CE 353 REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN

LECTURE NOTES – UNIT 1

Introduction and Philosophy of Design

January 2023

Ing. Dr. Jones Owusu Twumasi

Structural Health Monitoring and Materials Research Group
Structural Engineering Section
Civil Engineering Department
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

1
 Outline

▪ Introduction
▪ Course objectives
▪ Syllabus
▪ Design Philosophy
▪ Basic structural concepts and material properties
−

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 Introduction
▪ Course objectives
▪ Understand the fundamental principles of the FEM
▪ Consider the formulation of finite element equilibrium
equations
▪ Computation of finite element matrices
▪ Methods for solution of governing equations
▪ Application to bars, beams, trusses, and plane frames

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 Introduction
▪ Syllabus
▪ Materials and syllabus will be posted on VClass and shared on
google drive
▪ Mode of assessment
▪ Homework, Team Project, Mid-semester and Final Examinations

Reference Textbooks
1. Kassimali, Aslam. Matrix analysis of structures. Cengage Learning, 2021.
2. Chandrupatla, Tirupathi R., et al. Introduction to finite elements in engineering. Vol. 10. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2002.
3. Oñate, Eugenio. Structural analysis with the finite element method. Linear statics: volumes 1 & 2: beams, plates
and shells. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.
4. Bathe, Klaus-Jürgen. Finite element procedures. Klaus-Jurgen Bathe, 2006.
Robert and Cook, 1994 4
 Introduction to Structural Design
▪ Primary aim during design life:
▪ satisfactory performance
▪ can carry the loads safely
▪ no excessive deformation due to
the applied loads
▪ realistic estimates of the
strengths of the materials and
loading
Caution: The designer must have a basic understanding of
structural behaviour 5
 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Characteristics of an excellent structural design:
▪ Safe
▪ Economical to build and maintain
▪ Aesthetically pleasing

▪ Civil/Structural Engineering definition of design

▪ It means the entire planning process for a new

building structure, bridge, tunnel, road, etc.,
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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ The design process-Inputs
▪ Experience
▪ Imagination
▪ Site investigation
▪ Model and laboratory tests
▪ Economic factors
▪ Environmental factors.

Together with the drawings, there will be bills of quantities, a specification and a contract, which
will form the necessary legal and organizational framework within which a contractor, under the
supervision of engineers and architects, can construct the scheme.
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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Basis of design
▪ Like is risky!
▪ When benefits
outweigh risks, an
activity becomes
acceptable

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Basis of design
▪ The overlap (shaded in
red) must be minimized
to avoid structural failure
▪ Minimization of overlap
by three distinct design
philosophies, namely:
i. permissible stress design
ii. load factor method
iii. limit state design.

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Permissible stress design - PSD
▪ Also called modular ratio
or elastic design
▪ the stresses in the structure
at working loads are not
allowed to exceed a certain
proportion of the yield
stress of the construction
material Stress-strain curve of a low-carbon steel
Assuming that the stress-strain relationship over this range is linear, it is possible to
calculate the actual stresses in the material.
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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Permissible stress design - PSD
▪ PSD formed the basis of
the design methods used
in CP 114 (the forerunner
of BS 8110)
▪ Drawbacks of PSD
i. PSD sometimes overcomplicates the
design process and leads to conservative
solutions.

ii. increased material quality and decreased safety margins make the assumption that stress
and strain are directly proportional unjustifiable for materials such as concrete. Making it
impossible to estimate the factor of safety 11
 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Load factor design - LFD

▪ LFD, also called plastic design

▪ Developed to account for structural behaviour
beyond the elastic zone of the material
▪ Involved calculating the collapse load of the
structure. The working load was derived by
dividing the collapse load by a load factor

▪ simplified methods of analysis and allowed actual

factors of safety to be calculated

▪ It was permitted in CP 114 but was slow in gaining

acceptance and was eventually superseded by the
more comprehensive limit state approach.

