Deflection
The bending deflections of reinforced concrete slabs are divided into:
• Immediate deflections, occurring instantaneously after the loads are applied.
• Long-term deflections, where concrete members continue to deflect with time under constant
loads, primarily due to the effects of shrinkage and creep.
General procedure for calculating the total deflection
In this section, we will explain the procedure for calculating the total deflection of reinforced concrete
members in accordance with the ACI Code.
Let us assume we have a continuous beam with uniformly distributed load and we want to calculate the
deflection for the 2nd span between supports 2 and 3.
Figure 1- Deflection check general example
1. Design the beam at ULS
2. Find the internal bending moment at supports and midspan for the following load cases
− DL
− DL + LL
− DL + % sustained LL
3. Calculate the moment of inertia:
bh3
Ig =
12
4. Calculate the moment of inertia of cracked transformed section:
b(kd)3
Icr = + nAs (d − kd)2 + (n − 1)A′s (kd − d′)2
⏟
3
=0 𝑖𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚
Where
k = √2n𝜌 + (n𝜌)2 − n𝜌
As
𝜌=
𝑏𝑑
5. Calculate the effective moment of inertia under each load case
Mcr 3 Mcr 3
Ie = ( ) Ig + [1 − ( ) ] Icr ≤ Ig
⏟Ma ⏟Ma
≤1 ≤1
Where
𝑓𝑟 𝐼𝑔
𝑀𝑐𝑟 =
𝑦⏟𝑡
ℎ/2
𝑀𝑎 : The maximum moment in the member at the stage where the deflection is computed
6. Calculate the immediate deflection due to both load cases DL and DL + LL then check the deduce
the immediate deflection due to LL
5 5
k ( ) MDL l2 k ( ) MDL+LL l2
Δi,DL = 48 and Δi,DL + LL = 48
Ec Ie,DL Ec Ie,DL+LL
Δi,LL = Δi,DL + LL − Δi,DL
Where
Cantilevered beam: 2.4
Simply supported beam: 1
k: { Ma
Continuous beam: 1.2 − 0.2 ×
M0
With M0 : the maximum moment obtained if the beam was simply supported
l: span length
7. Calculate the immediate deflection due to DL + % sustained LL
5
k (48) MDL + %Sustained LL l2
Δi,sustained =
Ec Ie,DL + %Sustained LL
8. Calculate the long-term deflection
ΔLT = λ × Δi,sustained
Where
2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 5 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒
1.4 𝑓𝑜𝑟 12 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠
𝜆: {
1.2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 6 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠
1 𝑓𝑜𝑟 3 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠
9. Check the deflection limit from table 24.2.2 ACI 318-14
Figure 2- Maximum permissible calculated deflections
Deflection check for P01
In this section, we will perform a deflection check for beam P01. This process involves evaluating the
deflection at the 2nd span between supports 2 and 3 by following the methodology outlined in the
preceding section.
1. Design the beam at ULS
Figure 3- P01 section
2. Find the internal bending moment at supports and midspan for the following load cases
Moment (T.m)
Load case Span Left support Right support
DL 4.3 7.2 7.2
DL + LL 5.4 9 9
DL + 30% Sustained
4.7 7.7 7.7
LL
Figure 4- Bending moments in P01 under SLS
3. Calculate the moment of inertia:
bh3 120 × 303
Ig = = = 270 000 𝑐𝑚4
12 12
4. Calculate the moment of inertia of cracked transformed section:
• For midspan
As 13.77
𝜌= = = 0.0046
𝑏𝑑 120 × 25
Es 2 040 000
𝑛= = = 8.5
Ec 240 000
{k = √2n𝜌 + (n𝜌)2 − n𝜌 = √2 × 8.5 × 0.0046 + (8.5 × 0.0046)2 − 8.5 × 0.0046 = 0.243
Let us find the position of neutral axis to check whether the bars in compression are below the
neutral axis or not:
If the section is balanced:
𝐴s f𝑦 13.77 × 4200
𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑦 = 0.85𝑓𝑐′ 𝑏𝑎 −> We get a = ′ = = 2.27 cm
0.85f𝑐 b 0.85 × 250 × 120
d′ = 5.45 cm > a = 2.27 cm -> A′s = 0
b(kd)3 120(6.1)3
Icr = + nAs (d − kd)2 = + 8.5 × 13.77 × (25 − 6.1)2 = 51 107 𝑐𝑚4
3 3
• For supports
As 13.77
𝜌= = = 0.0046
𝑏𝑑 120 × 25
Es 2 040 000
𝑛= = = 8.5
Ec 240 000
{k = √2n𝜌 + (n𝜌)2 − n𝜌 = √2 × 8.5 × 0.0046 + (8.5 × 0.0046)2 − 8.5 × 0.0046 = 0.243
b(kd)3 120(6.1)3
Icr = + nAs (d − kd)2 = + 8.5 × 13.77 × (25 − 6.1)2 = 51 107 𝑐𝑚4
3 3
5. Calculate the effective moment of inertia under each load case
fr Ig 31 × 270 000
Mcr = = = 5.7 𝑇. 𝑚
yt 15
Mcr
Since Ma
> 1 in midspan for all load cases then Ie = Ig
Mcr 3 Mcr 3
Ie = ( ) Ig + [1 − ( ) ] Icr ≤ Ig
⏟Ma ⏟Ma
≤1 ≤1
Effective moment of inertia
(cm4)
Load case Span Right support
DL 270 000 159263
DL + LL 270 000 139532
DL + 30% Sustained LL 270 000 106483
Table 1- Effective moment of inertias
Now the effective moment of inertia of the span:
Ie = 0.5Imidspan + 0.25(Isupport 1 + Isupport 2 )
− DL: Ie = 214 632 cm4
− DL + LL: Ie = 204 766 cm4
− DL + % sustainedLL: Ie = 204 766 cm4
6. Calculate the immediate deflection due to both load cases DL and DL + LL then check the deduce
the immediate deflection due to LL
5 5
k (48) MDL l2 k (48) MDL l2
Δi,DL = =
Ec Ie,DL Ec Ie,DL
5
k ( ) MDL+LL l2
and Δi,DL + LL = 48
Ec Ie,DL+LL
