ANALYTICAL METHOD IN STRUCTURAL

ANALYSIS
Ramon V. Jarquio1
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ABSTRACT
The analytical method precludes the use of the standard flexure and interaction formula in
structural analysis and as such is considered as “an out of the box” method and contrary to
the traditional graphical method of solution. This paper will show examples of capacity
curves for reinforced concrete and steel sections solved by the analytical method
The prediction of the capacity of a structural section in concrete or steel construction is
based on the known stress/strain properties of these materials. For concrete the parabolic
nature of the stress/strain is applied in a section while for steel the linear stress/strain up to its
yield value is considered acting on the steel cross section. The resulting stress volumes will
represent the forces and moments, which can be developed internally in a given section of
concrete or steel. The calculation of these forces and moments is done using basic
mathematics.
Hundreds of equations have to be derived and programmed in Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets. The variables are the dimensions of the section, ultimate or yield stress of
concrete or steel, number, spacing and concrete cover to centers of reinforcing bars and
position of capacity axis. The capacity curve is a plot of the axial and bending moment
capacity of the given section. The civil or structural engineer will plot the location or
locations of the set or sets of external axial and bending moment loads within the envelope of
the capacity curve. These loads maybe composed of several possible combinations of loading
such as those obtained in bridge design analysis. Where these points are located inside the
capacity curve is the decision of the civil or structural engineer responsible for the design of
the structural member. This is where his experience and expertise can be used for the safety
of design.

KEY WORDS
Analytical method, capacity curve, capacity axis, flexure and interaction formula, reinforced
concrete column, steel tubular and I-section, ultimate strength, yield capacity.

INTRODUCTION

For more than half a century the interaction formula for biaxial bending has been in use in
the prediction of the internal capacity of a given structural section in concrete and steel
materials. Hence, most literature in the subject of structural analysis incorporates the standard
flexure and interaction formula for biaxial bending. The author has attempted since 1995 to
1
Retired Director of Engineering Support, New York City Transit, Phone 718/229-3408, FAX 718/229-
5212, rvjarquio@aol.com

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 convince the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) to adopt the analytical method developed by the author in the analysis for ultimate
strength of reinforced concrete circular and rectangular section. Universal Publishers finally
published the author’s book entitled “Analytical Method in Reinforced Concrete”, Boca
Raton, Florida USA May 2004. It is this book listed in the reference and another book being
proposed by the author for steel tubular and I-section will be the basis of illustrating the
analytical method in structural analysis.
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BASIC CONCEPTS

One of the basic concepts used in the analytical method is that the column section can
develop internal capacity up to its ultimate strength, which is distinct from the external load.
The value of the ultimate strength is determined from the assigned numerical value of the
concrete compressive stress and the steel yield stress acting as loads on the column section.
The other common assumptions are as follows:

• Concrete stress/strain curve is parabolic up to its maximum compressive stress.

• Steel stress/strain is linear up to its yield stress.
• Strain due to bending is linear with respect to the neutral axis.
• Concrete material has no tensile capacity.

The analytical method precludes using the standard rectangular stress block and the
interaction formula for biaxial bending in determining the concrete and steel forces which are
added up to constitute the measure of the ultimate strength capacity of a reinforced concrete
section.
For steel section, the variation of the stress/strain is linear with respect to the neutral
axis. The yield capacity of steel tubular and I-section is predicted using this fundamental and
established structural property of steel material.
The application of basic mathematics in solving the resulting stress volumes will yield
the internal axial and bending capacity, which can be developed in a given structural section
of concrete and steel materials.
Capacity Axis
The application of the analytical method of analysis has disclosed that the capacity axis of a
given section is mandatory to establish the equilibrium of external and internal forces. The
capacity axis is perpendicular to the moment axis. Figure 1 shows a rectangular section of
width b and depth d. Mark the horizontal and vertical axes through the center as line 2-2 and
1-1. Draw the column capacity axis and its position with respect to the horizontal axis as
and designate it as the X-axis. This inclination can vary from zero to /2. Construct a line
perpendicular to the capacity axis as the moment axis and designate it as the Z-axis. Next
locate the general position of the compressive depth of concrete and label it as c (shown here
in cracked condition where the standard flexure formula is no longer valid). This point from
the edge locates the neutral axis (point where concrete stress is zero). From this draw the