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Example 1 – the difference between LFD PSD

▪ Consider the case of a simply supported, solid rectangular beam (Fig. A.1),
depth (d) 200 mm, span (l) 10 m and subject to a uniformly distributed load
(w) of 12 kN/ m. Calculate the minimum width of beam (b) using
permissible stress and load factor approaches to design assuming the
following:

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Example 2 – the difference between LFD PSD

▪ Consider the case of a simply supported, solid rectangular beam (Fig. A.1),
depth (d) 200 mm, span (l) 10 m and subject to a uniformly distributed load
(w) of 12 kN/ m. Calculate the minimum width of beam (b) using
permissible stress and load factor approaches to design assuming the
following:

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Limit state design - LSD
▪ Could be seen as a compromise
between the permissible and load
factor methods.
▪ Comprehensive approach, which
considers both methods in
appropriate ways.

▪ BS 8110 is based on LSD

▪ Two classifications: Ultimate and
Serviceability Limit States

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Limit state design - LSD
▪ Aim is to achieve acceptable
probabilities that a structure will not
become unfit (not reach a limit state)
▪ Examples of how a structure could
be unfit
▪ excessive conditions of bending and
shear
▪ compression, deflection and
cracking

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Limit state design - LSD
▪ Ultimate limit state - ULS
▪ This limit state may lead to the partial or
complete collapse of the structure
▪ Example: bending, shear and compression
▪ ULS enable the designer to calculate the
strength of the structure

▪ Serviceability limit state - SLS

▪ This limit states, e.g., deflection and cracking,
principally affect the structure’s appearance.
▪ SLS model the behaviour of the structure at
working loads

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Limit state design – LSD

▪ Characteristics and design values

▪ Loading values assumption is required in assessing the
effectiveness of a particular limit state on the structure

▪ This requires an understanding of the concepts of character and

design values

▪ Reasons for characteristic and design values

- Uncertainty in the material strength
- Uncertainty of the load carry capacity of the member section

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Limit state design – LSD

▪ Characteristics and design values

▪ The characteristic strength is the value below which the strength
lies in only a small number of cases

▪ Similarly, the characteristic load is the value above which the load
lies in only a small percentage of cases

▪ A partial safety factor of safety is used to account for other

unforeseen effects on loading and materials strength

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Limit state design – LSD
▪ Characteristics and design values
▪ Design strength

▪ Design load

γm- will depend on the materials’ properties

γf- will depend on other factors to be discussed later

To avoid structural failure - Design strength ≥ Design load

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 Structural Design Philosophy
▪ Basic structural concept and material properties
▪ Characteristics and design values
▪ Design strength

▪ Design load

γm- will depend on the materials’ properties

γf- will depend on other factors to be discussed later

To avoid structural failure - Design strength ≥ Design load

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 CE 353 REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN
LECTURE NOTES – UNIT 2

Basic Structural Concepts and Materials Properties

January 2023

Ing. Dr. Jones Owusu Twumasi

Structural Health Monitoring and Materials Research Group
Structural Engineering Section
Civil Engineering Department
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

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 Design Loads
▪ Structural elements
▪ Slabs, beams, columns,
walls, foundations
▪ Load transfer
▪ Element connections
▪ Reaction from one
element is a load on the
other

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 Design Loads
▪ Types of design loads
▪ Dead load (Gk, gk) – All permanent loads acting on a structure
▪ Examples: self-weight, finishes, fixtures and partitions
▪ Live or imposed load (Qk, qk): load due to the proposed
occupancy
▪ Examples: weights of the occupants, furniture and roof loads,
including snow
▪ Wind load

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 Design Loads
▪ Load combinations
▪ The design loads are obtained by multiplying the characteristic
loads by the partial safety factor for loads (γf ).

▪ Partial safety factor for loads (γf ) depends on the following

▪ Type of limit state – Ultimate or serviceability
▪ Accuracy of predicting the load
▪ Load combination that will lead to the worst-case scenario
regarding bending, shear, and deflections.

