Chapter 1

Introduction To
Reinforced Concrete
Structures

Yohannes K. April 2021 1

Chapter Contents
1.1 General Review
1.2 Behavior of Plain Concrete/Reinforced
Concrete Under Loads
1.3 Behavior of Steel Under Tension
1.4 Design Philosophies

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1.1 General Preview
 Plain concrete, a heterogeneous construction material, is
weak in resisting tension in any form, but strong in
resisting compressive load.
 The expected or required strength of concrete can easily
be achieved by altering the proportions and/or
properties of the ingredients.
 The strength properties of concrete can also be improved
by adding chemical admixtures or any other additives.
 To produce a concrete member which has to resist
tensile loads by developing bending tensile stresses,
reinforcing steel rods (rebars) are used. Such a material is
called as reinforced concrete. 3
Apart from tensile stresses, steel can be wisely used to
resist other stresses like shear, torsion and apart of
compressive stresses where necessary by forming a
pattern of skeleton.
If the reinforcement and concrete has to resist stresses
to their full efficiency, a technique called pre-stressing
can be done.
The art of proportioning the concrete is called
concrete mix design.
The art of deciding the size, shape and quantity of
steel to be provided in reinforced concrete structural
component and the fashion how to detail the rebars to
bring out a skeleton of reinforcements is called the
reinforced concrete structural design.
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The process of structural design requires conceptual
thinking, sound knowledge of engineering, imagination,
knowledge of relevant design codes and bye-laws backed
up by experience and judgement.

The process of structural design involves the following

stages:
1. Structural planning and configuration
2. Action of loads, their classification and combinations
3. Analysis for the stress resultants
4. Design of components
5. Drawing, detailing and preparation of schedules
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 Steps in Reinforced Concrete Design
Problem

Analysis (Structural Analysis)

Mechanics of Materials
External action load analysis
Strength of Materials
and determining internal stress
Theory of Structures I
resultant such as Bending
Theory of Structures II
Moment , Shear, Stress Torsion
Theory of Structures III
etc…
etc…
Design (Structural Design)

Reinforced Concrete Structures I (RC-I) Providing a structural member sufficient to

Reinforced Concrete Structures II (RC-II) safely carry the previously determined
Reinforced Concrete Structures III (RC-III) loads (proportioning the dimensions of the
Advanced Structural Design (SD) etc… member and quantifying the amount of
reinforcement required for )

Drawing (Structural Detailing )

Preparing Detailing and bar Schedules of
AutoCAD …
sections ready for Construction) 6
1.2 Behavior of plain concrete/reinforced
concrete under loads
1.2.1 Behavior under compressive load
 The compressive strength of concrete is defined as
the load, at which the standard specimen fails when
subjected to uni-axial compression under a specified
rate of loading, divided by the area of load
application.
 Testing 150mm sides cube specimens or cylinder
specimens of 150 mm diameter and 300mm height.
 Stress-strain relationship of concrete under direct
compression is non-linear (Depends on the grade of
concrete).
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Fig1. Stress strain relationship of concrete cube under compression
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From the stress-strain curves the following important
points should be noted.
1. The maximum compressive stress occurs
approximately at a strain of 0.002.
2. The value of failure strain of low grade concrete is
more than that of high grade concrete.
3. Ultimate or failure strain varies between 0.003 and
0.005.
4. The variation is almost linear up to half of the
maximum strength.
5. There is no fixed ratio of stress/strain to define
modulus of elasticity E of concrete and this is usually
taken as secant modulus.
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 1.2.2 Tensile strength of concrete
• The tensile strength of plain concrete can be
determined indirectly by split tensile test.
• Generally, the tensile strength of concrete is
between 1/8th and 1/12th of cube compressive stress.
• The splitting tensile strength of concrete is calculated
as
= /
Where, T = Split tensile strength in MPa or kN/sq.m
P = Maximum applied load indicated by the testing machine
in N or kN
L = Length of the specimen in mm or m.
d = Diameter of the specimen in mm or m.
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Fig 2. Split tensile test of concrete

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• Tensile strength of concrete can also be determined by
flexural test.
• Flexural test specimens can be prepared to specified
sizes, tested by supporting simply at the ends by
applying load either at the mid span or at third points
as per the specification. The modulus of rupture
(maximum tensile stress) fcr can be determined by the
flexure formula, f= M/Z,
where M = the maximum bending moment and
Z = the section modulus.

