Module 3

FLEXURE STRENGTH OF BEAMS

• Working Stress Design Method (Elastic)
• Cracked Sections Using Transformed Section

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:
• Analyze the flexural strength of a beam (singly reinforced) using transformed
area method..

OVERVIEW
From the early 1900s until the early 1960s, nearly all reinforced concrete design in the
United States was performed by the working-stress design method (also called
allowable-stress design or straight-line design). In this method, frequently referred to as
WSD, the dead and live loads to be supported, called working loads or service loads,
were first estimated. Then the members of the structures were proportioned so that
stresses calculated by a transformed area did not exceed certain permissible or
allowable values.
Nowadays, even though all of the reinforced concrete structures we will
encounter will be designed by the strength design method, it is still desirable to be
familiar with WSD for several reasons. These include the following:
1) AASHTO permits the design of reinforced concrete for highway bridges using
either the WSD or the strength design method. Such design are to be made
today in accordance with the requirements of the 2002 Standard Specifications
for Highway Bridges plus the interim specifications.
2) Some designers use WSD for proportioning fluid-containing structures (such as
water tanks and various sanitary structures). When these structures are
designed by WSD, stresses are kept at fairly low levels, with the result that
there is appreciably less cracking and less consequent leakage.
3) The ACI method for calculating the moments of inertia to be used for deflection
calculations requires some knowledge of the working-stress procedure.
4) The design of prestressed concrete member is based not only on the strength
method but also on elastic stress calculations at service load conditions.

Moreover, the working-stress design has several disadvantages. When using this
method,
1) the designer has little knowledge about the magnitudes of safety factors against
collapse;
2) no consideration is given to the fact that the different safety factors are desirable
for dead and live loads;
3) the method does not account for variations in resistances and loads, nor does it
account for the possibility that as loads are increased, some increase at different
rates than others.
COURSE MATERIALS
1.0 NOTATIONS USED IN WSD METHOD: (Singly Reinforced Beam)

b c fc

1/3 kd
kd C
d
N.A.
jd
(d-kd) Mr
As
T
beam section s fs
Strain n
Diagram Stress Diagram

Figure1 : Stress and Strain Diagram

Notations used in working stress design method:

 c = unit strain per unit length of concrete.

 s = unit strain per unit length of steel.
Ec= 0.043 c
1.5
f ' c (MPa) = modulus of elasticity of concrete in compression. The
magnitude depends on the quality of the concrete.
Es = 200,000 MPa = modulus of elasticity of steel.
E
n = s = modular ratio or the ratio of modulus of elasticity of steel to that of concrete.
Ec
f c = 0.45 f c' = allowable compressive unit stress on the concrete at the surface
most remote from the neutral surface.
fs = 0.50 fy= allowable tensile unit stress in the longitudinal reinforcement.
b = width of the rectangular beam.
d = known as the effective depth, the depth from the compression face of the
beam to the center of the longitudinal steel reinforcement.
k = the ratio of distance of the neutral axis of the cross section from extreme
fibers in compression to the effective depth of the beam.
kd = the distance from the neutral axis of the cross section to the extreme fibers
in compression.
j = ratio of the distance between the resultant of the compressive stresses and
the center of tensile stresses to d, the effective depth of beam.
jd = the distance between the resultant of the compressive stresses and the
center of the tensile stresses. It is the lever arm of the resisting couple.
As= the area of the cross section of the longitudinal steel reinforcement.
A
 = s = the ratio of the area of the cross section of the longitudinal steel
bd
reinforcement to the effective area of the concrete.
Mc = the resisting moment of the compressive stress in the concrete.
Ms = the resisting moment of the tensile stress in the longitudinal steel
reinforcement.
M = the bending moment resulting from external force.
C = ½ fckd b = the sum of the horizontal compressive stresses in the concrete.
T = As fs = the sum of the horizontal tensile stresses in the longitudinal steel
reinforcement.
2.0 FLEXURE FORMULA : Beam Design

Loadings

elastic curve

b c fc

1/3 kd
kd C
d
D N.A.
jd
(d-kd) M
As
T
beam section s fs
Strain n
Diagram Stress Diagram
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Stress-Strain Diagram

2.1 Beam constants

1
a) k= where: k ranges from 0.30 to 0.45
fs
+1
nf c
Note : The above equation of k is used for “design” only. For
investigation use
k = 2 n + (n ) − n
2

k
b) j = 1− where : j ranges from 0.90 to 0.85
3
c) R = ½ fc k j

2.2 Bending moment

a. For compression concrete:

Mc = C (jd) = ½fc kd b (jd)

Mc = ½ fc k j b d2

Let: R = ½ fc k j (another beam constant)

then: Mc = Rbd2

or M = Rbd2

b. For tension steel reinforcement

Consider the resisting moment Ms with respect to the tensile stresses in

the steel reinforcement, the resisting moment is

Ms = T (jd) = Asfs (jd)

Ms = Asfsjd

or M = Asfsjd
 2.3 Effective depth and total depth of beam

a. The effective depth is taken from the equation M = Rbd

2

M
d=
Rb

b. The total depth of the section is :D = d + ½ bar diameter + clear cover

2.4 Area of tension steel reinforcement

The area of tensile reinforcement is taken from the equation M = Asfsjd

M
As =
f s jd

3.0 ELASTIC STRESSES: Concrete Cracked (Use of Transformed Section)

b b fc

kd

(d-kd)
As n As

fs
n
Beam Section Transformed Section Stress
Diagram
Figure 3: Transformed section

For the beam shown in Figure 3, the steel bars are replaced with an equivalent
area of fictitious concrete (nAs), which is supposedly can resist tension. This area is
referred to as the transformed area. The resulting revised cross section or
transformed section is handled by the usual methods for elastic homogeneous
beams.A dashed line is shown in the tensile side of the stress diagram because
The value shown opposite the steel is fictitious stress in concrete if it could carry
tension. The value is shown as f s n because it must be multiplied by n to give the
steel stress f s .

To locate the position of neutral axis, take the sum of moments of the compression
side of concrete and the tension side of the transformed steel about the neutral
axis,
M N A = 0
 kd 
b (kd )  = n As (d − kd )
 2 

Solve for the value of kd from the preceding equation.

 Mc
The corresponding stresses were developed from the flexure formula, f =
I
a. For the compression stress in the concrete

M (kd )
fc =
I
b. For the tensile stress in the tension steel

f s M (d − kd )
=
n I
where:
I = the moment of inertia of the transformed section (compression
concrete and transformed steel)