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 Design Loads
▪ Load combinations
▪ In simple structures, the worst possible combination will arise due
to the maximum dead and maximum imposed loads acting on
the structure together.
▪ For dead load 1.0 ≤ γf ≤ 1.4 and imposed load 0 ≤ γf ≤ 1.6
▪ Possible load combinations –Simply supported beam with overhang

Choose the combination that

yields the highest bending
moment and shear force
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 Design Loads
▪ Design loads acting on elements
▪ Calculate the design loads acting on individual elements
▪ requires the designer to make assumptions regarding the support conditions
and how the loads will eventually be transmitted down to the ground

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 Design Loads
▪ Design loads acting on elements
▪ Example: Design load on a floor beam

A composite floor consisting of a 150 mm

thick reinforced concrete slab supported on
steel beams spanning 5 m and spaced at 3 m
centres is designed to carry an imposed load
of 3.5 kNm−2 . Assuming that the unit mass
of the steel beams is 50 kgm−1 run, calculate
the design loads on a typical internal beam

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 Design Loads
▪ Design loads acting on elements
▪ Example: Design load on floor beams and columns

The floor shown has an overall depth of 225

mm and is designed to carry an imposed
load of 3 kNm−2 plus floor finishes and
ceiling loads of 1 kNm−2 . Calculate the
design loads acting on beams B1–C1, B2–C2
and B1–B3 and columns B1 and C1. Assume
that all the column heights are 3 m and the
beam and column weights are 70 and 60 kg
m−1 run, respectively.
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 Structural Analysis Review
▪ Axial member sizing
▪ Designed axial loads can be used to directly size columns
▪ Flexural member sizing
▪ Bending moments and shear forces need to be evaluated

▪ Analysis approach
▪ Equilibrium equations
▪ Formulae
▪ Computer methods

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 Structural Analysis Review
▪ Equilibrium equations - Example

▪ Calculate the design bending moments and shear forces in the beam
shown below

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 Structural Analysis Review
▪ Formulae-

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 Structural Analysis Review
▪ Formulae- Example

▪ Calculate the design bending moments and shear forces in the beam
shown below

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 Beam Design
▪ Design process-

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 Beam Design
▪ Design Process-
▪ Beyond structural analysis, the next step is the size and
strength assessment
Type of beam/loading scheme Limit state that governs
Medium-span beams moderately loaded Bending
Short-span beams which are heavily Shear
loaded
For long-span beams Serviceability (deflection)

Regardless of the limit state that governs, once a preliminary assessment of the size and strength of the beam
needed has been made, all other limit states that may influence its long-term integrity must be checked.

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 Beam Design
▪ Design Process-
▪ The processes involved in such a
selection will depend on whether the
construction material behaves (i)
elastically or (ii) plastically

▪ Elastic (Obeys Hooke’s law)

▪ Plastic: A material is said to be plastic

if it strains without a change in stress

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 Beam Design
▪ Elastic criteria-
▪ Elastic behaviour of beam under bending

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 Beam Design
▪ Plastic criteria-
▪ Plastic behaviour of beam under bending

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 Beam Design
▪ Examples-
Calculate the moment of resistance of a beam 50 mm wide by 100 mm deep
with σy = 20 N mm−2 according to (i) elastic criteria and (ii) plastic criteria.

Elastic criteria

Plastic criteria

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 Column Design
▪ Design Process-
▪ relatively straightforward.
▪ involves making sure that the design load does not exceed the load
capacity of the column, i.e., Load capacity ≥ design axial load
▪ If a column is designed to resist purely axial loads, its load capacity is
given by: Load capacity = design stress × area of column cross-section
▪ Failure mode -
▪ Crushing
▪ Buckling
▪ Combination of crushing and buckling

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CE 353 REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN
LECTURE NOTES – UNIT 3

Design in Reinforced Concrete to BS8110

January 2023

Ing. Dr. Jones Owusu Twumasi

Structural Health Monitoring and Materials Research Group
Structural Engineering Section
Civil Engineering Department
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

41
 Basis of Design
▪ BS 8110 – three parts
▪ Part 1: Code of practice for design and construction.
▪ covers most of the material required for everyday design.

▪ Part 2: Code of practice for special circumstances.

▪ covers subjects such as torsional resistance, calculation of deflections
and estimation of crack widths

▪ Part 3: Design charts for singly reinforced, doubly reinforced, and

rectangular columns.

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 Basis of Design
▪ Structural elements

▪ Roof
▪ Slab
▪ Beam
▪ Column
▪ Foundation
▪ Walls

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 Basis of Design
▪ BS 8110 is based on the limit state method
▪ ultimate limit state
▪ serviceability limit state.
▪ Identify the relevant limit states
▪ the design process simply involves basing the design on the most
critical one
▪ finally, checking for the remaining limit states
▪ Understanding of materials properties and loading are key to a
successful design

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 Materials Properties
▪ Concrete
▪ Concrete is a mixture of water, coarse and fine aggregate, cementitious
binder (normally Portland cement), and admixtures that hardens to a
stone-like mass.

