eiling and service load 0.

5kN/m2
18 IStructE EC2 (Concrete) Design Manual
4 Initial design – reinforced
concreteAllowance for:
demountable lightweight partitions* 1.0kN/m2
blockwork partitions† 2.5kN/m2
Weight of reinforced concrete should be taken as 24kN/m3.
Design loads should be obtained using Table 3.1.
4.3 Material properties
For normal construction in the UK, a characteristic cylinder concrete strength fck
of
25N/mm2 should be assumed for the initial design. In areas with poor aggregates
this may
have to be reduced.
For UK steels a characteristic strength ƒyk of 460N/mm2 should be used for high-
tensile
reinforcement and 250N/mm2 for mild steel.
4.4 Structural form and framing
The following measures should be adopted:
(a) provide stability against lateral forces and ensure braced construction by
arranging
suitable shear walls deployed symmetrically wherever possible
(b) adopt a simple arrangement of slabs, beams and columns so that loads are
carried to
the foundations by the shortest and most direct routes
(c) allow for movement joints (see subsection 2.4)
(d) choose an arrangement that will limit the span of slabs to 5m to 6m and beam
spans
to 8m to l0m on a regular grid; for flat slabs restrict column spacings to 8m
(e) adopt a minimum column size of 300mm × 300mm or equivalent area
(f) provide a robust structure.
The arrangement should take account of possible large openings for services and
problems
with foundations, e.g. columns immediately adjacent to site boundaries may require
balanced or other special foundations.
4.5 Fire resistance and durability
The size of structural members may be governed by the requirement of fire
resistance
and may also be affected by the cover necessary to ensure durability. Table 4.1
shows the
minimum practical member sizes for different periods of fire resistance and the
cover
to the main reinforcement required for continuous members in dry and humid
environments without frost. For other exposure classes, cover should be increased.
For simply
supported members, sizes and cover should be increased (see Section 5 and
Appendix C).
4.6 Stiffness
To provide adequate stiffness, the effective depths of beams, slabs and the waist
of stairs
should not be less than those derived from Table 4.2.
Beams should be of sufficient depth to avoid the necessity for excessive
compression
reinforcement and to ensure that economical amounts of tension and shear
reinforcement
are provided. This will also facilitate the placing of concrete.
IStructE EC2 (Concrete) Design Manual 19
*To be treated as imposed loads.
†To be treated as dead loads when the layout is fixed.20 IStructE EC2 (Concrete)
Design Manual
Table 4.1 Minimum member sizes and cover† for initial design of continuous
members
Member Minimum dimension, mm
Fire resistance 4 hours 2 hours 1 hour
Columns fully width 450 300 200
exposed to fire
Beams width 240 200 200
cover 70 50 45
Slabs with thickness 170 125 100
plain soffit cover 45 35 35
Slabs with thickness* 150 115 90
ribbed open width of ribs 150 110 90
soffit and no cover 55 35 35
stirrups
*Thickness of structural topping plus any non-combustible screed.
†Cover is to main reinforcement.
Table 4.2 Basic ratios of span/effective depth for initial design (fyk = 460N/mm2)
Span/effective depth ratio
Structural system Beam Slab
1. Simply supported beam 15
One-way or two-way spanning simply
supported slab 21
2. End span of:
continuous beam; 20
one-way continuous
slab; or two-way spanning slab
continuous over one long side 27
3. Interior span of:
beam; 21
one-way or two-say spanning slab 30
4. Slab supported on columns without
beams (flat slab), based on longer span 26
5. Cantilever 6 8
Notes to Table 4.2
1. For two-way spanning slabs (supported on beams), the check on the ratio of
span/effective depth should be
carried out on the shorter span. For flat slabs, the longer span should be taken.
2. For flanged sections with the ratio of the flange to the rib width greater than
3, the Table value should be
multiplied by 0.8.
3. For members, other than flat slab panels, which support partitions liable to be
damaged by excessive deflection of the member, and where the span exceeds 7m, the
Table value should be multiplied by 7/span.
4. For flat slabs where the greater span exceeds 8.5m, the Table value should be
multiplied by 8.5/span