Reinforced Concrete Design II

Chapter Five: Design for Torsion

Torsional stresses develop in a beam section when a moment acts
on that section parallel to its surface. Such moments, called
torsional moments, cause a rotation in the structural member and
cracking on its surface, usually in the shape of a spiral.
The average designer probably does not worry about torsion very
much. He or she thinks almost exclusively of axial forces, shears, and
bending moments, and yet most reinforced concrete structures are
subject to some degree of torsion
Until recent years, the safety factors required by codes for the design of reinforced concrete members for
shear, moment, and so forth were so large that the effects of torsion could be safely neglected in all but the
most extreme cases. Today, however, overall safety factors are less than they used to be, and members are
smaller, with the result that torsion is a more common problem.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Appreciable torsion does occur in many structures, such as in the (i) main girders
of bridges, which are twisted by transverse beams or slabs. It occurs in (ii) buildings
where the edge of a floor slab and its beams are supported by a spandrel beam
running between the exterior columns.
(iii) Earthquakes can cause dangerous torsional
forces in all buildings. This is particularly true in
asymmetrical structures, where the centers of mass Torsion in spandrel beams
and rigidity do not coincide. Other cases where
torsion may be significant are in (iv) curved bridge
girders, spiral stairways, and balcony girders, and
whenever large loads are applied to any beam “off
center.”

Curved bridge girders

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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An off-center case where torsional stress can be very large is
illustrated in the Figure. It should be realized that if the
supporting member is able to rotate, the resulting torsional
stresses will be fairly small. If, however, the member is
restrained, the torsional stresses can be quite large.
When a plain concrete member is subjected to pure torsion, it
will crack and fail along 45◦ spiral lines because of the diagonal
tension corresponding to the torsional stresses.
Off-center loads causing torsion in main beam

On the basis of this rather extensive experimental work, the ACI Code includes very specific requirements for the
design of reinforced concrete members subjected to torsion or to torsion combined with shear and bending. It
should be realized that maximum shears and torsional forces may occur in areas where bending moments are
small. For such cases, the interaction of shear and torsion can be particularly important as it relates to design.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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Torsional Reinforcing
Reinforced concrete members subjected to large torsional forces may
fail quite suddenly if they are not specially provided with torsional
reinforcing. The addition of torsional reinforcing does not change the
magnitude of the torsion that will cause diagonal tension cracks, but it
does prevent the members from tearing apart.
Tests have shown that both longitudinal bars and closed
stirrups (or spirals) are necessary to intercept the numerous
diagonal tension cracks that occur on all surfaces of members
subject to appreciable torsional forces.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Recommended torsion reinforcement

Closed stirrups (these types Lateral confinement provided by slab on

Non confining concrete either side- thus
frequently impractical). right-hand side- thus 90° hooks
135° hooks needed for both ends of top bar
permissible for top bar on that side

Lateral confinement provided by slab on

both sides- thus 90° hooks permissible for
Overlapping stirrups used as torsion both ends of top bar
reinforcing but not desirable.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

The strength of closed stirrups cannot be developed unless
additional longitudinal reinforcing is supplied. Longitudinal bars
should be spaced uniformly around the insides of the stirrups, not
more than 12 in. apart. There must be at least one bar in each
corner of the stirrups to provide anchorage for the stirrup legs
(Code 11.6.6.2); otherwise, if the concrete inside the corners were
to be crushed, the stirrups would slip and the result would be even
larger torsional cracks. These longitudinal bars must have
diameters at least equal to 0.042 times the stirrup spacing. Their
size may not be less than #3.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Torsional Moments that Have to Be Considered in Design

Equilibrium Torsion (Determinate Members)

The equilibrium torsion case occurs when the torsional moment is required for
the structure to be in equilibrium and Tu cannot be reduced by redistribution
of moments, as in the case of simple beams. In this case torsion
reinforcement must be provided to resist all of Tu.