▪ It is difficult to produce a homogeneous material from these

components.

▪ its strength and other properties may vary considerably due to

operations such as transportation, compaction and curing.

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 Materials Properties
▪ Characteristic compressive strength of concrete (fcu)
▪ The compressive strength of concrete is usually determined by carrying
out compression tests on 28-day-old, 100/150 mm cubes according to BS
EN 12390-1 (2000)
▪ An alternative approach is to use 100 mm diameter by 200 mm long
cylinders.
▪ its strength and other properties may vary considerably due to
operations such as transportation, compaction and curing.

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 Materials Properties
▪ Characteristic compressive strength of concrete
(fcu)
▪ With large compression test results, a plot
of crushing strength against the frequency
of occurrence would approximate a normal
distribution
▪ fcu is defined as the value below, which is
not more than 5 per cent of the test results
fall
▪ The characteristic and mean strength (fm)of
a sample are related: fcu = fm − 1.64 s.d.
where s.d = standard deviation of the test
results
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 Materials Properties
▪ Characteristic compressive strength of concrete (fcu)
▪ It’s identified by strength class
▪ strength class consists of the
characteristic cylinder and cube
strengths of the mix
▪ For example, a class C25/30 concrete has
a characteristic cylinder strength of 25
Nmm−2 and a characteristic cube
strength of 30 Nmm−2
▪ BS 8110 is based on characteristic cube
strength
▪ concrete strength classes in the range
C20/25 and C50/60 can be designed
using BS 8110
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 Materials Properties
▪ Characteristic compressive strength of concrete (fcu)
▪ The straightforward approach is to use a designated concrete by specifying
the strength class, e.g., RC 20/25, and the maximum aggregate size.

▪ Under special circumstances, this approach may not be suitable

▪ E.g., for concrete exposed to an aggressive chemical environment, a

designed mix may be required, and the designer will need to specify not only
the strength class, i.e., C20/25, and the maximum aggregate size but also the
maximum permissible water/cement ratio, minimum cement content,
permitted cement or combination types, amongst other aspects.

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 Materials Properties
▪ Characteristic strength of reinforcement (fy)
▪ Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension.
▪ Because of this, it is normal practice to provide steel reinforcement in
those areas where tensile stresses in the concrete are most likely to
develop.
▪ Consequently, it is the tensile strength of the reinforcement that most
concerns the designer
▪ The tensile strength of steel reinforcement can be determined using the
procedure laid down in BS EN 10002

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 Materials Properties

▪ Characteristic strength of reinforcement (fy)

▪ The tensile strength will also vary
with specimens of the same
composition.

▪ BS 8110 recommends that the design

be based on the characteristic
strength of the reinforcement (fy)

▪ Typical values for mild steel and

high-yield steel reinforcement, 250
Nmm−2 and 500 Nmm−2, respectively.
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 Materials Properties

▪ Design strength( fy)

▪ Characteristic strength of concrete and steel reinforcement is
obtained through laboratory tests
▪ Such condition will rarely occur in practice
▪ The characteristic strengths are divided by an appropriate factor
of safety to account for uncertainties in the field
▪ The final values are termed the design strength, which is used to
size the members

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 Materials Properties

▪ Typical factor of safety (Table 2.2., BS 8110)

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 Loading

▪ Introduction
▪ In addition to the material properties, the type and magnitude of
the loading are crucial.
▪ Loads acting on a structure: dead, imposed and wind

▪ Characteristic load
▪ Load reference documents: BS 648: Schedule of weights for building
materials. BS 6399: Design loadings for buildings, Part 1: Code of
practice for dead and imposed loads; Part 2: Code of practice for wind
loads; Part 3: Code of practice for imposed roof loads

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 Loading

▪ Design load
▪ Characteristic loads are factored to account for uncertainties

▪ Generally, the ‘adverse’ factors will be used to derive the design

loads acting on the structure

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 Loading

▪ Design load

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 Stress-Strain Curves

▪ Stress-strain curve for concrete

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 Stress-Strain Curves

▪ Stress-strain curve for steel reinforcement

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 Durability & Fire Resistance

▪ Durability
▪ Aim is to minimize deterioration of structures
▪ Concern with the protection of steel reinforcement in RC
structures.
▪ The main mechanisms of concrete deterioration addressed in BS
8500-1 are freeze/thaw attack, sulphate attack and alkali/silica
reaction.