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 Y Parabolic Stress
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fc 0.75fc’

h/2
O
c - h/2
c

Z
Moment Axis 1

line z1
zo X
line z4 /2 -
x2 V2
V1
line z2
2 2
b O
x2
Column Capacity Axis
V3

line z3 1
d

parabolic concrete stress diagram. As the compressive depth varies from the edge, stress
volumes defining the concrete forces acting on the section are generated. Designate these
stress volumes as V1, V2 and V3. The limits of these volumes are a function of x2 and h/2.
Calculate these forces and corresponding bending moments about the Z-axis using calculus.
The rectangular section can be described in the Cartesian coordinate system by writing the
equations of the straight lines defining the sides of the rectangle as line z1, line z2, line z3 and

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 line z4 by using zo. Draw the diagonal of the rectangle with as its inclination with the
horizontal axis. This is the position of the capacity axis for minimum capacity of the
rectangle to biaxial bending. These calculations will give you the concrete forces in a
rectangular section. For square section set width equal to depth. There are 36 equations to
write using standard integration formulas to solve for the concrete forces.
When is zero or /2, the capacity for uniaxial bending is obtained. However, these
capacities are merely theoretical since in actual practice the concrete section is always
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eccentric to the external loads due to imperfection of column section such as out of
plumbness, buckling and accidental eccentricities. It is only useful for the application of the
interaction formula for biaxial bending, which is not used in the analytical method.
Figure 2 shows the positions of reinforcing steel bars in the rectangular section. The
variables are xn the location of each reinforcing bar from the concrete edge, c the
compressive depth of concrete and location of the neutral axis, the spacing of rebars along
axes 1 and 2, the concrete cover, d from the edge to center of bars and size & number of
rebars.
Rebars along the width are designated as N Bars and rebars along the depth are
designated M1 Bars. With the steel stress/strain diagram we can determine the force on each
of the reinforcing bar by using the value of xn. The concrete stress should be subtracted from
the steel stress since the force on the area occupied by the steel bar is already calculated. The
concrete stress on each bar is calculated using the equation of the parabola and its property.
These procedures will yield the steel forces and their bending moments about the Z-axis.
There are 8 equations to write using trigonometric functions with algebraic manipulations of
dimensions and spacings of rebars.
To obtain the ultimate strength capacity of the reinforced concrete rectangular column
section, add the concrete and steel forces. The addition of these forces from the above 44
equations will yield the axial and bending moment capacity of the rectangular column
section.
The same procedures may be applied to the analysis for the prediction of the capacities of
rectangular steel tubing and I-section. All that is necessary is to apply the principle of
superposition of rectangles for the steel tubing and I-section. For the steel tubing there will be
96 equations to write using the standard integration formulas for the compressive and tensile
forces represented by V1, V2 and V3. These 96 equations are applied first to the outer and
then the inner rectangle to form the steel tubing. The same number of equations can be
applied to the analysis for the capacity of an I-section by applying these equations three
times, two times for the steel flanges and once for the web. These equations are programmed
in Excel spreadsheets to generate the capacity curves for concrete and steel sections. The
actual details of analysis cannot be shown here due to page limitations. Instead the reader can
refer to the author’s book on concrete which shows the analytical method when the stress is
parabolic. For steel, use the linear behavior of stress/strain up to the yield stress of the
material. Examples for the results of applying the analytical method for the prediction of the
capacities of a rectangular reinforced concrete column, rectangular steel tubing and steel I-
section are shown in the following section. This is done to show that the analytical method is
doable and hence the justification for writing this paper.

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 Tension Compression
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h-c c Parabolic
Stress
Y

0.75 fc

X
O
Moment Axis
M1 Bars Z Tie Bar
1 m 2
Column Capacity Axis
1 X
n O 1

d
2 d
N Bars b
1
c - xn xn

es = fy/Es
Neutral Axis ec
c

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 CAPACITY CURVES

The capacity curves are the plots of the sets of axial and bending moment capacities taken
from Excel spreadsheets. The data from the spreadsheets are the actual implementation of the
analytical computations for the prediction of the ultimate strength of reinforced concrete
rectangular column illustrated in the author’s book entitled “Analytical Method in Reinforced
Concrete” and in another of his book entitled “Yield Capacities of Steel Tubular and I-
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Section” yet to be published.

