Reinforcing steel

Vaishali Anagal
 Introduction
• Reinforcement in RCC structure – 1/3rd cost of
structure.
• Fabrication of bars, tendons, meshes- 20 to 30
% of basic cost of steel.
• Proper fabrication and placement of steel in
concrete – important factor
• Concrete- compression zone
• Steel- tension and shear zone
 Different types of Reinforcement in
concrete
• Reinforcing bars- plain or ribbed.
• Welded mesh
• Fiber reinforcement
• Pre-stressed wires and strands
• Reinforcing steel shall have following qualities:
• High tensile strength
• Good bond with concrete
• Nearly same coefficient of expansion as that of
concrete.
 Benefits of steel reinforced
concrete slabs
• Steel reinforcing is simple to place.
• Steel reinforcing reduces random cracking.
• Steel reinforcing reduces and controls crack width
and helps maintain aggregate interlock.
• Displacement and curling can be minimized when
steel reinforced concrete is provided.
• Strength is increased with steel reinforced concrete—
even the smallest cross sectional area of steel
reinforcement will provide reserve strength of l 6
percent and more.
 Purpose and location of steel in concrete
• Main reinforcement- withstand tensile forces produced by both
live and dead load.
• Secondary reinforcement:
• Stirrups (Beams), Laterals ( Columns), Bent up bars, end mesh –
-Withstand shearing force and diagonal tension.
- Also tie entire block of reinforcement.
- Closely spaced near supports and density decreases towards
mid-span.
• Distribution bars
– spread the load evenly among main reinforcement bars
- Take care of temperature and shrinkage forces.
• Anchorage bars
- Keep all the reinforcement bars in place during assembly of
beams and slabs.
 Location of steel reinforcement
• Continuous beams-
Tension steel at bottom between the supports
and top of the supports,
• Cantilevers and overhangs- at the top with
required anchorage.
 Bar-bending-schedule
• Bar-bending-schedule is the schedule of
reinforcement bars prepared in advance
before cutting and bending of rebars.
• This schedule contains all details of size, shape
and dimension of rebars to be cut.
 Steel
• Ultimate tensile strength of pure iron (ferrite) is
comparatively low.
• Increase in strength is achieved by introduction
of carbon and alloying additions (manganese,
silicon and chromium)- 0.6 to 1.6%
• Higher is the amount of carbon, higher will be
strength.
• Carbon reduces ductility and weldability of
steel, its %ge reduced to 0.2-0.3%.
 Different types of steel
reinforcements being used in RCC
• Mild steel bars conforming to IS: 432 (Part I)
and Cold-worked steel high strength deformed
bars conforming to IS: 1786
• Grades of steel- fe215, Fe415, Fe500, Fe550
• Grade Fe 415 and grade Fe 500, where 415
and 500 indicate yield stresses 415 N/mm2
and 500 N/mm2 respectively are commonly
used.
• Beyond Fe550 grade, bars can be used as
tendons for pre-stressed concrete.
 Different types of steel
reinforcements being used in RCC
• Grade Fe 415 is being used most commonly
nowadays.
• This has limited the use of plain mild steel bars
because of higher yield stress and bond strength
resulting in saving of steel quantity.
• Thermo mechanically treated (TMT) and corrosion
resistant steel (CRS) bars with added features.
• Bars range in diameter from 6 to 50 mm.
• Cold-worked steel high strength deformed bars start
from 8 mm diameter. For general house constructions,
bars of diameter 6 to 20 mm are used.
 Ribbed bars

• Bond strength is dependant on deformations over the

bars.
• Two or four longitudinal ribs with cross ribs in between.
• Bars less than 12mm dia. Are produced in two rib design.
• Bars over than 12mm dia. Are produced in four rib
design.
• Bars having 12mm dia. Are produced in either two rib or
four rib design.
 Cover blocks for reinforcement
• To prevent the steel rods from getting exposed
to the atmosphere which leads to corosion.
• To place and fix the reinforcements as per the
design drawings.
• Sometimes it is commonly seen that the cover
gets misplaced during the concreting activity.
To prevent this, tying of cover with steel bars
using thin steel wires called binding wires is
recommended..
 Cover blocks for reinforcement
• Covers should be made of cement sand
mortar (1:3).
• Ideally, cover should have strength similar to
the surrounding concrete, with the least
perimeter so that chances of water to
penetrate through periphery will be
minimized.
 Cover blocks for reinforcement
• Shape of the cover blocks could be cubical or
cylindrical.
• Cover indicates thickness of the cover block.
• Normally, cubical cover blocks are used. As a
thumb rule, minimum cover of 2” in footings,
1.5” in columns and 1” for other structures
may be ensured.
 Lap or development length
• Lap length is the length overlap of bars tied to
extend the reinforcement length.
• Lap length about 50 times the diameter of the
bar is considered safe.
• Laps of neighboring bar lengths should be
staggered and should not be provided at one
level/line. At one cross section, a maximum of
50% bars should be lapped.
 Lap or development length
In case, required lap length is not available at
junction because of space and other
constraints, bars can be joined with couplers
or welded (with correct choice of method of
welding).
 Anchorage length
• This is the additional length of steel of one
structure required to be inserted in other at
the junction.
• For example, main bars of beam in column at
beam column junction, column bars in footing
etc.
• The length requirement is similar to the lap
length-50 time dia. Of bar.
 Checklist for steel reinforcement
before the placement
• Reinforcement should be free from loose rust, oil
paints, mud etc.
• it should be cut, bent and fixed properly.
• The reinforcement shall be placed and maintained in
position by providing proper cover blocks, spacers,
supporting bars, laps etc.
• Reinforcements shall be placed and tied such that
concrete placement is possible without segregation,
and compaction possible by an immersion vibrator.
 Probable errors in placement of
reinforcement and their effects.
• Improper anchorage of the main reinforcement at
the intersection of the cantilever slab and beam.
• Ineffective placement of reinforcement w.r.t. the
depth of the member.
• Discontinuity of reinforcement at continuous edges
of the slab.
• Deformations and dislocations of reinforcement
during concreting due to construction loads( workers
walking over reinforcement)
 Probable errors in placement of
reinforcement and their effects.
• Inadequate lap lengths.
• Cluster of reinforcing bars at splicing points.
• Inadequate spacing of bars.
• Inefficient or non uniform cover for reinforcement
which leads to corrosion.
• Improper use or absence of cover blocks.
• Reduction in bar diameter due to corrosion and due
to improper storage of bars at site.
• Improper detailing and placing of stirrups.
END OF LESSON!