Classification of Staircases:

STAIRCASES
Based on the Geometrical configuration, Staircases are
classified as follows: 8 types

Landing

(i) Straight Flight without Landing (ii) Straight Flight with

Landings

Landing

Staircases Provides access to different floor levels within the building

(iii) Double Flight

II- FLIGHT

LANDING

(vi) Quarter Turn

OPEN OPEN
WELL WELL

I- FLIGHT III- FLIGHT

I- FLIGHT II- FLIGHT
(iv) OPEN WELL STAIRCASE (v) OPEN WELL STAIR CASE
WITH INTERMEDIATE FLIGHT WITHOUT INTERMEDIATE FLIGHT

(vii) Spiral Stair Case (viii) Helicoidal Stair Case

Structural Form of Stair Cases: Staircase spanning Transversely

• Stair case having steps only (step cantilevered from wall) • Steps supported on wall or on a central beam
• Steps spans in transverse direction and steps are designed as cantilever • Steps supported on Waist Slab spanning transversely
• Stair case having steps resting on waist slab (waist slab cantilevered from wall)
Stair Cases consists of Steps only (No waist slab)
• Waist slab spans in transverse direction and waist slab is designed as
cantilever • Steps are supported on wall as cantilever or
• Stair case having steps and beams (supported on beam) • On a beam called Spandrel beam
• Steps spans in transverse direction and steps are designed as cantilever from
the central beam
• Staircase having steps on waist slab
• Waist Slab may span Longitudinally or
• Waist Slab may span Transversely

1
Design of staircase having Steps cantilevered from Wall
• Consists of only steps no slab
• Steps are Fixed in wall
• Pre-cast steps may be used
• Steps are designed as isolated Tread slab
• Steps are fixed at one end and free on other end
• Design simple- each step behaves as cantilever slab
• A concentrated LL of 1.3 kN is considered on free end in
addition to Self-weight and Live load 1.3 kN
Design of staircase having Steps supported on beam
• Consists of steps and a spine (Central) beam called as
Spandrel Beam
• Pre-cast steps are used
• Steps are fixed at spine beam centrally
• Each step behaves as cantilever slab on both side
• Simple design since Steps are designed as cantilevered slab
Staircase with Waist Slab (supported on walls/ beams Transversely)
Staircase with waist slab simply supported both side on walls
• Waist slab is supported one side on wall and on other side over
wall or on beam
Wall
Staircase with Waist Slab fixed on beams both side of staircase
• Waist Slab is fixed on beams on both side
Beam
Effective Span when steps are cantilevered from the wall/beam
Effective Span = Length of stair step projected beyond wall/beam)
Structural Systems used in Waist Slab type staircase
• Structural behavior of waist slab type stair cases is similar to
slabs
• Depending on support conditions, the waist slab may have two
type of spanning
• Waist slab Spanning in Longitudinal direction or flight
direction or say in the direction of going
• Waist Slab Spanning in Transverse direction or in the
direction of steps
Spanning in Transverse direction
Spanning in Longitudinal direction
Waist Slab Type Staircases Spanning in Longitudinal Direction
• Steps are Supported on Waist Slab and Waist slab spans
longitudinally ( i.e. in the direction of fight)
• Commonly constructed Staircase, waist slab spans longitudinally
• Main Components of waist slab type staircase are
• flight (slab generally called waist slab), and
• steps
2
Various Support Conditions for Stair cases spanning in Staircase consist landing and beam at the junction of landing and
Longitudinal Direction staircase slab AND Landing slab is cantilevered
Staircase consist landing which is spanning longitudinally and
Simply supported

beam

Staircase consist landing and landing spans transversely

Staircase consist landing which is spanning longitudinally and
Fixed on both ends

Longitudinally spanning Staircase without waist slab

(Rise & Tread Type Staircase)

Determination of Effective Span for

Staircases with various Support
Conditions

• Riser as well as Treads are designed as Slab assuming the rigid

connection between the rise and tread
• Riser is subjected to axial Tension and Moment
• Tread is subjected to shear force and moment

(b) Effective Span When Flight is supported at top and bottom on

Effective Span of Staircases Spanning Longitudinally risers beams
(a) Effective Span of Stairs spanning perpendicular to the flight
The waist slab is supported by inclined edge beams/walls along both
of its edges
beam

Effective Span = Distance between c/c of supports

(walls/beams)
Effective span= Horizontal distance between center to center
of riser beams