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 Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio
• The slope of the straight line in Fig3. which is the ratio of
stress to strain at the point under consideration is called
the secant modulus. The short term static modulus of
elasticity of concrete refers to secant modulus.

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Fig3. Stress-strain curve for concrete showing tangent modulus and secant modulus
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Creep & Shrinkage
• Creep and shrinkage occur simultaneously, and
jointly influence the behavior or reinforced
concrete member.

• In limit state method, it is necessary to assess

deformations due to creep and shrinkage from
serviceability considerations.

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Creep of concrete:
Creep is defined as plastic deformation under constant
load or stress.
• This plastic deformation grows rapidly and reaches
highest intensity in the first three to four months
after application of load and then continues to
increase gradually approaching the limiting value in a
period of five years.
• Since the creep increases at a faster rate in early
stages, the erection of walls on newly formed
concrete should be prolonged otherwise cracks
develop in walls after a period of 6 to 12 months.

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Fig 4. creep effects of concrete
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Factors influencing Creep:
(a) Magnitude of stress: Creep grows with the
increase of stress level in concrete specimen.
(b) Age at loading: Loading at an earlier age causes
high creep strain.
(c) Rate of loading: Creep increases with increase in
the rate of loading.
(d) Humidity: Creep is reduced with increase in
humidity or moisture content of the surrounding air.
(e) Composition of concrete: An increase in water-
cement ratio and the amount of cement per unit
volume of concrete increases creep.
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Shrinkage of concrete:
Shrinkage is the property of diminishing in volume of
concrete during the process of hardening.
The factors affecting shrinkage are:
(a) Environmental condition (humidity and temperature)
(b) Water-cement ratio
(c) Duration of exposure (not duration of loading): The
shrinkage is also a time dependent process. For
computational purpose it may be assumed that 50% of
ultimate shrinkage occurs in the first one month and the
remaining 75% in six months from the commencement of
drying.
(d) Percentage of steel: Greater Percentage of steel gives
lesser shrinkage
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 Behavior of reinforced concrete member
under flexure:
• A beam is a structural member carrying transverse load
and/or moment contained in the centroidal plane, cause
bending moment and shear force along the span.
• If a transverse vertical load is applied to a simply
supported beam it would bend in such a way that the
layers or fibers above the neutral plane are subjected to
compressive stresses and that below the neutral plane,
to tensile stresses as shown in the figure below.
• In the design theories, it is assumed that the entire tensile
stress developed in the tensile zone is resisted by the
reinforcements alone as the concrete is weak in tension.
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Fig 1.5 Behavior of reinforced concrete member under flexure:

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• The internal forces set up within the beam comprises
of total compressive force C and the total tensile
stress T acting at the centers of gravity of the stress
block with a lever arm z.
• Two equilibrium conditions must be satisfied at a
section subjected to bending.
(1) Internal compressive force C = Internal tensile force
(2) Moment of internal couple = External bending
moment.
• Since the internal compressive and tensile forces are
equal and acting in opposite direction they constitute
a couple and the moment of the couple, called as
moment of resistance, is the resistance set up by the
beam to counteract the external unbalanced moment
(i.e., bending moment).
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 σ
ℎ
+

-
σ
−

Let
σ = Maximum Compressive stress
σ = Maximum Tensile stress
x = depth of neutral axis from top
Total compressive force (C )= Average stress x Area of cross section on which it acts
0+σ σ
C= ∗b∗x= ∗b∗x
2 2
Similarly, Total tensile force (T) =σ ∗ A Where A = Total area of cross section
of steel rebars

Moment of resistance can be expressed as = =

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1.3 Behavior of Steel Under Tension

The steel used in reinforced concrete structures are

of different types such as
plain round bars of circular cross section
deformed bars or ribbed steel bars having spiral
ribs in the surface of circular cross section,
Thermo mechanically treated bars (TMT bars), and
 steel wire fabrics.

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• The round bars generally called as mild steel have lesser strength than
the deformed bars and TMT bars.

• In high strength steels, the stress corresponding to a strain value of

0.002 is said to be the proof stress, which is equivalent to the yield
stress in case of mild steel.

