Domestic Floor Design

Floor Joist details

Floor size: 50x75x4000 mm

Timber strength class C16

Joist thickness b = 50 mm
Joist depth h = 75 mm
Clear span Lcl = 4 m

Modification factors

Depth factor K 7= (300 / h)0.11 = 1.16

Load sharing modification factor K8 = 1.10

Section properties

Mean modulus of elasticity Emean = 8,800 N/mm²

Second moment of area I = b × h³ / 12 = 1,760,000 mm4

Z to top edge of timber Z = b × h² / 6 = 46,900 mm³
Average density for C16 grade timber (BS 5268-2:2002 ρmean = 370 kg/m³
Table 8)
Joist self-weight per square metre (g = 9.81 m/s²) Fjoist = b × h × ρmean × g / s = 1.36 kN/m
Consider long term loading (7 kN/m² dead UDL + 1.5 kN/m² live UDL. K3 = 1)

K3 (long term load) K3 = 1

Dead load (UDL) Fdead,udl = 7 kN/m²
Total dead load (dead UDL + joist self-weight) Fdead = Fdead,udl + Fjoist = 8.36 kN/m²
Live load (UDL) Flive,udl = 1.5 kN/m²
Total load per meter F = ( Fdead + Flive,udl ) × Lspacing = 0.0986 kN/m
Compression perpendicular to grain for C16 σc,per = 1.7 N/mm²
Notional bearing length
'The bearing length required at each end of the joist, a = (Lcl × F / 2) / (σc,per × K3 × K8 × b - (F / 2)) = 0.53 mm
calculated in accordance with 5.5, may not be sufficient for
practical construction purposes.')
Effective span Leff = Lcl + a = 1.053 m
Check bending stress
Grade bending stress for C16 σpar = 5.3 N/mm²
Permissible bending stress σadm = σpar × K3 × K7 × K8 = 6.79 N/mm²
Bending moment M = F × Leff²/ 8 = 0.0123 kNm

Bending stress σ = (M × 106) / Z = 0.263 N/mm²

σ <= σadm ( 0.263 N/mm² <= 6.79 N/mm² ) therefore OK

Check shear stress

Grade shear stress for C16 τpar = 0.67 N/mm²
Permissible shear stress τadm = τpar × K3 × K8 = 0.737 N/mm²
Shear stress τ = (3 × F × Leff / 2 × 10³) / (2 × b × h) = 0.0197 N/mm²

τ <= τadm ( 0.02 N/mm² <= 0.737 N/mm² ) therefore OK

Check deflection
Permissible deflection δadm = 0.003 × Leff (or max of 14mm) = 3 mm

Bending deflection δbending = (5 × F × Leff4) / (384 × Emean × I) = 0.0832 mm

Shear deflection δshear = (12 × F × Leff²) / (5 × Emean × b × h) = 0.00718 mm
Total deflection δtotal = δbending + δshear = 0.0904 mm

δtotal <= δadm ( 0.09 mm <= 3.002 mm ) therefore OK

 Consider medium term loading (7 kN/m² dead UDL + 1.4 kN live point load. K3 = 1.25)

K3 (medium term load) K3 = 1.25

Dead load (UDL) Fdead,udl = 7 kN/m²
Total dead load (dead UDL + joist self-weight) Fdead = Fdead,udl + Fjoist = 8.36 kN/m²
Live point load Flive,point = 1.4 kN
Total load per meter F = Fdead × Lspacing = 0.0836 kN/m
Compression perpendicular to grain for C16 σc,per = 1.7 N/mm²
Notional bearing length
'The bearing length required at each end of the joist, a = ((Lcl × F / 2) + (Flive,point / 2)) / (σc,per × K3 × K8 × b - (F / 2)) = 6.35 mm
calculated in accordance with 5.5, may not be sufficient for
practical construction purposes.')
Effective span Leff = Lcl + a = 1.635 m
Check bending stress
Grade bending stress for σpar = 5.3 N/mm²
Permissible bending stress σadm = σpar × K3 × K7 × K8 = 8.49 N/mm²
Bending moment M = (F × Leff²/ 8) + (Flive,point × Leff / 4) = 0.363 kNm

Bending stress σ = (M × 106) / Z = 7.74 N/mm²

σ <= σadm ( 7.74 N/mm² <= 8.488 N/mm² ) therefore OK

Check shear stress

Grade shear stress for C16 τpar = 0.67 N/mm²
Permissible shear stress τadm = τpar × K3 × K8 = 0.921 N/mm²
Shear stress τ = (3 × (( F × Leff / 2) + Flive,point) × 10³) / (2 × b × h) = 0.577 N/mm²

τ <= τadm ( 0.577 N/mm² <= 0.921 N/mm² ) therefore OK

Check deflection
Permissible deflection δadm = 0.003 × Leff (or max of 14mm) = 3.02 mm

Bending deflection from uniformly distributed load δbending,udl = (5 × F × Leff4) / (384 × Emean × I) = 0.0722 mm
Shear deflection from uniformly distributed load δshear,udl = (12 × F × Leff²) / (5 × Emean × b × h) = 0.00616 mm

Bending deflection from point load δbending,point = (Flive,point × 10³ × Leff3) / (48 × Emean × I) = 1.92 mm
Shear deflection from point load δshear,point = (24 × Flive,point × 10³ × Leff) / (5 × Emean × b × h) = 0.205 mm
Total deflection δtotal = δbending,udl + δshear,udl + δbending,point + δshear,point = 2.2 mm

δtotal <= δadm ( 2.205 mm <= 3.019 mm ) therefore OK

Design summary

Permissible Applied/Actual Utilisation Result

Long term load shear stress (N/mm²) 0.74 0.02 2.7 % OK

Long term load bending stress (N/mm²) 6.79 0.26 3.9 % OK

Long term load deflection (mm) 3 0.09 3% OK

Medium term load shear stress (N/mm²) 0.92 0.58 62.6 % OK

Medium term load bending stress (N/mm²) 8.49 7.74 91.2 % OK

Medium term load deflection (mm) 3.02 2.2 73 % OK