MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY OF KENYA

Report on Design and Simulation of Reinforced Concrete

Slab

Name:

Reg. No.:

Supervisor:

December, 2023
Introduction
The report presents the design and simulation of a concrete slab composed of nine hollow
blocks and two steel tendon-reinforced concrete T-beams. It was based on specified concrete
slab dimensions, material properties, forces and stresses. Solidworks 2020 was used to
analyze and simulate the forces, stresses and deflections of the slab.

Permanent Actions
Permanent actions in the design were the forces that were constant and represented weight of
the slab. Mass of the each of the two beams was 32.1118kg/m, for 1.8m, the total mass of the
beam was given by Equation 1.

mbeams =2∗m∗Lbeam (1)

Where,

mbeam= Mass of the two beams, kg;

m = Mass per unit metre of each beam, kg/m;

Lbeam= Length of the beam, m;

mbeam=2∗32.1118∗1.8

mbeam=115.6025 kg

Figure 2 illustrates the hollow block and Figure 3 illustrates blocks and beam assembly. Mass
of each hollow concrete block was 21.2893kg. The blocks were 445mm long, 200mm wide
and 150mm deep. The total mass of the nine hollow blocks used in the slab design was given
by Equation 2.
 Figure 1: Hollow block

Figure 2: Blocks and beams assembly

mblocks =9∗mhb (2 )

Where,

mblocks= Total mass of the nine hollow blocks, kg;

mhb= Mass of each hollow block, kg;

 mblocks =9∗21.2893

¿ 191.6037 kg

Mass of block and beam concrete cover was 160.4494kg/m. The length of the cover was
1.8m. Total mass of the slab concrete cover, mscover , was given by Equation 3. Figure 3
illustrates the concrete cover.

Figure 3: Cover concrete for the beam and blocks

mscover =mcover∗L cover (3)

Where,

mcover = Mass per unit metre of the concrete cover, kg/m;

Lcover = Length of the slab cover, m;

mscover =160.4494∗1.8

¿ 288.809 kg
Permanent actions for beams ( Pbeams ), blocks ( Pblocks ) and slab cover ( Pscover ) can be given by
the product of the masses and the gravitational acceleration, g, as shown in sets of equations
in Equation 4.

}
Pbeams =mbeam g
Pblocks =mblocks g ( 4 )
Pscover =mscover g

The permanent actions were found as 1,134.0605N for the two T-beams, 1,879.6323N for all
the nine hollow blocks and 2,833.2163N for the slab concrete cover. Total permanent actions,
Ptotal , was 5,846.9091N.

Variable Actions
Variable actions are the forces that were not constant but varied in unpredictable way over
time. They included the variable load of 27,500N normal to the top plane of the slab.

Design Load
The design load is the combination of permanent and variable actions that are used for the
structural analysis and design of the slab. According to Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1) (Beeby &
Narayanan, 2005), the design load for ultimate limit state (ULS) is given by Equation 5.

Ld =γ G∗G K + γ Q∗Q K (5)

Where,

Ld is the design load;

γ G and γ Q are the partial factors for permanent and variable actions respectively;

G K is the characteristic value of permanent action, 5,4846.9091N; and

Q K is the characteristic value of variable action, 27,500N.

Assuming γ G = 1.35 and γ Q = 1.5, the design load for ultimate limit state (ULS) is:

Ld =1.35∗54846.9091+1.5∗27500
 Ld =115,293 N

¿ 115.3kN

Structural Analysis
The structural analysis of the slab was performed in Solidworks 2020 Premium. The aim was
to obtain the deformations, stresses and strains in the slab under the design load. The slab was
modeled as linear elastic with load of 115.3kN applied at the centre using a steel rod and
support provided from the bottom using two steel rods in three-point bending. Figure 4
illustrates the 3 point bending set up, loads and fixed supports.

Figure 4: Load and fixed supports of the slab

The two steel supports were fixed at their bottom surfaces and free at their top surfaces.
Reactions were also analyzed. Reactions in x, y and z directions as well as the resultant were
obtained as shown in Table 1. Highest reaction forces of 115,224N were obtained along the
y-axis and lowest of -0.000246525N were found to be in the x-axis. Resultant of the forces
was 115.3kN.

