
13
and V
23
. For
the purpose of design, the slab is conceived as comprising two outer layers
centered on the mid-planes of the outer reinforcement layers and an un-
cracked corethis is sometimes called a "sandwich model." The covers of the
sandwich model (i.e., the outer layers) are assumed to carry moments and
membrane forces, while the transverse shear forces are assigned to the core,
as shown in Figure 1, which was adapted from Marti 1990. The design imple-
mentation in SAP2000 assumes there are no diagonal cracks in the core. In
such a case, a state of pure shear develops within the core, and hence the
transverse shear force at a section has no effect on the in-plane forces in the
sandwich covers. Thus, no transverse reinforcement needs to be provided,
and the in-plane reinforcement is not enhanced to account for transverse
shear.
The following items summarize the procedure for concrete shell design, as
implemented in SAP2000:
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
1. As shown in Figure 1, the slab is conceived as comprising two outer layers
centered on the mid-planes of the outer reinforcement layers.
1
1 11 11
d
db f m +
min
max 12 12
d
db f m +
TOP COVER
CORE
BOTTOM COVER
1
1 11 11
d
dt f m +
min
max 12 12
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
db f m +
1
2
2 1
Ct Ct
2 1
d d
2 1
Cb Cb
1
1 11 11
d
db f m +
min
max 12 12
d
db f m +
TOP COVER
CORE
BOTTOM COVER
1
1 11 11
d
dt f m +
min
max 12 12
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
db f m +
1
2
2 1
Ct Ct
2 1
d d
2 1
Cb Cb

Figure 1: Statics of a Slab Element Sandwich Model
Background Page 2 of 9
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
2. The thickness of each layer is taken as equal to the lesser of the following:
Twice the cover measured to the center of the outer reinforcement.
Twice the distance from the center of the slab to the center of
outer reinforcement.
3. The six resultants, f
11
, f
22
, f
12
, m
11
, m
22
, and m
12
, are resolved into pure mem-
brane forces N
11
, N
22
and N
12
, calculated as acting respectively within the
central plane of the top and bottom reinforcement layers. In transforming
the moments into forces, the lever arm is taken as the distance between
the outer reinforcement layers.
4. For each layer, the reinforcement forces NDes
1
, NDes
2
, concrete principal
compressive forces Fc
1
, Fc
2
, and concrete principal compressive stresses Sc
1

and Sc
2
, are calculated in accordance with the rules set forth in Brondum-
Nielsen 1974.
5. Reinforcement forces are converted to reinforcement areas per unit width
Ast
1
and Ast
2
(i.e., reinforcement intensities) using appropriate steel stress
and stress reduction factors.
Basic Equations for Transforming Stress Resultants
into Equivalent Membrane Forces
For a given concrete shell element, the variables h, Ct
1
, Ct
2
, Cb
1
, and Cb
2
, are
constant and are expected to be defined by the user in the area section prop-
erties. If those parameters are found to be zero, a default value equal to 10
percent of the thickness, h, of the concrete shell is used for each of the vari-
ables. The following computations apply:
1 1
2
Ct
h
dt = ;
2 2
2
Ct
h
dt = ;
1 1
2
Cb
h
db = ;
2 2
2
Cb
h
db =
1 1 1
Cb Ct h d = ;
2 2 2
Cb Ct h d = ;
d
min
= Minimum of d
1
and d
2
db
max
= Maximum of db
1
and db
2

TBasic Equations for Transforming Stress Resultants into Equivalent Membrane Forces Page 3 of 9
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
dt
max
= Maximum of dt
1
and dt
2
The six stress resultants obtained from the analysis are transformed into
equivalent membrane forces using the following transformation equations:
( )
1
1 11 11
11
d
db f m
top N
+
= ; ( )
1
1 11 11
11
d
dt f m
bot N
+
=
( )
2
2 22 22
22
d
db f m
top N
+
= ; ( )
2
2 22 22
22
d
dt f m
bot N
+
=
( )
min
max 12 12
12
d
db f m
top N
+
= ; ( )
min
max 12 12
12
d
dt f m
bot N
+
=

Equations for Design Forces and Corresponding
Reinforcement Intensities
For each layer, the design forces in the two directions are obtained from the
equivalent membrane forces using the following equations according to rules
set out in Brondum-Nielsen 1974.
( ) ( ) ( ) { } top N Abs top N top NDes
12 11 1
+ =
( ) ( ) ( ) { } bot N Abs bot N bot NDes
12 11 1
+ =
( ) ( ) ( ) { } top N Abs top N top NDes
12 22 2
+ =
( ) ( ) ( ) { } bot N Abs bot N bot NDes
12 22 2
+ =
Following restrictions apply if NDes
1
or NDes
2
is less than zero:
If then ( ) 0
2
< top NDes ( ) ( )
( ) [ ]
( )

+ =
top N
top N
Abs top N top NDes
22
2
12
11 1

Equations for Design Forces and Corresponding Reinforcement Intensities Page 4 of 9
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
If then ( ) 0
1
< top NDes ( ) ( )
( ) [ ]
( )

+ =
top N
top N
Abs top N top NDes
11
2
12
22 2

If then ( ) 0
2
< bot NDes ( ) ( )
( ) [ ]
( )

+ =
bot N
bot N
Abs bot N bot NDes
22
2
12
11 1

If then ( ) 0
1
< bot NDes ( ) ( )
( ) [ ]
( )