3
(c) Effective Span when the Landing slab is supported Effective span when Waist Slab is
longitudinally and supported on wall (Simply supported) supported on Landing slab and
Landing slab is spanning
Transversely
Wall
• Transversely supported Landing
slab may have two types of support
conditions: Landing slab
Wall supported on two sides
• Landing Slab is Supported on
two sides i.e. AB and EF
Effective Span • Landing Slab is supported on
three sides i.e. AB, EF, and AE
and on other side supported on
CD, GH and DH

Effective Span = Center to Center spacing of walls Landing slab supported

on three sides

Effective span when Waist Slab is supported on Landing

slab and Landing slab is spanning Transversely on two
opposite sides
Where waist slab
spanning on to the edge
of a landing slab, which
spans parallel with the
risers, a distance equal to
the going of the stairs
plus at each end either
half the width of the
landing or one meter, Landing slab supported
whichever is smaller; and
on two sides
Effective Span = Going of stair
+ Half the width of Landings or 1 meter
which ever smaller
(See Table next Slide)

Effective span when Waist Slab is supported on Landing Distribution of Load in staircase having common Landing slab
slab and Landing slab is spanning Transversely on Three When Landing slab is common to both landing slabs
sides • Half of the Live load will be considered for design of each flight

0.5W2

W1

W1

Landing slab supported on three sides W2

W1
Effective Span = Going of stair + Half the width of Landings 0.5W2
W1 0.5W2

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Determination of LL on Stair slab when flight or landing is built Guidelines for fixing the dimensions
into side walls Tread (T) : Horizontal portion of the step where foot rests
• When the flight or landing is built into side walls, some load of the – Tread (T) = 250 mm- 270 mm for residential buildings.
stair slab is transferred to wall.
– Tread (T) = 250 mm to 300 mm for public buildings from
• To incorporate this effect in design, IS code recommends:
Rise (R) : Vertical distance between two successive steps
• When the flight or landing is built into side walls not < 110mm and – Rise (R) = 120 to 190 mm for Residential Buildings
flight is supported longitudinally :
– Rise (R) = 120 to 150 mm for Public Buildings
– The width of the slab may be reduced by 150mm while calculating
the LL on flight i.e. if width of slab is B mm, (B-150) mm will be Generally [T + 2R] may be kept: Between 500 mm to 650 mm
used to calculate the LL The width of the stair
– While designing the slab, the width may be increased by 75 mm • 0.8 m to 1 m for residential building and
150 mm • 1.8 m to 2 m for public building.
110 mm
Loading • Number of steps in each flight should not be greater than 12
• Pitch of the stair should not be more than 38 degrees.
• Head room measured vertically above any step or below the mid
75 mm
landing shall not be less than 2.1 m.
• Depth of section shall be taken as the minimum thickness
Effective Breadth
perpendicular to the soffit of the staircase.

Design of Waist slab type Staircases Spanning Determination of DL when Waist Slab Spanning Longitudinally
density of concrete = c T
Longitudinally density of finish = f tf 
LOADS ON STAIRCASES If Rise = R; Tread = T; Finish = tf R T
•Dead Load Total load acting on horizontal length T ts
•Live Load = shaded area multiplied by density of materials
H
Total load acting over a length ‘T’ for 1 m width
= [(RT/2) + ts(R2+T2)] c] + [tf T] f
Load per unit span (horizontally), 1m
w = {[(RT/2) + ts(R2+T2)] c + [tf T] f}/ T
Determination of DL when Waist Slab Spanning Transversely
Waist Slab
Load per step width T
‘T’ = {[(RT/2) + ts (R2+T2)]  c + [tf T] f} R
Span
Span = width of step Span
(width of step)
width of step)

Determination of Live Load Determination of Design Moment in Stair Case

Take uniformly distributed load over horizontally projected area of flight (a) When Landing Slab is Simply supported on beams
i.e. going
• For Public Building
– 5 kN/m2 on going as well as on landing slab
• For Residential Building (when LL on floor not > 2kN/m2) w Beam
– 3 kN/m2 w
w

Beam

Ll1 Lw Ll2

wl1 ww wl2

5
 B ww
wl1 C wl2 Reinforcement Details in Stair Case
A D
(i) When Beam is provided at the end of landing
Ll1 Lw Ll2
RA RD
Wl1 = DL of landing slab 1 and LL on Landing slab 1
Wl2 = DL of landing slab 2 and LL on Landing slab 2 Not less than Ld
Ww = DL of waist slab & stairs and LL on waist slab on
Not less than Ld
horizontal span
Steps to Determine Maximum moment Main Steel
• Determine reaction RA and RD Temperature steel
• Write equation for BM variation in the beam Thickness of waist slab
• Equate dM/dx = 0 to determine location (i.e. x) of maximum
moment
• Determine moment at above determined location i.e. Max BM

