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PRINCIPLES OF REINFORCED/PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE – CE20
INTRODUCTION TO FLEXURE IN BEAMS
ENGR. DHAN VINCENT L. ENTUNA
Instructor
Saint Joseph College-Maasin
Civil Engineering Department
INTRODUCTION
Reinforced Concrete Beams are nonhomogeneous in nature that they are made of two entirely
different materials.
The methods used in the analysis of Reinforced Concrete Beams are therefore different from those
used in the design or investigation of beams composed entirely of steel, wood or any other structural
material.
Two different types of problems arise in study of reinforced concrete:
1. Analysis
2. Design
ANALYSIS

Given: Required: The resistance or Design Strength

f’c – compressive strength of ∅𝑀𝑛 ≥ 𝑀𝑢

concrete
fy – yield strength of steel
∅𝑃𝑛 ≥ 𝑃𝑢
H
Diameter of bars ∅𝑉𝑛 ≥ 𝑉𝑢

B
STRENGTH PROVIDED STRENGTH REQUIRED TO CARRY FACTORED
LOADS
Design Strength
Factored Load (i.e., required strength)
DESIGN

Given: Required:

A factored design moment/axial/shear

f’c = ?
𝑀𝑢 fy = ?

𝑃𝑢 H=? Diameters of bars and location=?

𝑉𝑢

B=?
M – Magnitude of the moment that the beam needs to carry
y – the distance of the fiber being analyzed from the neutral axis
I – Moment of Inertia, of the Cross-sectional Area
CRACKING MOMENT
As the applied load is gradually increased from zero to failure of the beam (ultimate condition), the
beam may be expected to behave in the following manner:

Uniform Load

N.A.

Uncracked Strains Stresses

section

Stage 1: Uncracked Stage

STAGE 1: UNCRACKED STAGE
Uniform Load

N.A.

Strains Stresses
Uncracked
section
𝜀𝑐
STAGE I: When the applied load is low, the
stress distribution is essentially linear over the
depth of the section. The tensile stresses in the
concrete are low enough so that the entire cross-
section remains uncracked and the stress h d
distribution is as shown in (a). In the compression
zone, the concrete stresses are low enough (less 𝜀𝑠
than about 0.5f’c) so that their distribution is
approximately linear.

b
 c

Compression
N.A.
Tension

𝑀𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝑐)
𝑓𝑏 =
𝐼𝑁.𝐴.
As the applied load is gradually increased from zero to failure of the beam (ultimate condition), the
beam may be expected to behave in the following manner:

Service Load

N.A.

𝒇𝒔
Cracked section 𝜺𝒔 < 𝜺𝒚 Stresses
Concrete is neglected at this zone

Stage 2: Concrete Cracked – Elastic Stresses Stage

 Service Load

N.A.

𝒇𝒔
Cracked section 𝜺𝒔 < 𝜺𝒚 Stresses
Concrete is neglected at this zone

Stage 2: Concrete Cracked – Elastic Stresses Stage

𝜀𝑐
STAGE II: As the applied load is increased, the
tensile stresses at the bottom of the beam become
high enough to exceed the tensile strength at which
the concrete cracks. After cracking, the tensile force
is resisted mainly by the steel reinforcement. h d
Immediately below the neutral axis, a small portion of
the beam remains uncracked. These tensile stresses 𝜀𝑠
𝑓𝑠
in the concrete offer, however, only a small,
contribution to the flexural strength. The concrete
stress distribution in the compression zone becomes
nonlinear. b
As the applied load is gradually increased from zero to failure of the beam (ultimate condition), the
beam may be expected to behave in the following manner:

Ultimate Load

𝜺𝒄 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟑
N.A.

𝒇𝒔 = 𝒇𝒚
Cracked section 𝜺𝒔 = 𝜺𝒚 Stresses
Concrete is neglected at this zone at ultimate

Stage 3: Beam Failure – Ultimate Strength Stage

STAGE III: As the load is still further increased, so that the compressive stresses are greater than 0.5f’c, the
tensile cracks move farther upward, as thus the neutral axis, and the concrete compression stresses begin to
change appreciably from a straight line. At ultimate stage, two types of failure can be noticed. If the beam is
reinforced with a small amount of steel, ductile failure will occur. In this type of failure, the steel yields and the
concrete crushes after experiencing large deflections and lots of cracks. On the other hand, if the beam is
reinforced with a large amount of steel, brittle failure will occur. The failure in this case is sudden and occurs
due to crushing of concrete in the compression zone without yielding of the steel and under relatively small
deflections and cracks . This is not a preferred mode of failure because it does not give enough warning
before collapse.
𝜀𝑐

h d
𝜀𝑠
𝑓𝑠

b
 STAGE I:
• Small moments less than cracking
moment
• The entire beam cross-section is able
to resist bending