• Welded wire reinforcement consists of sets of longitudinal and transverse

cold drawn steel wires at right angles to each other and welded together
at all points of intersection. The size of wires used in the welded wire
fabric may vary from 2 mm diameter to 6 to 7 mm diameter

• For prestressing the steel is used in three forms: round wires, stranded
cable and alloy steel. Prestressing steels have high yield strength more
than 1000 N/mm2

• Based on the strength requirements, the steel may be selected for use.
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Fig1.6 stress-strain variation of reinforcing steel
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1.4 Design philosophies
1.4.1 Working Stress Method
1.4.2 Limit State Method

1.4.1 Working Stress Method

• This method was evolved during the middle of 19th century.

• In this method, it is assumed that the concrete and steel behave

elastically.

• The R.C. member is designed using classical elastic theory such that the
stresses in the material resulting from the worst combinations of
working loads do not exceed the allowable stresses.

• The allowable stresses or permissible stresses are obtained by dividing

the limiting stress of material by a factor of safety.
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Some drawbacks in using working stress method are as follows.

• 1. The stress-strain curve for concrete is a continuous curve and not a

straight line. High strength steel bars which are predominantly used
in practice do not behave elastically but exhibit an almost continuous
curvature (may show a shallow curve at earlier stress values).

• 2. The factor of safety does not give true margin of safety against
failure of the structure. For example, a stress factor of safety of 3 for
concrete does not mean that the member or the structure will fail at a
load three times the working load.

• 3. Creep and shrinkage, which are major time dependent effects on

the structure, are not accounted by elastic theory.

• 4. The additional load carrying capacity of the structure due to

redistribution of moment is not accounted for.

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1.4.2 Limit State Method
• A structure should be designed to sustain safely the
loads, with limited deformation, when it is being
used, and should have adequate durability during its
anticipated service life.

• A structure must be fit to perform its function

satisfactorily during its service life span.

• The condition or the state at which the structure or

part of the structure becomes unfit for its use is
called limit state.

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Limit State As per EBCS-2
In EBCS 2, the limit states are placed in two
categories.
(a) The Ultimate Limit States are those associated
with collapse, or with other forms of structural
failure which may endanger the safety of people.
States prior to structural collapse which, for
simplicity, are considered in place of the collapse
itself are also treated as ultimate limit states.
(b) The Serviceability Limit States correspond to
states beyond which specified service requirements
are no longer met.

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 Ultimate Limit States
The ultimate limit states which may require
considerations include:
• (a) Loss of equilibrium of a part or the whole of the
structure considered as a rigid body.
• (b) Failure by excessive deformations, rupture or loss
of stability of the structure or any part of it, including
supports and foundations.

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Serviceability Limit States
The serviceability limit states which may require
considerations include:
• (a) Deformations or deflections which affect the
appearance or effective use of the structure (including
the malfunctioning of machines or services) or cause
damage to finishes of nonstructural elements.
• (b) Vibration which causes discomfort to people,
damage to the building or its contents, or which limits
its functional effectiveness.
• (c) Cracking of the concrete which is likely to affect
appearance, durability or water tightness adversely.
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• All relevant limit states shall be considered in the
design so as to ensure an adequate degree of safety
and serviceability.
• The usual approach will be to design on the basis of
the most critical limit state and then to check that
the remaining limit states will not be reached.
• The limit state philosophy acknowledges that there
can be variations in both loads and material
strength.
• Hence, two different safety factors one for the load
and the other for material strength are used.
• Because each of the two safety factors contributes
partially to safety, they are termed as partial safety
factors.
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 Partial safety Factors for Load & Material
• Partial safety factor for loads is a load factor which when
multiplied with characteristic load gives the design load
(Thus increasing the load to be used for design).
• The partial safety factor for loads takes in to account the
variations in loads due to unforeseen increase in loads,
constructional inaccuracies, different loading
combinations, secondary effects and type of limit state.
• Partial safety factor for material strength has been
introduced to account for constructional faults,
workmanship and supervision. The design strength is
obtained by dividing the characteristic strength by the
partial safety factor for material strength (Thus reducing
the strength of materials to be used for design).
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If properly designed, Concrete is
a strong and good construction
material.

If it is not properly designed, the

failure of reinforced concrete
may be fatal and catastrophic

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What can we learn from the following failures?
Staircases failure (Addis Ababa)

It could have been fatal and

more catastrophic!
Cantilever slab Failure (Adama)
Column and Truss Failure-(Dukem)
Bridge Failure ( North Shoa)
Success stories
√
Thanks God
it is concrete!!
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Colorized
Netherlands Embassy
The concrete Gymnastics
Ras Shell
Mezzedimi with Barzaghi
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
former HQ
Thank You!

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