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 Durability & Fire Resistance

▪ Durability
▪ In general, the durability of concrete structures is largely achieved by
imposing limits on:
1. the minimum strength class of concrete;
2. the minimum cover to reinforcement;
3. the minimum cement content;
4. the maximum water/cement ratio;
5. the cement type or combination;
6. the maximum allowable surface crack width.
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Durability & Fire Resistance

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Durability & Fire Resistance

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Durability & Fire Resistance

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 Durability & Fire Resistance

▪ Example
▪ Selection of minimum strength class and nominal concrete cover
to reinforcement (BS 8110)
Assuming a design life of 50 years,
determine the minimum concrete
strength classes of concrete and the
associated nominal covers to
reinforcement at locations 1–4 for
the structure shown. List any
assumptions.

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 Durability & Fire Resistance

▪ Fire protection
▪ Fire protection of reinforced
concrete members is largely
achieved by specifying
limits for:
1. nominal thickness of
cover to the reinforcement;
2. minimum dimensions of
members.

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 Durability & Fire Resistance

▪ Fire protection
▪ Fire protection of reinforced
concrete members is largely
achieved by specifying
limits for:
1. nominal thickness of
cover to the reinforcement;
2. minimum dimensions of
members.

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 Beam Design

▪ Beams in RC structures can be defined according to:

▪ cross-section
▪ position of reinforcement
▪ support conditions.

▪ Example of cross-section

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 Beam Design

▪ Notation
- b is the width of the beam,
- h the overall depth of section,
- d the effective depth of tension reinforcement,
- d′ the depth of compression reinforcement,
- As the area of tension reinforcement and
- As′ the area of compression reinforcement.

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam

- Bending (clause 3.4.4.4, BS 8110)
Consider the case of a simply
supported, singly reinforced,
rectangular beam subject to a
uniformly distributed load ω as
shown in Figs 3.15 and 3.16

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ The ultimate moment of resistance, Mu

Mu = 0.156fcubd 2

Mu depends only on the properties of the concrete and not the steel
reinforcement. Provided that the design moment does not exceed Mu
(i.e. M ≤ Mu). Singly reinforced beams meet this requirement. The depth
of the neutral axis (x) to a maximum of 0.5d, where d is the effective
depth Hence x ≤ 0.5d
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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ Area of tension reinforcement, As

As - area of tension reinforcement, M – design moment, fy – yield strength

of steel reinforcement, z – moment arm

it should be remembered that the equation can only be used to determine

As provided that M ≤ Mu or K ≤ K′ where
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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ Lever or moment arm, z. At the limiting condition Mu = M

In clause 3.4.4.1 of BS 8110 it is noted that z

should not exceed 0.95d in order to give a
reasonable concrete area in compression

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ Summary of design
▪ Calculate maximum design moment (M) and corresponding
ultimate moment of resistance of the section (Mu).

▪ Check if M ≤ Mu or K ≤ K′′. In that case only tension

reinforcement is needed

▪ the area of steel can be calculated using

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ Example

A simply supported rectangular beam of 7 m span carries characteristic dead (including

self-weight of beam), gk, and imposed, qk, loads of 12 kNm−1 and 8 kNm−1 respectively
The beam dimensions are breadth, b = 275 mm and effective depth, d = 450 mm.
Assuming the following material strengths, calculate the area of reinforcement required.
fcu = 30 Nmm−2 fy = 500 Nmm−2

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ Example

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 Beam Design

▪ Design of Singly RC Beam – Bending (clause 3.4.4.4)

▪ Using design chart
1. Check M ≤ Mu.
2. Select appropriate chart from Part
3 of BS 8110 based on the grade of
tensile reinforcement.
3. Calculate M/bd2 .
4. Plot M/bd2 ratio on chart and read
off corresponding 100As/bd value
using curve appropriate to grade of
concrete selected for design.
5. Calculate As.

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