DEFLECTION DESIGN

Excessive deflections may lead to sagging floors, to roofs that cannot drain properly, to damaged
partitions and finishes.

EC2 requirements for deflection control are: -

1. The calculated sag of a beam, slab or cantilever under quasi-permanent loading should not
exceed span/250
2. The deflection occurring after construction of the element should not exceed span/500

In design, it is usual to comply with the above deflection limits by a straight-forward procedure of
limiting the ratio of the span to the effective depth; it is only in exceptional cases that deflections are
actually calculated and compared to the limiting values.

Eqn. 7.16a

Eqn.7.16b

1
In beams where span > 7m, K1 is multiplied by 7/span

Example 1: Deflection design

Deflection control (Section 7.4)
Reference reinforcement ratio; 0 = (fck N/mm2)0.5 / 1000 = 0.005
Required tension reinforcement ratio;  = As,req / (b  d) = 0.009
Required compression reinforcement ratio; ' = As2,req / (b  d) = 0.000
Structural system factor (Table 7.4N); K1 = 1.0 (Simply supported)
Flanged beam modification factor K2=1.0(Rectangular section)
Reinforcement factor (exp.7.17); K3 = min(As,prov / As,req, 1.5)  500 N/mm2 / fyk = 1.22
Allowable span to depth ratio (7.16b);
span_to_depthallow = K1K2K3  [11 + 1.5  (fck )0.5  0 / ( - ') + (fck )0.5  (' / 0)0.5 / 12] = 18.5
Actual span to depth ratio; span_to_depthactual = Ls1 / d = 15.837
PASS - Actual span to depth ratio is within the allowable limit

Example 2: Deflection Design

Deflection control (Section 7.4)
Reference reinforcement ratio; 0 = (fck / 1 N/mm2)0.5 / 1000 = 0.005
Required tension reinforcement ratio;  = As,req / (b  d) = 0.017
Required compression reinforcement ratio; ' = As2,req / (b  d) = 0.001
Structural system factor (Table 7.4N); K1 = 1.0
Span correction factor for spans >7m=7/9=0.78
Flanged beam modification factor K2=1.0(Rectangular section)
Reinforcement factor (exp.7.17); K3 = min(As,prov / As,req, 1.5)  500 N/mm2 / fyk = 1.19
Allowable span to depth ratio (7.16b);
span_to_depthallow = K1K2K3  [11 + 1.5  (fck )0.5  0 / ( - ') + (fck )0.5  (' / 0)0.5 / 12] = 12.5
Actual span to depth ratio; span_to_depthactual = Ls1 / d = 28.346
FAIL - Actual span to depth ratio exceeds the allowable limit

REDESIGN WITH A DEEPER SECTION TO SATISFY DEFLECTION REQUIREMENTS