Example on Waist slab type Staircase spanning Longitudinally

(ii) When Beam is provided at the junction of waist slab and landing

Not less than Ld

Not less than Ld
Main Steel
Temperature steel
Thickness of waist slab

6
 Design of Compression members (Columns) Effective Length of Columns (Le)
• Compression Members  Structural Members primarily subjected to axial • Distance between points of the contra-flexure of buckled column
compression force
• Le is different from unsupported length, L
• Compressive members which transfer compression load in any direction  Strut as
in case of trusses • Unsupported length L is determined as per IS 456 as (Cl. 25.1.3)
• Compression members transferring load to ground may be classified in following • Unsupported length is defined as, clear distance between end restraints, except
four categories as • In beam and slab construction: clear dist. bet. floor and underside of shallower
• Pedestal  Height/ (lateral dimension)  3 beam
• Short column  3 < [Effective Height / lateral dimension] ratio <12 • For laterally restraint column (by strut or beam): clear dist. bet. consecutive struts
• Long column  [Effective Height / lateral dimension] ratio >12
• For various end conditions, Le is defined as:
• Wall  [Breadth / thickness) ratio > 4
• The load carrying capacity of the column depends on slenderness ratio which is Le = kL
defined as ratio of Effective length to least lateral dimension P P
P P P P P
• In columns the dimensions of column cross-section are defined as ‘b’ (shorter
dimension) and ‘D’ (larger dimension)
• Thus, compression a member is called
• Pedestal when (Ieff/ b] <3
• Short Column when 3 < (Ieff/ b] <12
• Long Column when (Ieff/ b]  12
• If a column is connected to beam of different depths in x- and y-direction, the clear
ht. will be different and hence, different eff. Length say Lex and Ley then slenderness
ratios will be
• Slenderness ratio about major axis = Lex/ D To identify short or long column, Effective 0.65L 0.80L L 1.2L 1.5L 2.0L 2.0L
take maximum Length (kL)
• Slenderness ratio about major axis = Ley/ b

Limit on slenderness ratio for Columns:

• To avoid the buckling failure in the columns, or to occur failure of column
due to material failure
• Unsupported length of column < 60  Least lateral dimension of column
• If in any plane one end of column is unrestrained or the column behaves as
cantilever column in a plane
– Unsupported length for column < (100 b2/ D)
Where; b = width of that cross-section
D = depth of the cross-section measured in the plane under
consideration

7
Determination of Load Carrying Capacity of Short Columns
Assumptions
• Plane section remains before and after loading
• Max. compressive strain in concrete at failure in compression 0.002
• Stress in concrete at failure corresponding to strain 0.002 is 0.446f ck
• Stress-strain curve for steel in compression is same as in tension
Load carrying capacity
Load carrying capacity of column = load carried by concrete + load
carried by steel
Pu = (Ag - Asc) fc + Asc fs
Where, Ag = Gross area of column; Asc = area of steel
fc = stress in concrete = stress corresponding to strain 0.002 = 0.446 fck
fs = stress in steel corresponding to strain 0.002 (same as concrete)
For Fe-250  Stress corresponding to strain 0.002 = 0.87 fy
For Fe-415  Stress corresponding to strain 0.002 = 0.75 fy
For Fe-250: Pu = (Ag - As)0.446fck + As 0.87fy
= 0.446fckAg + (0.87fy -0.446fck) As
For Fe-415: Pu = (Ag - As)0.446fck + As 0.75fy
= 0.446fckAg + (0.75fy -0.446fck) As

Load carrying capacity with minimum eccentricity

• Columns, rarely loaded axially, in general, there will be some eccentricity
• Code recommends that all columns will be designed for a mini. eccent. emin
given as
emin = (L0/500 + D/30) but not less than 20mm (L0 = unsupported length)
i.e. load can be applied within a distance emin from center of column
Also, for short column (L0/b or L0/D  12 or L0  b or L0  12D), thus,
Limiting value of e = (L0/500 + D/30) = (L0/500 + L0/360) = 0.057D  0.05D
Hence, emin  Limiting value of e i.e. (0.05D or 0.05b whichever less)
However, to allow this mini. ecc. emin, load carrying capacity of column is
reduced by 10%
Thus, load carrying of column with minimum eccentricity,
Fe-250: Pu =0.9[0.446fckAg + (0.87fy -0.446fck) As]
= 0.4fckAg + (0.75fy -0.4fck) As
Fe-415: Pu =0.9[0.446fckAg + (0.75fy -0.446fck) As]
= 0.4fckAg + (0.67fy -0.4fck) As
As per the Code, axil load carrying capacity of column may be calculated as
Fe-250: Pu =0.4fckAc + 0.75fy As
Fe-415: Pu =0.4fckAc + 0.67fy As

