DESIGNING A REINFORCED

CONCRETE BEAM
(by sharim abdullah)
Learning Outcome

At the end of the class, students will be able to:

1)Understand the definition of beam design.

2)Identify the contribution factor of failures in
RC structure.
3) Design the RC beam.
 The aim of design is:

 Todecide the size (dimensions) of the

member and the amount of reinforcement
required.

 To check whether the adopted section will

perform safely and satisfactorily during the
life time of the structure.
 BEAM

 Beams in reinforced concrete structures can be

defined according to:
1. cross-section.
2. position of reinforcement.
3. support conditions.
 Beams reinforced with tension steel only are referred to
as singly reinforced.

 Beams reinforced with tension and compression steel

are termed doubly reinforced.

 Inclusion of compression steel will increase the moment

capacity of the beam and hence allow more slender
sections to be used. Thus, doubly reinforced beams are
used in preference to singly reinforced beams when
there is some restriction on the construction depth of the
section.
 Under certain conditions, T and L beams are more
economical than rectangular beams since some of the
concrete below the dotted line (neutral axis), which
serves only to contain the tension steel, is removed
resulting in a reduced unit weight of beam.

 Beams may be simply supported at their ends or

continuous.
failure in RC structures
Factors affecting failure in RC structures
 Incorrect selection of materials
 Concrete mix should meet the environmental or soil condition
 If sulphates present in the soil, sulphates resistant portland cement should be
used

 Errors in design calculating and detailing

 An independent checking should be made of all design to ensure the
adequacy of structure to carry the design loads

 External
physical and mechanical factors including alterations
made to the structure
 Restraint against movement
 Abrasion ( mechanical wear)
 Overloading
 Structural alterations
 Settlement
 Poor construction methods and inadequate quality control and
supervision
 Incorrect placement of steel
 Inadequate cover to reinforcement
 Incorrect construction joints
 Grout leakage
 Poor compaction
 Segregation
 Poor curing
 High water content
 Chemical attack
 Chloride (e.g : in salt water) can cause corrosion in
reinforcement
 Sulphates (in soil, groundwater, sea water, industrial
waste & acid rain) causes concrete to disintegrate and
permits corrosion to steel
Designing RC Beam
 Symbol:
h = total height
d = effective depth for tension bar
d’= effective depth for compression bar
As = Area of steel for tension bar
As’ = Area of steel for compression bar
Aconc = concrete area

Calculation:
effective depth (d) for tension:
d = h- (concrete cover + link + half of tension bar)

Calculation:
effective depth (d’) for compresion:
d’ = (concrete cover + link + half of compression bar)
Schedule of unit masses of building materials
(BS648)
Imposed loads for residential occupancy class
(BS 6399)
SYMBOLS
Nominal Covers
 Nominal cover to all reinforcement to meet speciperiods of fire resistance
(based on Table 3.4, BS 8110)
Reinforcement Areas
( clause 3.12.5.3 & 3.12.6.1, BS 8110)

 For rectangular beams with overall

dimensions b and h, the area of tension &
compression reinforcement, As & AS’, should
lie within the following limits:

 0.24% bh ≤ As’ ≤ 4%bh =AS’

 0.13% bh ≤ As ≤ 4%bh =AS
AS min AS max
Spacing of Reinforcement
( clause 3.12.11.1, Bs 8110)

 For singly reinforced simply supported

beams, the clear horizontal distance between
tension bars, Sb , should lie within the
following limits:
 hagg + 5mm @ bar size ≤ Sb ≤ 300mm when fy =250N/mm²

 hagg + 5mm @ bar size ≤ Sb ≤ 160mm when fy =460N/mm²

* Where hagg is the maximum size of the coarse aggregate.

DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR SECTION

 There are two types of rectangular sections:

 1.Singly reinforced
As
 Consist only tension reinforcement, As

 2.Doubly reinforced As’

 Consist of both tension, As and As

 compression reinforcement, As’

 Design Method in BS 8110
Singly Reinforced Section
Reinforcement concrete beam
K’ = 0.156
K = M/fcu bd2
If K< K’, compression reinforcement is not required and ;

z=d

but not greater than 0.95d

( 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)
 Design Method in BS 8110
Doubly Reinforced Section
Reinforcement concrete beam
K’ = 0.156
K = M/fcu bd2
If K> K’, compression reinforcement is required;

z=d

but not greater than 0.95d

 STEPS
 Determine concrete cover
 Calculate effective depth, d
 Calculate K
 Determine whether the beam is singly or doubly
reinforced
 Calculate z
 Calculate As or As’
 Refer table of reinforcement to determine nos and size
of reinforement
 Do the ‘checking’
 Sketch the beam
 Example 1

Design the main reinforcement of the rectangular beam.

Design Data
 width , b = 250mm
 Height, h = 500mm
 Exposure to fire resistance = 1.5 hours
 Exposure to mild condition
 Design Moment. M = 300kNm
 Strength of concrete, fcu = 30N/mm2
 Type of steel = high yield steel
 Size of main reinforcement = 20mm
 Size of link = 8mm
 Example 2

Design the main reinforcement of the rectangular beam.

Design Data
 width , b = 250mm
 Height, h = 700mm
 Exposure to fire resistance = 1.5 hours
 Exposure to mild condition
 Design Moment. M = 880kNm
 Strength of concrete, fcu = 40N/mm2
 Type of steel = high yield steel
 Size or main rebar = 25mm
 Links 8mm
 Example 3
A simply supported rectangular section spanning 8 metres
has to be designed to withstand a characteristic dead load
(without self-weight) of 20 kN/m and a characteristic imposed load
of 10 kN/m along the span.
The beam size is 300 mm x 450 mm. The materials used are concrete
grade C30 and using high yield steel for the main reinforcement.
Density of the concrete is 24 kN/m3.
The beam is exposed to mild condition and fire resistance of 1.5 hours
is required.
8 mm links

 Design the reinforcement required for the beam and sketch the
arrangement of the reinforcement.
 Checking As min = 0.13%bh = 178.75 mm
As’ min = 0.2%bh = 275 mm
As’ max = As max = 4%bh = 5500mm2
* Since As min < As prov < As max ,
As ‘min < As prov < As’ max , then ok!!
Basic differences between one-way and
two-way slabs (one way slab)
 One-way slabs, supported by parallel walls or beams, bend in only one
direction and transfer their loads to the two opposite support walls or beams.

 Even when a rectangular slab is supported on all the

four edges, the slab may
be considered as a one-way slab if the length-to-breadth (L/B) ratio of the slab
is equal to or greater than two.

 A one-way slab is designed for the spanning direction alone; the main tension
reinforcing bars of such slabs run parallel to the span. For the transverse
direction, a minimum amount of shrinkage reinforcement is provided.

 One-way slab action is assumed in a ribbed floor (slab with joist beams) made
of precast double tee sections, in ribbed floor with integral beams, and also in
hollow-block or -cored slabs.
 Plan view of one-way slab (a) Supported on
two opposite edges (b) Supported on all edges
(L/B > 2)
Exercise….

 A composite floor consisting of a 150 mm thick reinforced concrete slab

supported on RC beams spanning 5 m and spaced at 3 m centres is to be
designed to carry an imposed load of 3.5 kN m−2. Assuming that the
unit mass of the RC beams is 5.5 kN m−1 run, calculate the design loads
on a typical internal beam.
Basic differences between one-way and
two-way slabs (two way slab)
 Two way slab is a slab supported by beams on all the four
sides and the loads are carried by the supports along both
directions, it is known as two way slab. In two way slab, the
ratio of longer span (l) to shorter span (b) is less than 2.
One Way Spanning Slab/ Two Way
Spanning Slab.
 Lx, the length of shorter side, Ly length of longer side. Provided
Ly/Lx < 2, slab will span in two directions as indicated.
Ly

Lx
Design loads on floor beams and
columns
Tutorial
(Q1 Exam: JAN 2018)