Compatibility Torsion (Indeterminate Members)

The compatibility torsion case occurs when the torsional moment, Tu, can be
reduced by the redistribution of internal forces after cracking while
compatibility of deformation is maintained in the structural member (Design
for lower of Tu or Tcr)

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 Chapter Five
Design for Torsion
Where a reduction or redistribution of torsion is possible in a
statically indeterminate structure, the maximum factored
moment, Tu , can be reduced as follows for non-prestressed
members according to ACI Section 11.5.2.2
In the expression to follow, Acp is the area enclosed by the
outside perimeter of the concrete cross section and pcp is the
outside perimeter of that cross section.
It is assumed that torsional cracking will occur when the
principal tension stress reaches the tensile strength of the
concrete in biaxial tension-compression
Torque at cracking, Tcr
Dr. Faris Matalkah
Reinforced Concrete Design II
When reinforced concrete members are subjected to
axial tensile or compressive forces, Tcr is to be computed
with the expression to follow in which Nu is the factored
axial force taken as positive if the force is compressive
and negative if it is tensile.
After cracking occurs, the torsional moments in the
spandrel beam are reduced as a result of the
redistribution of the internal forces. Consequently, the
torsional moment used for design in the spandrel beam
can be reduced.
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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Torsional Stresses
As previously mentioned, the torsional stresses add to the shear stresses on one
side of a member and subtract from them on the other. This situation is
illustrated for a hollow beam in the Figure.
After cracking, the resistance of concrete to torsion is assumed to be negligible.
The torsion cracks tend to spiral around members (hollow or solid) located at
Torsion and shear stresses in a hollow beam.
approximately 45° angles with the longitudinal edges of those members. Torsion is
assumed to be resisted by an imaginary space truss located in the outer “tube” of
concrete of the member. The longitudinal steel in the corners of the member and
the closed transverse stirrups act as tension members in the “truss,” while the
diagonal concrete between the stirrups acts as struts of compression members.
The cracked concrete is still capable of taking compression stresses.

Torsion and shear stresses in a solid beam.

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The design of reinforced concrete members for torsion is based on a thin-walled tube space truss
analogy in which the inside or core concrete of the members is neglected. After torsion has caused a
member to crack, its resistance to torsion is provided almost entirely by the closed stirrups and the
longitudinal reinforcing located near the member surface. Once cracking occurs, the concrete is assumed
to have negligible torsional strength left. (This is not the case in shear design, where the concrete is
assumed to carry the same amount of shear as it did before crack)
If torsional stresses are less than about one-fourth of the cracking torque, Tcr, of a member, they will not
appreciably reduce either its shear or flexural strengths. Torsional cracking is assumed to occur when
the principal tensile stress reaches 4λ √fc. In ACI Section 11.6.1, it is stated that torsion effects may be
neglected for non-prestressed members if

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For isolated members with or without flanges, Acp equals the area of the entire cross sections (including the area of
any voids in hollow members), and Pcp represents the perimeters of the entire cross sections. Should a beam be
cast monolithically with a slab, the values of Acp and pcp may be assumed to include part of the adjacent slabs of the
resulting T- or L-shaped sections. The widths of the slabs that may be included as parts of the beams are described
in ACI Section 13.2.4 and illustrated in the Figure shown. Those widths or extensions may not exceed the
projections of the beams above or below the slab or four times the slab thickness, whichever is smaller.

Note: When appreciable torsion is present, it may be more economical to

Portions of monolithic T beam that may be
used for torsion calculations.
select a larger beam than would normally be selected so that torsion
reinforcing does not have to be used. Such a beam may very well be more
economical than a smaller one with the closed stirrups and additional
longitudinal steel required for torsion design. On other occasions, such a
practice may not be economical, and sometimes architectural
considerations may dictate the use of smaller sections.