8
 Design aspects of Longitudinal Steel
• Minimum diameter of longitudinal bars = 12 mm
• Minimum No. of bars in Rectangular section = 4
• Minimum No. of bars in Circular section = 6
• Longitudinal steel not less than 0.8% (to avoid shrinkage
effects)
• Longitudinal steel not more than 6%( to avoid congestion of
steel)
• Generally Longitudinal steel not more than 4% (practical
consideration)
• In General, Minimum cover to longitudinal steel = 40 mm
Design of Short Columns (with Lateral Ties)
• For a given load, to calculate area of steel from strength formula
• If area of concrete is also unknown, assume steel as 4%
• Once, area of steel is known provide this steel as longitudinal steel
satisfying the following requirements
Design Steps
For Fe-415, We have
Pu = 0.4fckAg + (0.67fy -0.4fck) As
Percentage of steel in column, p = 100As/Ag  As = pAg/100
Pu = [0.4fck + (0.67fy -0.4fck)(p/100)] Ag
or Pu/ Ag = [0.4fck + (0.67fy -0.4fck)(p/100)]
– Since, p is already assumed, calculate Pu/Ag,
– Calculate Ag using the given value of load on column Pu
– Now, steel area As may be calculated
– Assume diameter of lateral ties and determine spacing of ties as
per code.
The volume of spiral reinforcement needed to enhance the
load carrying capacity by 5% can be calculated as
 Volume of Spiral Reinforcement  A f
   0.36  g  1 ck
 Volume of core   Ak  fy
( Both can be taken in per meter length of column )
 
where, Ag  D2 ; Ak  Dk2
4 4
If D k is the diameter of the core and Gross dia is D, then
π 
Volume of steel in one spiral    s2  π D k
4 
This steel is spread over a length of ' s' i.e. the pitch
π 
In length ' s' , Volume of spiral    s2  π D k
4 
π 2
 s  π D k
Volume of steel in one meter length  
4 
s Fe-250: Pu = 1.05  [0.4fckAc + 0.75fy As]
Assume, dia of spiral  s and Solve above (at top) equation for s
Design aspects of Lateral Steel
To avoid the buckling of the longitudinally bars, all the long. bars
will be tied by Links or by helical wars wrapped over the
longitudinal bars
Design aspects of Links (Ties)
• Diameter of the link not less than (dia. of largest long. bar)/4
• Diameter of the link not less than 6 mm
• Spacing of longitudinal bars measured along the periphery of
the column not > 300mm
• Spacing of links should not exceed the least value of
• Least lateral dimension of column
• 16 times of the diameter of smallest diameter of long. Bar
• 300 mm
• In General, Minimum cover to longitudinal steel = 40 mm
• However, for columns of size less or equal to 200 mm and if
diameter of bars is 12 mm,
• Minimum cover to longitudinal steel = 25 mm
Strength of Helically Reinforced Short Column
At working loads, both tied and spiral columns with identical amount of steel and
concrete have same capacity
At ultimate load, spiral column shows more strength than tied columns
In Tied Columns
At ultimate load, concrete between ties cracks and falls
Longitudinal steel becomes unsupported  buckling of Long steel
And results in failure of the column
Failure in tied column  Sudden
In Spiral Columns
Before crushing of cover, spiral column behaves similar to tied column
After the crushing of cover, load is shared by hoop action in spiral
Due to Confinement of concrete  increase in load carrying capacity
Increase in load carrying cap.  Depends on amount of spiral reinforcement per
meter length
Failure in Spiral column  ductile
More lateral expansion of column  more shortening of column  damage of
other structural elements (beams, slabs etc.)
Code Recommends  Only 5% strength can be increased by spiral
Need to determine spiral reinf. Needed, to increase load carrying Cap. by 5%
Above determined value of pitch should satisfy following checks
s Not < L/ 4
s Not < 6mm
Pitch, s not greater than
75 mm
s
Dk/6
Pitch, s not less than
25 mm
3  s
 Volume of Spiral Reinforcement   Ag  f ck
If the condition    0.36  A  1 f is
 Volume of core   k  y
satisfied, the strength of the column may be considered 5% more that
the column having lateral ties i.e. strength of column with spiral
Dk reinforcement satisfying condition:
D Fe-415: Pu = 1.05  [ 0.4fckAc + 0.67fy As]