STAGE II:
• When the moment is increased beyond
the cracking moment, 𝑀𝑐𝑟 , the slope of
the curvature will decrease a little
because the beam is not quite as stiff
as it was in the first stage before it
cracked.

STAGE III:
• When the moment is increased beyond
the cracking moment, 𝑀𝑐𝑟 , the slope of
the curvature will decrease a little
because the beam is not quite as stiff
Moment-curvature diagram for reinforced concrete beam with as it was in the first stage before it
tensile reinforcement only. cracked.
EXAMPLE A-3
The beam shown in the figure is a cross-section of a beam for a 4-storey
commercial building. Due to limited headroom, the dimensions are limited to 300
mm by 500 mm which is both reinforced at the top and bottom. The beam carries
a bending moment of 75 kN-m. If f’c = 21 MPa, fy = 415 Mpa, and n = 12,
calculate the following:
1. The flexural stress and the cracking moment.
2. The moment of inertia (transformed)
3. The actual stress of concrete
4. Tension stress of the steel bars
5. Compression stress of the steel bars
a. Calculate the flexural stress and the cracking
moment
Neglecting the reinforcements:
500
𝑦= = 250 𝑚𝑚
2
Cracking Moment:
𝑏ℎ3 (300)(500)3
𝐼= = = 3,125,000,000 𝑚𝑚4
12 12

𝑀𝑦 75 × 106 𝑁 ∙ 𝑚𝑚 (250𝑚𝑚) 𝑓𝑟 𝐼𝑔 2.841(3125000000)

𝑓𝑏 = = = 6 Mpa 𝑀𝑐𝑟 = = = 35,512,500 𝑁 ∙ 𝑚𝑚 or 35.51 kN ∙ 𝑚
𝐼 3,125,000,000 𝑚𝑚4 𝑦 250

MODULUS OF RUPTURE:
𝑓𝑟 = 0.62𝜆 𝑓𝑐′ = 0.62 1 21 = 2.841 𝑀𝑃𝑎

𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑏 > 𝑓𝑟 ,
∴ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒 − 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.
b. Moment of Inertia (transformed)

Locate the N.A.

𝜋
𝒏𝑨𝒔 = 12 25 2 (4) = 23,561.94 𝑚𝑚2 Solve for I:
4 300(165.26)3
𝜋 𝐼= + 300 165.26 165.26Τ2 2
𝟐𝒏 − 𝟏 𝑨𝒔′ = 24 − 1 25 2 2 = 22,580.19 𝑚𝑚2 12
4 +22,580.19(105.26)2 +23,561.94(274.74)2
𝑰 = 𝟐, 𝟒𝟖𝟎, 𝟎𝟐𝟒, 𝟑𝟒𝟓 𝒎𝒎𝟐
300 𝑥 𝑥ൗ2 + 2𝑛 − 1 𝐴′𝑠 𝑥 − 60 = 𝑛𝐴𝑠 440 − 𝑥
𝑥 = 165.26 𝑚𝑚
440 − 𝑥 = 274.74 𝑚𝑚
c. Actual stress of concrete:
𝑀𝑥 75 × 106 (165.26)
𝑓𝑐 = = = 4.99 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝐼 2,480,024,345

d. Tension stress of the steel bars

𝑓𝑠 𝑀(440 − 𝑥)
=
𝑛 𝐼
𝑀(440 − 𝑥) 75 × 106 274.74
𝑓𝑠 = 𝑛 = 12 = 𝟗𝟗. 𝟕𝟎 𝑴𝑷𝒂
𝐼 2,480,024,345

d. Compression
′
stress of the steel bars
𝑓𝑠 𝑓𝑠
2𝑛 = 𝑛
𝑥 − 60 440 − 𝑥

𝑓𝑠′ 99.70
24 = 12
105.26 274.74

𝒇′𝒔 = 𝟕𝟔. 𝟑𝟗 𝐌𝐏𝐚