Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design

Very similar in principle to slab design except:

• Beams may have compression reinforcement

• Beams usually have shear reinforcement, so the treatment

of shear is very different

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 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – WITH compression reinforcement

b
d2 c fcd

sc Fsc
0.8x Fc
x

h d neutral axis z

s Fst

Structures E2 2
 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – WITH compression reinforcement

If compression reinforcement is required, it means:

K > K’

Where K’ = 0.167

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 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – WITH compression reinforcement

The required area of compression reinforcement is calculated

from:

Where: K ' = 0.167

fsc = design strength of reinforcement in compression
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 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – WITH compression reinforcement

fsc = Design strength of reinforcement in compression

fsc = 700x(x-d2)/x ≤ fyd fyd = 0.87 x fy = 0.87x500

In all cases except VERY shallow beams:

fsc = fyd
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 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – WITH compression reinforcement

The required area of tension reinforcement is calculated from:

𝑑
𝑧 = 1 + 1 − 3.53𝐾′
2

Note that: K ' = 0.167

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 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – Deflection

Very similar to slabs, but the equations account for the stiffening effect
of compression reinforcement.

𝐿 1.5 𝑓𝑐𝑘𝜌0 𝑓𝑐𝑘 𝜌 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝

= 11 + + 𝑖𝑓 𝜌 > 𝜌0
𝑑 (𝜌 − 𝜌𝑐 𝑜 𝑚 ) 12 𝜌0

Where: 7
 Design of Concrete Structures

RC Beam Design – Shear

IDENTICAL to beams without compression reinforcement

Most beams require shear reinforcement.

If a beam requires shear reinforcement, the shear capacity of
the concrete in beams is neglected in the Eurocode.

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 Design of Concrete Structures

Shear reinforcement arrangement

 Design of Concrete Structures

The Shear capacity requires a check to ensure the concrete ‘strut’ will
not crush due to the applied shear force. The maximum possible shear
capacity of the beam (irrespective of the reinforcement in it) is
calculated from:

θ = 22 ⁰ is a suitable value to use.

The applied shear force CANNOT exceed this, irrespective of shear
reinforcement. Structures E2 10
 Design of Concrete Structures

After establishing that the beam is large enough to carry the shear
force (with reinforcement) the required amount of reinforcement can
be calculated from:

Where:

Asv is the link area s is the link spacing

fywk is the link yield stress (usually 500N/mm2)
In this equation it is normal to use θ = 22º
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 Design of Concrete Structures

A further, very important criteria is that:

s < 0.75d
which often governs the link spacing.

Again note that there are VERY MANY combinations of Asv and s that
satisfy this equation.

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 Design of Concrete Structures

This concludes the design of beams with compression reinforcement.

Compression reinforcement can be introduced to enable a smaller

beam size to be used (or a higher load to be carried), BUT ONLY
WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS.

At some stage, deflection or shear will dictate that a larger beam is

used, even if compression reinforcement can provide an adequate
bending capacity.

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