Table 1: Reactions and components

Components X Y Z Resultant
Reaction force(N) -0.000246525 115,224 4,181.73 115,300
Figure 5 illustrates meshing of the slab and the 3-point bending set up. Incompatible meshing of the components
of slab assembly was used. Small parts like T-beam tendons had finest meshes, while large parts like the
concrete cover had coarse meshes.

Figure 5: Meshing of the slab, loading rod and supports

Flexure Design
The flexure design of the slab is based on the bending moment and shear force diagrams
obtained from the structural analysis. The bending moment diagram shows a maximum
positive moment of 89.36kNm at the center of the slab and zero moments at the supports. The
shear force diagram shows a maximum shear force of 57.65kN at each support and zero shear
force at the center of the slab.

The flexure design was performed according to Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1) using two beams
with four steel tendons per beam, each of diameter of 5mm for reinforcement (Beeby &
Narayanan, 2005). The flexural resistance of a reinforced concrete section was given by
Equation 6.

M r=f yd∗A s∗ d−( x2 )( 6)

Where,
 M r is the flexural resistance;

f yd is the design yield strength of reinforcement;

A sis the area of reinforcement;

d is the effective depth of section; and

x is the depth of neutral axis.

The design yield strength of reinforcement is given by Equation 7.

f yk
f yd = (7)
γs

Where,

f yk is the characteristic yield strength of reinforcement, 1770 MPa and

γ s is the partial factor for reinforcement, 1.15.

The design yield strength of reinforcement is given by:

1770
f yd =
1.15

¿ 1,539.13 MPa

The effective depth of section is given by Equation 8.

ϕ
d=h−c− (8)
2

Where,

h is the total depth of section, 220mm;

c is the cover, 20mm; and

ϕ is the bar diameter, 5 mm.

The effective depth of section is given by:

5
d=220−2 0−
2
 d=19 7.5 mm

Adopting IS 456-2000 for stress block concrete, the limiting value of depth of neutral axis
was taken as 0.48 times the effective depth of the slab considered as a balanced (Patil, Gore,
& Salunke, 2014; Singh, Patel, Ojha, & Arora, 2020)

The depth of neutral axis is given by Equation 9.

x=0.48∗d (9)

¿ 0.48∗1 97.5

¿ 94 .8 mm

It is also obtained using Equation 10 based on IS 456-2000 for stress block concrete

2
M r=0.01329 f ck ∗b∗d (10)

We obtain flexural stiffness as follows

6 2
M r=0.01329∗60 × 10 ∗0.680∗0. 220

2
¿ 26244.0288 N m

From the neutral axis x, flexural stiffness is given as shown using Equation 6

( x2 )
M r=f yd∗A s∗ d−

Therefore, we find area of reinforcement A s as shown in Equation 11.

Mr
A s= (11)
( )
f yd∗ d −
x
2

Using M r = 26244.0288 N m2, f yd = 1,539.13MPa, d = 167.5 mm and x = 94.8 mm, the area of
reinforcement is:
 26244.0288
A s=
6
(
1,539.13× 10 ∗ 0.1 67 5−
0.0 948
2 )
2
¿ 0.0001419751 m

2
¿ 142 mm

Reinforcement Provided
The reinforcement provided for the slab in the T-beams are eight steel tendons of diameter 5
mm at, with a cover of 20 mm. The slab con only be placed on bottom face. The area of
reinforcement provided was as shown in Equation 12.

2
π∗ϕ
A sp= ∗n(12)
4

Where

ϕ is the bar diameter, and

n is the number of bars.

Using ϕ = 5 mm and n = 8, the area of reinforcement provided is:

2
π∗( 5 )
A sp= ∗8
4

2
¿ 157.079 mm

The area of reinforcement provided (157.079 mm2) is greater than the area of reinforcement
required (1 42 mm2), which means that the section is sufficiently reinforced.

Deflection
The deflection of the slab was checked according to Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1) using the
following formula in Equation 13.

l
δ≤ (13)
250
Where,

δ is the maximum deflection, and

l is the span length.

