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Structural Analysis of Free-

Standing Staircase Structville for You Everyday

By Ubani Obinna Uzodimma - December 17, 2020

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 Free-standing staircases offer a very pleasing solution for
vertical circulation in residential and commercial buildings.
They are usually constructed in such a way that the landing is
freely supported, while the supports at the flight are fully fixed.
It is possible to have the flights supported in other ways, but
that makes the analysis more complicated. Free-standing
staircase structures are complex in analysis and design, but
with finite element analysis packages, simple solutions can be
easily obtained as shown in this post.

The most widely available manual solution for the analysis of

free-standing staircases was developed by Cusens and Kuang
(1966) using the strain-energy principles. Expressions were
developed relating the horizontal restraint force H and the
bending moment Mo at the mid-point of the free-standing stair.
By solving both equations simultaneously, the values of Mo and
H can be substituted into the general expressions to obtain the
bending moments and forces at any point in the structure.

In this article, we are going to compare the results obtained

with Staad Pro software with results from manual analysis
using the method proposed in Table 175, Reynolds and
Steedman, 2005.

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The geometry of a free-standing staircase is given below. We
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are expected to analyse the staircase for the ultimate moment
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using the formula given in Reynolds and Steedman (2005) and
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compare the answer with the result from Staad Pro.
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Data Daily Questions
Thickness of waist of flight and landing = 250 mm
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Depth of riser = 150mm
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Unit weight of concrete = 25 kN/m3
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Actions on the stairs Engineering Mathematics

Concrete self weight (waist area) = 0.25 × 25 = 6.25 kN/m2 Environmental Engineering
(normal to the inclination) Eurocode 2
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Stepped area = 1⁄2 × 0.15 × 25= 1.875 KN/m (global vertical
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direction)
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Finishes (say) = 1.2 kN/m2
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 We intend to apply all gravity loads purely in the global y- Eurocodes
direction, therefore we convert the load at the waist of the stair Events and Conferences
from local to global direction by considering the angle of
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inclination of the flight area to the horizontal;
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Force Method
γ = tan-1(1.5/3) = 26.565°
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Therefore UDL from waist of the stair in the global direction is Frames
given by = (6.25 × cos 26.565) = 5.59 kN/m2 Geotechnical Engineering

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Total permanent action on flight area (gk) = 5.59 + 1.875 +
Highway
1.2 = 8.665 kN/m2
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Total permanent action on landing; (gk) = 6.25 + 1.2 = 7.45
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Variable load on staircase (qk) = 4 kN/m2 Literature Review

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The load on the flight area at ultimate limit state = 1.35gk +
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1.5qk
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nf = 1.35(8.665) + 1.5(4) = 17.67 kN/m2
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The load on the landing at ultimate limit state = 1.35gk + Professional bodies
1.5qk Programming
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nl = 1.35(7.45) + 1.5(4) = 16.06 kN/m Project Management

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 From Table 175, Reynolds and Steedman (2005), the Promotions
approximate formula for calculating the critical design moments Quantity Estimation
for free-standing stairs with the flights fully fixed is given
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below;
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From the given problem;
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Load on flight nf = 17.67 kN/m2
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Load on landing nl = 16.06 kN/m2
Thickness of flight hf = 250 mm Theory of Structures

Thickness of landing hl = 250 mm Terms and conditions

a = 3.35m
b = 1.4m
b1 = 2.0m
γ = 26.565°

Plugging these values into the equations above;

K = 0.746
H = 222.637 kN
M0 = 70.541 kNm

Then for OB, at any point distance y from O;

Mv = -Mo – 0.5nly2
Mh = -Hy
T = -0.5nlby

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 For BC at any point distance y from 0;
Mv = -0.5nl[0.5(b1 + b) – y]2
Mh = 0
T = -0.5nlb[0.5(b1 + b) – y]

For AB at any point distance x from B

Mv = Hxsinγ – 0.5nl(b1 + b)(xcosγ + 0.5b) – 0.5nfx2cos2γ
Mh = -0.5Hb1cosγ – [Mo + 0.125nl(b12 – b2)]sinγ
T = -0.5Hb1sinγ + [Mo + 0.125nl(b12 – b2)]cosγ

Where;
Mv = vertical bending moment at any point
Mh = Horizontal bending moment at any point
T = Torsional moment at any point

Comparing the above answer with ultimate limit state answer

from Staad Pro;

Longitudinal Moment

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 You can see that M0 from Staad Pro is 65.1 kNm. This about
8.3% less than the answer gotten from manual analysis, and
further reinforces the fact that the finite element analysis
approach to this problem yields a more economical result.

Transverse Moment
The moment in the x-direction due to ultimate load is given
below;

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 The maximum moment in the x-direction can be found to be
45.5 kNm. Cusens and Kuang (1966) recommend that the
transverse reinforcement be concentrated in the vicinity of the
flight and the landing. This result offers good insight into the
recommendation.

Torsion
The twisting moment on the staircase due to the load is given
below;

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 A little consideration of the above result will show that
considerable twisting is occurring at the mid-span section of
the flights. This completely agrees with the conclusions made
by Cusens and Kuang (1966). In their own words,

“Large torsional moments are present in the ights of free-standing

stairs and a proper thickness of concrete must be chosen to resist these
moments, due to the di culty of reinforcing shallow-wide sections
against torsion.”

Longitudinal Shearing Stresses

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 As you can see, the maximum longitudinal stress is occurring
at point O with a value of 1.64 N/mm2.

We will be undertaking further studies on the dynamic

behaviour of free-standing stairs. We will update in due time.
Thank you for visiting, and God bless you.

References
Cusens A.R., Jing Gwo Kuang (1966): Experimental
Investigation of Free Standing Stairs. Journal of the American
Concrete Institute, Proceedings V. 63, No. 5, May 1966.

Reynolds C.E., Steedman J.C (2005): Reinforced Concrete

Designers Handbook. Spon Press, Taylor and Francis Group,

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 London ISBN 0-419-14540-3

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Ubani Obinna Uzodimma

A dynamic civil engineer with vast experience in
research, design, and construction of civil
engineering infrastructures. He is a member of the
Nigerian Society of Engineers. Reach him at
ubani@structville.com

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6 COMMENTS

Unknown April 9, 2018 At 5:41 am

This nice
Reply

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 Ubani Obinna Ranks April 9, 2018 At 1:56 pm

Thank you. You are free to share to your colleagues

Reply

Unknown April 10, 2018 At 10:41 am

Good article and it is all the more pleasing to see you

indicate your references.
Reply

Unknown April 22, 2018 At 11:20 pm

Thanks for this. Keep it up!

Reply

Unknown April 27, 2018 At 2:06 pm

Thank you for this great article. I was unable to locate

Table 175 in Reynolds & Steedman's 10th edition. I
found some relief by looking at Table 2.88 on Page
207 of the same book.
Reply

Unknown June 2, 2018 At 11:16 am

Kindly check the equations on Reynolds book,

You have missed something on them
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