Figure 3 shows the capacity curve for a rectangular column 584 x 432 mm. with 14 - 22
mm. diameter reinforcing steel bars. Concrete stress fc = 34.5 MPa and useable concrete
strain = 0.003. The yield stress of reinforcing steel bar = 414 MPa. The column capacity axis
is at the diagonal of the rectangular column. The capacity curve of the column is taken from
the Excel worksheet in which the uniaxial capacities of this column are M1 = 946 kN-m. and
M2 = 625 kN-m. The resultant moment capacity from the spreadsheet is 772 kN-m. The
vertical scale represents the axial capacity in of this section while the horizontal scale
represents the bending moment capacity in the SI units.
Figure 4 shows the capacity curve of a rectangular tubing 203.2 x 101.6 x 6.35 mm with
fy = 248 MPa. The yield capacity curve of this tubing is again extracted from the Excel
worksheet in which the uniaxial capacities are M1 = 48 kN-m. and M2 = 32 kN-m. The
resultant yield capacity from the spreadsheet is 38 kN-m.
Figure 5 shows the yield capacity curve of a W 16 x 50 steel I-section with fy = 248 MPa.
The yield capacity curve of this I-section is taken from the Excel spreadsheet in which the
uniaxial capacities are M1 = 325 kN-m. and M2 = 43 kN-m. The resultant yield capacity from
the spreadsheet is MR = 253 kN-m.
The external loads may now be plotted with respect to any of the capacity curves shown
in Figures 3, 4 & 5. The external loads may include but is not limited to dead load, live load,
wind, snow, soil, water, multipliers due to inevitable and accidental eccentricities, code
requirements etc. If the pairs of axial and moment loads fall inside the envelope of the
capacity curve, the section chosen is adequate. If not, another section is chosen and values of
the external loads are plotted on its capacity curve, until a suitable section is obtained which
is adequate to support the external loads. This is where the expertise of the user can be
exercised. He makes the decision on how close to the boundary of the capacity curve to use
for economy and safety of his design.
The values of the moment capacities when = 0 and = /2 are the uniaxial capacities of
the rectangular section. These values are useful only when using the standard interaction
formula for biaxial bending in determining what percentage of the actual capacity is utilized
in design. It can be found that the application of the standard flexure and interaction formula
for biaxial bending loads will result in the under utilization of a given concrete and steel
structural section in design. The author has submitted a paper on this subject to be presented
in another international conference.
In practice the structural section is always eccentric to the applied external loads that
strictly speaking there is no uniaxial condition of loading in structural analysis. It will always
be biaxial condition of loading that is prevalent in actual structural elements whose sections
can be considered as rectangular in shape.

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 Moment Axis 4 - 22 mm. bars
64 mm. typical
1
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2
10 - 22mm. bars 432 mm.
2

584 mm. 1
Column Capacity Axis = arctan (432/584)

Column Capacity Curve

12000

10000
Axial Capacity in kN

8000

6000

4000

2000

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Moment Capacity in kN-m.

fc = 34.5 MPa fy = 414 MPa

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 Moment Axis
6.35 mm. typical
1

2
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2 101.6 mm.

203.2 mm. 1
Capacity Axis = arctan (101.6/203.2)

2 0 3 .2 X 1 0 1 .6 tu b in g , t = 6 .3 5 m m ., fy = 2 4 8 M P a

1000

800

600

400
Axial capacity in kN

200

0
0 10 20 30 40 50

-200

-400

-600
M o m e n t C a p a city in kN -m .

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 Moment Axis
tf = 16 mm. typical
1

2
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180 mm.
2
tw = 10 mm.

413 mm. 1
Capacity Axis = arctan (180/413)

W 16 X 50

3000

2500

2000

1500
Axial Capacity in kN

1000

500

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

-500

-1000

-1500
M o me n t Cap acity in kN-m.

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 CONCLUSIONS

The analytical method provides a rational and accurate method of predicting the capacitites
of reinforced concrete and steel sections. This is done without using the standard flexure and
interaction formual for biaxial bending.
More importantly, the column capacity axis must be taken into consideration in order to
satisfy the fundamental requirement of equilibrium of external and internal forces in any
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structural analysis.

NOTATIONS

b = width of rectangular section

c = compressive depth of steel section
d = depth of rectangular section
d = distance from concrete edge to centroid of reinforcement
ec = concrete strain
es = steel strain
f c = specified compressive strength of concrete
fy = specified yield stress of steel
h = overall thickness of member along capacity axis
xn = location of rebar from the concrete compressive edge
Es = steel’s modulus of elasticity
M1 = moment about axis 1-1
M2 = moment about axis 2-2
MR = resultant internal moment capacity
kN = kilo Newton
kN-m. = kilo Newton meter
MPa = Mega Pascal
= inclination of the column capacity axis about the horizontal
= inclination of the diagonal about the horizontal
ACI = American Concrete Institute
ASCE = American Society of Civil Engineers

Note: All other alphabets and symbols used in mathematical derivations are defined in the
context of their use in the analysis.

REFERENCES

Jarquio, R. V. (2004). Analytical Method in Reinforced Concrete: Universal Publishers, Boca

Raton, Florida USA, 2004 245 pp.
Jarquio, R.V. (no publication date yet). Yield Capacity of Steel Tubular and I-Section, 1124
pp.

10

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