+ =
bot N
bot N
Abs bot N bot NDes
11
2
12
22 2

The design forces calculated using the preceding equations are converted into
reinforcement intensities (i.e., rebar area per unit width) using appropriate
steel stress from the concrete material property assigned to the shell element
and the stress reduction factor,
s
. The stress reduction factor is assumed to
always be equal to 0.9. The following equations are used:
( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
1
1
y
f
top NDes
top Ast = ; ( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
1
1
y
f
bot NDes
bot Ast =
( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
2
2
y
f
top NDes
top Ast = ; ( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
2
2
y
f
bot NDes
bot Ast =
Principal Compressive Forces and Stresses in Shell
Elements
The principal concrete compressive forces and stresses in the two orthogonal
directions are computed using the following guidelines from Brondum-Nielsen
1974:
) = ( )
( ) { }
( ) top N
top N
top N
11
2
12
11
+ if ( ) 0
1
< top NDes (top Fc
1
= ( ) { } top N Abs
12
2 if ( ) 0
1
top NDes
Principal Compressive Forces and Stresses in Shell Elements Page 5 of 9
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
) = ( )
( ) { }
( ) bot N
bot N
bot N
11
2
12
11
+ if ( ) 0
1
< bot NDes (bot Fc
1
= ( ) { } bot N Abs
12
2 if ( ) 0
1
bot NDes
( ) top Fc
2
= ( )
( ) { }
( ) top N
top N
bot N
22
2
12
22
+ if ( ) 0
2
< top NDes
= ( ) { } top N Abs
12
2 if ( ) 0
2
top NDes
( ) bot Fc
2
= ( )
( ) { }
( ) bot N
bot N
bot N
22
2
12
22
+ if ( ) 0
2
< bot NDes
= ( ) { } bot N Abs
12
2 if ( ) 0
2
bot NDes
The principal compressive stresses in the top and bottom layers in the two
directions are computed as follows:
( )
( )
1
1
1
2 Ct
top Fc
top Sc

= ; ( )
( )
1
1
1
2 Cb
bot Fc
bot Sc

=
( )
( )
2
2
2
2 Ct
top Fc
top Sc

= ; ( )
( )
2
2
2
2 Cb
bot Fc
bot Sc

=

Principal Compressive Forces and Stresses in Shell Elements Page 6 of 9
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Notations Page 7 of 9
Notations
The algorithms used in the design of reinforcement for concrete shells are ex-
pressed using the following variables:
Ast
1
(bot) Reinforcement intensity required in the bottom layer in local
direction 1
Ast
1
(top) Reinforcement intensity required in the top layer in local direc-
tion 1
Ast
2
(bot) Reinforcement intensity required in the bottom layer in local
direction 2
Ast
2
(top) Reinforcement intensity required in the top layer in local direc-
tion 2
Cb
1
Distance from the bottom of section to the centroid of the bot-
tom steel parallel to direction 1
Cb
2
Distance from the bottom of the section to the centroid of the
bottom steel parallel to direction 2
Ct
1
Distance from the top of the section to the centroid of the top
steel parallel to direction 1
Ct
2
Distance from the top of the section to the centroid of the top
steel parallel to direction 2
d
1
Lever arm for forces in direction 1
d
2
Lever arm for forces in direction 2
db
1
Distance from the centroid of the bottom steel parallel to direc-
tion 1 to the middle surface of the section
db
2
Distance from the centroid of the bottom steel parallel to direc-
tion 2 to the middle surface of the section
db
max
Maximum of db
1
and db
2
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Notations Page 8 of 9
d
min
Minimum of d
1
and d
2
dt
1
Distance from the centroid of the top steel parallel to direction
1 to the middle surface of the section
dt
2
Distance from the centroid of the top steel parallel to direction
2 to the middle surface of the section
dt
max
Maximum of dt
1
and dt
2

f
11
Membrane direct force in local direction 1
f
12
Membrane in-plane shear forces
f
22
Membrane direct force in local direction 2
Fc
1
(bot) Principal compressive force in the bottom layer in local direction
1
Fc
1
(top) Principal compressive force in the top layer in local direction 1
Fc
2
(bot) Principal compressive force in the bottom layer in local direction
2
Fc
2
(top) Principal compressive force in the top layer in local direction 2
f
y
Yield stress for the reinforcement
h Thickness of the concrete shell element
m
11
Plate bending moment in local direction 1
m
12
Plate twisting moment
m
22
Plate bending moment in local direction 2
N
11
(bot) Equivalent membrane force in the bottom layer in local direc-
tion 1
N
11
(top) Equivalent membrane force in the top layer in local direction 1
N
12
(bot) Equivalent in-plane shear in the bottom layer
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
References Page 9 of 9
N
12
(top) Equivalent in-plane shear in the top layer
N
22
(bot) Equivalent membrane force in the bottom layer in local direc-
tion 2
N
221
(top) Equivalent membrane force in the top layer in local direction 2
NDes
1
(top) Design force in the top layer in local direction 1
NDes
1
(top) Design force in the top layer in local direction 2
NDes
2
(bot) Design force in the bottom layer in local direction 1
NDes
2
(bot) Design force in the bottom layer in local direction 2
Sc
1
(bot) Principal compressive stress in the bottom layer in local direc-
tion 1
Sc
1
(top) Principal compressive stress in the top layer in local direction 1
Sc
2
(bot) Principal compressive stress in the bottom layer in local direc-
tion 2
Sc
2
(top) Principal compressive stress in the op layer in local direction 2

s
Stress reduction factor

References
Brondum-Nielsen, T. 1974. Optimum Design of Reinforced Concrete Shells
and Slabs. Technical University of Denmark. Report NR.R.
Marti, P. 1990. Design of Concrete Slabs for Transverse Shear. ACI Structural
Journal. March-April.

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