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 Chapter Five
Design for Torsion
Torsional Moment Strength
The sizes of members subject to shear and torsion are
limited by the ACI Code so that unsightly cracking is
reduced and crushing of the surface concrete caused by
inclined compression stresses is prevented. This objective
is accomplished with the equations that follow, in which
the left-hand portions represent the shear stresses from
shear and torsion
Dr. Faris Matalkah
Reinforced Concrete Design II
The sum of these two stresses in a particular member may
not exceed the stress that will cause shear cracking (8√fc). In
these expressions, Vc= 2λ√fcbwd
When the wall thickness of a hollow section is less than Aoh
/ph , the second term in ACI Equation 11-19 is to be taken not
as TuPh/1.7A2oh but as Tu /1.7Aoh, where t is the thickness of
the wall. Another requirement given in ACI for hollow
sections is that the distance from the centerline of the
transverse torsion reinforcing to the inside face of the wall
must not be less than 0.5Aoh/Ph . In this expression, Ph is the
perimeter of the centerline of the outermost closed torsional
reinforcing, while Aoh is the cross-sectional area of the
member that is enclosed within this centerline. The letters
oh stand for outside hoop (of stirrups).
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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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Torsional geometric parameters and (b) effective flange

width for T- and L-sections and component rectangles.

Values of Aoh.

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 Chapter Five
Design for Torsion
Design of Torsional Reinforcing
The torsional strength of reinforced concrete beams can be
greatly increased by adding torsional reinforcing consisting
of closed stirrups and longitudinal bars. If the factored
torsional moment for a particular member is larger than
the value given in ACI Section 11.5.1
The code provides an expression to compute the absolute
minimum area of transverse closed stirrups that may be
used.
In this expression, Av is the area of reinforcing required for
shear in a distance s (which represents the stirrup spacing).
Dr. Faris Matalkah
Reinforced Concrete Design II
Remember that in shear design, the area Av obtained is for
both legs of a two-legged stirrup (or for all legs of a four-
legged stirrup, etc.). The value At , which represents the
area of the stirrups needed for torsion, is for only one leg
of the stirrup. Therefore, the value Av + 2At is the total
area of both legs of the stirrup (for two legged stirrups)
needed for shear plus torsion. It is considered desirable to
use equal volumes of steel in the stirrups and the added
longitudinal steel so that they will participate equally in
resisting torsional moments.
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 Chapter Five
Design for Torsion
This theory was followed in preparing the ACI
equations used for selecting torsional reinforcing.
The ACI Code requires that the area of stirrups At
used for resisting torsion be computed with the
equation that follows:
The transverse reinforcing is based on the
torsional moment strength, Tn , which equals Tu/φ.
The term Ao represents the gross area enclosed by
the shear flow path around the perimeter of the
tube. This area is defined in terms of Aoh, which is
the area enclosed by the outermost closed hoops.
Ao =0.85Aoh
Dr. Faris Matalkah
Reinforced Concrete Design II
As given in the ACI Commentary (R11.5.3.8), the required
stirrup areas for shear and torsion are added together as
follows for a two-legged stirrup:
The spacing of transverse torsional reinforcing may not be larger
than Ph /8 or 12 in., where Ph is the perimeter of the centerline
of the outermost closed transverse reinforcing (ACI 11.5.6.1).
Remember also the maximum spacings of stirrups for shear d/2
and d/4 given in ACI Sections 11.4.5.1 and 11.4.5.3.
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 Chapter Five
Design for Torsion
The additional longitudinal reinforcement:
Additional ACI Requirements
Sections located at a distance less than d from the
face of support may be designed for the torque at a
distance d. Should, however, a concentrated torque
be present within this distance, the critical design
section will be at the face of the support
Dr. Faris Matalkah
Reinforced Concrete Design II
The design yield strength of torsion reinforcing for non-
prestressed members may not be greater than 60,000 psi. The
purpose of this maximum value is to limit the width of diagonal
cracks (ACI 11.5.3.4).
The longitudinal reinforcing must be distributed around the inside
perimeter of the closed stirrups and must be spaced no farther
apart than 12 in. At least one bar must be placed in each corner
of the stirrups to provide anchorage for the stirrup legs. These
bars have to be #3 or larger in size, and they must have diameters
no less than 0.042 times the stirrup spacings (ACI 11.5.6.2).
Torsional reinforcing must be provided for a distance no less than
bt + d beyond the point where it is theoretically no longer
required. The term bt represents the width of that part of the
member cross section which contains the closed torsional
stirrups (ACI 11.5.6.3).
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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Example 1 (Manaseer)
For the three sections shown in the Figure, and based on the ACI Code limitations, it is required to
compute the following:
a. The cracking moment 𝜙Tcr
b. The maximum factored torque 𝜙Tn that can be applied to each section without using torsional web
reinforcement.
Assume f ′c = 4 ksi, fy = 60 ksi, a 1.5-in. concrete cover, and no. 4 stirrups.

