Ductility of Reinforced Concrete Sections

Example1

For the design of reinforced concrete cross-sections, Eurocode 2 (EN1992) suggests

stress-strain relationships of unconfined concrete as parabolic-rectangular, as shown in
Figure Q3(a). The code also allows two other simplified stress-strain relationships that
can be used – bi-linear and rectangular (Figure Q3(b) and (c)).

Compare the ultimate uniaxial moment capacity and ultimate curvature of a singly
reinforced section as shown in Figure Q3(d), using the three different stress-strain
relationships.

Assume the section is under-reinforced so that the ultimate condition is attained when
concrete has reached maximum strain, and reinforcing steel has yielded but has not
fractured. The stress-strain relationship for steel is elastic-perfectly plastic.

Data
εc 2 =0.002 , εcu 2 =0.0035
εc 3 =0.00175 , εcu 3 =
0.0035
λ = 0.8, η = 1.0

b = 250 mm, d = 350 mm, As = 2000 mm2

Design value of concrete compressive strength, fcd = 25 MPa
Design yield strength of reinforcement, fyd = 400 MPa

σc σc

fcd fcd

0 εc2 εcu2 εc 0 εc3 εcu3 εc

(a) Parabolic-rectangular
(b) Bi-linear

σc

η fcd d
As

0 (1−λ)εcu3 εcu3 εc
b
(d) Singly-reinforced section
(c) Rectangular

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 Parabolic-Rectangular
0.0035 fcd
3/7 x1
x1 0.002
4/7 x1
d
As

b Strain Stress

Let us assume that the neutral axis depth is x1.

Equlibrium
3 2 4 
 x1b + × =x1b  f cd As f yd =
⇒ x1 158 mm
7 3 7 
Moment capacity
3 11 8 5
= M1 x1bf cd x1 + x1bf cd x1 + As f yd (=
d − x1 ) 227.4 kNm
7 14 21 14
Curvature
0.0035
= κ1 = 0.0221 m -1
x2

Bi-linear
0.0035 fcd
x2/2
x2 0.00175
x2/2
d
As
fyd

b Strain Stress

Let us assume that the neutral axis depth is x2.

Equlibrium
1 1 
 x2b + =x2b  f cd As f yd =
⇒ x1 171 mm
2 4 
Moment capacity
1 3 1 1
= M2 x2bf cd x2 + x2bf cd x2 + As f yd ( d=
− x2 ) 226.9 kNm
2 4 4 3

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 Curvature
0.0035
=
κ2 = 0.0205 m -1
x2

Rectangular
0.0035 fcd

x3 0.8 x3

d
As
fyd

b Strain Stress

Let us assume that the neutral axis depth is x3.

Equlibrium
λ=x3 b f cd As f yd =⇒ x3 160 mm
Moment capacity
M 3 = λ x3 b ηf cd (1 − λ / 2 ) x3 + As f yd ( d − x3 ) = 228.8 kNm
Curvature
0.0035
=
κ3 = 0.0219 m -1
x3

Compared to the parabolic-rectangular stress-strain relationship, the

moment capacity and the curvature at the ultimate stage using bi-linear
and rectangular relationships are as follows.

Parabolic Bi-linear Rectangular

Moment 226.9 228.8
Capacity (kNm) 227.4
(-0.21%) (0.62%)

0.0205 0.0219
Curvature (m-1) 0.0221
(-7.4%) (-1.2%)

It is observed that the difference in moment capacity is negligible, at

least for this set of chosen data.

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Example 2 A singly reinforced beam cross section is shown in the following figure. The beam
carries a bending moment M such that the upper part is under compression and the
neutral axis is at a depth x from the top surface. The stress-strain diagrams for
concrete and steel are shown in Parts (b) and (c) of the figure, respectively.

(a) Determine the area of reinforcement As required to resist the moment at the
balanced condition.

(b) What are the moment and curvature at the balanced condition?

(c) If the section is under-reinforced by 10% calculate the moment of resistance

and the associated curvature.

(d) Now if the area of reinforcement is increased such that it is over-reinforced by

10% calculate the moment of resistance and the curvature.

DATA

b = 300 mm
d = 500 mm
d′ = 50 mm

fck = 40 MPa
γc = 1.5
fy = 460 MPa
γs = 1.15
Es = 200 GPa

Coefficient taking account of long term effects on the compressive strength and of
unfavourable effects resulting from the way the load is applied, α = 0.85.

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Example 3

A singly reinforced beam cross section is shown in the following figure. The beam
carries a bending moment M such that the upper part is under compression and the
neutral axis is at a depth x from the top surface. The stress-strain diagrams for concrete
and steel are shown in Parts (b) and (c) of the figure, respectively.

(a) Estimate the moment and curvature at first yield of tension steel.

(b) Estimate the moment and curvature when the concrete reaches an extreme fibre
compression strain of 0.0035.

(c) Calculate the curvature ductility of the section.

Data

b = 250 mm, d = 400 mm, As = 2000 mm2

εc 3 =0.00175 , εcu 3 =0.0035
ε sy =0.002 , ε su = 0.10

Design value of concrete compressive strength, fcd = 25 MPa

Design yield strength of reinforcement, fyd = 400 MPa
Young’s modulus of elasticity (reinforcement) Es = 200 GPa

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Example 4

(a) How does the ductility of a structure influence the level of design seismic forces?
Provide your answers based on the principles outlined in Eurocode 8 (EN1998-
1:2004).

(b) Determine the curvature ductility of the unconfined reinforced concrete section
shown in the following figure. The section is subjected to a bending moment
causing tension at the bottom fibre. The area of tension steel Ast = 800 mm2 (4-
16 mm diameter bars).

Assume the yield condition when the tension steel just yields and the ultimate
condition when the maximum capacity of the section is reached.

(c) Discuss the effect of various material and geometric parameters on the curvature
ductility of a reinforced concrete section.

(d) For a uniform cantilever beam under a transverse point load at the free-end, show
that the displacement ductility (µ∆) can be related to the curvature ductility (µφ) as
follows.
 lp  l p 
( )
µ ∆ = 1 + 3 µφ − 1  1 − 0.5  
 l  l  
The length of the beam is l, and lp is the plastic hinge length. The inelastic
curvatures in plastic hinge area can be assumed to be constant over the length lp.

(e) If the geometric and material properties of the above cantilever beam are as given
in Part (b), determine the value of displacement ductility.

The length of the beam is l = 3 m, and the plastic hinge length (lp) can be
approximated by an empirical formula as
=l p 0.08 l + 0.022 db f y
where l is distance between maximum moment and point of contraflexure (in mm)
db is the diameter of the longitudinal steel (in mm), and
fy is the yield strength of steel (in MPa).

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 Solution

Modern design codes including EC8 (EN 1998-1:2004) recommends levels of design
seismic force that can be significantly less than the elastic response forces induced by
severe ground motion on the assumption that structures will be detailed to display
significant ductile response when overloaded. The level of reduction depends on many
factors including the importance of the structure. For example, no inelastic deformations
are allowed for Nuclear Containment Structures.

Design Force

Elastic

Medium Ductility

High Ductility

Displacement

The behaviour factor q in EC8 is a measure of the capacity of the structural system to absorb
energy in the inelastic range through ductility and redundancy. The design seismic base
shear is inversely proportional to q. Its value, ranging from 1.5 to 4.5, however, is not based
on any rigorous scientific principles and has been estimated based solely on the observed
performance of similar systems in past earthquakes.

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