Given span length of 1550mm, maximum deflection is

1550
δ≤
250

≤ 6.2 mm

The maximum deflection obtained in the simulation was δ = 4.814 mm and slab length of l =
1800 mm. The deflection check found that 4.814mm ≤ 6.2 mm and was, therefore, satisfied.
This meant that the designed slab met the serviceability limit state (SLS) criteria. Figure 6
illustrates results of deflection of the slab.

Figure 6: 3D image of deflection of the slab

Shear Design
The shear design of the slab was based on the shear force diagram obtained from the
structural analysis. The shear force diagram showed a maximum shear force of 57.5kN at
each support and zero shear force at the center of the slab. The shear resistance of the
reinforced concrete section without shear reinforcement was given by Equation 14 (Belletti,
Damoni, Hendriks, & de Boer, 2014).

[ ]
1
V r ,c = CR d ,c∗k∗( 100∗ρl∗f ck ) + k 1∗σ cp ∗w∗d (14 )
3

Where,

V r ,c is the shear resistance;

CR d ,c is a coefficient that takes account of the state of stress in the compression

chord;

k is a factor that takes account of long-term effects on concrete strength and

unfavorable effects from shrinkage;

ρl is the longitudinal reinforcement ratio, 0.01;

f ck is the characteristic compressive strength of concrete, 60MPa;

k 1 is a factor that takes account of axial forces in columns or walls, 0.15;

σ cp is a stress due to prestressing or applied axial force in columns or walls, 0;

w is the width of section; and

d is the effective depth of section, 197.5mm.

0.18
According to Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1), CR d ,c can be taken as , where γ c is the partial
γc
factor for concrete. Assuming γ c = 1.5, CR d ,c can be taken as:

0.18
CR d ,c =
1.5

¿ 0.12

k can be taken as shown in Equation 15.

( √ 200d ,2)(15)
min 1+
Where, d is in mm. Using d = 197.5 mm, k can be taken as:

k =min 1+( √ 1200

97.5 )
,2

¿ min ( 2.0063 , 2 )

¿2

[ ]
1
V r ,c = CR d ,c∗k∗( 100∗ρl∗f ck ) + k 1∗σ cp ∗w∗d
3

[ ]
1

¿ 0.12∗2∗( 100∗0.01∗6 0 ×10 ) +0.15∗0 ∗0. 680∗0.1 97.5

6 3

¿ 12.6184 N

The contribution of the shear reinforcement is given by Equation 16.

A sp
V r . s= ∗z∗f yd∗cot θ(1 6)
s

Where,

A sp is the area of shear reinforcement per unit length, 157.079mm2 for 680mm of slab
width

s is the spacing of the shear reinforcement, 30mm;

z is the lever arm, 0.9d=0.9*197.5mm;

f yd is the design yield strength of the shear reinforcement, 1770MPa and

θ is the angle between the shear reinforcement and the longitudinal axis, 45°.

Plugging these values into the formulae, we get:

−6
157.079 ×10 6 0
V r ,s= ∗0.9∗0.1 975∗1770 ×10 ∗cot 45
0.030∗0.680

¿ 2422539 N
 ¿ 2422.54 kN

Total shear resistance was given by Equation 11.

V r ,d =V r , c +V r ,s (11)

¿ 0.0 126184+ 2422.54

¿ 2422.5 5 kN

Therefore, the shear resistance of the reinforced concrete section with shear reinforcement of
8steel tendons of 5mm diameter was 2422.55kN. Image of reinforcement was as shown in
Figure 7. The steel tendons within the T-beams are visible in yellow colour.

Figure 7: Solidworks Image of slab showing reinforcement

Results show that maximum von-Mises stress was 11.66MPa as shown in Figure 8. The
maximum stress was experienced mid-span and at the lower areas with reinforcement.
 Figure 8: Stress distribution in elastically deformed slab in Solidworks simulation

Strain distribution in the elastically deformed slab was as shown in Figure 9. Minimum strain
was 3.556 ×10−8 and maximum was 3.246 ×10−3.

Figure 9: Strain distribution in the elastically deformed slab in Solidworks 2020 simulation
Summary of the Design
The deformations and stresses experienced by the slab were within acceptable ranges and
could not lead the failure of the slab. Design load of 115.3kN or 64kN/m of the slab was less
than critical load required to fail the slab.