2 3
1

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Section 2

First, calculate Acp and Pcp for this section and

calculate 𝜙Tcr. Assuming flanges are confined with
closed stirrups, the effective flange part to be used
on each side of the web is equal to four times the
flange thickness, or 4(4) = 16 in. = h𝑤 = 16 in.

Note: If the flanges are neglected and the torsional

reinforcement is confined in the web only, then

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Design for Torsion

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Q 2. For the given beam section. use 2” clear cover from all
Homework No.12
sides and stirrups are no.4 (d=0.5”) and main steel is no.8
(d=1”). Yield stress for main steel is 60 ksi and for stirrups 40
Q 1. For the given hollow beam section (h=34” and ksi. Calculate Ao for the given beam section. Use hf =7”, h=28”
b=14”), calculate the minimum compressive
and bw=16”
strength for a light-weight (lambda=0.75) concrete
to be used so that the beam does not require to be
reinforced against torsional stresses. Given the
applied factor torsional moment Tu equals to 50
K.in

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Example 2 (Manaseer) Equilibrium Torsion
Determine the necessary web reinforcement for the rectangular section shown in the
Figure. The section is subjected to a factored shear Vu = 48 K and an equilibrium torsion
Tu = 360K. in at a section located at a distance d from the face of the support. Use
normal-weight concrete with f ′c = 4 ksi and fy = 60 ksi

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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Torsional reinforcement is needed. Note that

if Tu is less than 82.36 K.in., torsional
reinforcement is not required, but shear
reinforcement may be required.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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Example 3 Compatibility Torsion
Repeat Example 2 if the factored torsional torque is a compatibility torsion

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

Example 4 (Manaseer) L-Section with Equilibrium Torsion
The edge beam of a building floor system is shown in the Figure. The section at a distance d from the face of
the support is subjected to Vu = 53K and an equilibrium torque Tu = 240K⋅ in. Design the necessary web
reinforcement using f ′c = 4ksi and fy = 60 ksi for all steel bars and stirrups

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

b. Check if torsional reinforcement is needed. Assuming that

flange is contributing to resist torsion, the effective flange length
is h𝑤 = 15 in. < 4 × 6 = 24 in.

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

Design for Torsion

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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 Chapter Five Reinforced Concrete Design II

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Q 2: For the given beam section. Determine the area for the
Homework No.13
additional longitudinal bars to be added for torsional
resistance. Use 2” clear cover from all sides and stirrups are
Q 1: For the given beam section reinforced for torsional
no.4 (d=0.5”). Use hf =8”, h=32” and bw=16”. Knowing that
stress with stirrups area (At/s) equals to 0.0177 in2/in,
the yield stress for main steel is 60 Ksi and for stirrups is 40
Determine the maximum torsional moment (Tu) that
Ksi. Use Ɵ equals 45°. The ultimate torsional moment Tu
can be applied on the section for the given dimensions
equals to 50 k-ft. Neglect the calculation of min Al.
and torsional stirrups.
Use yield stress for stirrups is 40 Ksi
and Ɵ equals 45°. Given h=28” and
bw=10”. Use 2” clear cover from all
sides and torsional stirrups are no.4
(d=0.5”). Neglect the longitudinal
torsional reinforcement.

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