Department of Civil Engineering Reinforced Concrete Structures-I

Multiple choice

1) Which one is the role of reinforcement in the reinforced concrete structures?

A) Resist tensile stresses D) Assist the concrete resisting compression

B) Prevent temperature and shrinkage stresses E) Increase ductility

C) Reduced creep deformation F) All

2) Under proper conditions, strength of concrete with passage of time

A) Increases C) Fluctuates
B) Decreases D) Remains constant

3) The following are the way to reduce shrinkage of concrete except

A) Keep the cement content as low as possible C) Proper curing

B) Using accelerator admixtures D) None

4) Which one is true regarding design philosophy?

A) In the ultimate strength design method, there is no way to account the uncertainty in
material strengths variation.

B) In the working stress design method, there is way to account the uncertainty in material
strengths variation.

C) Working stress design method is used for elastic design.

D) All are true

5) In reinforced concrete structures subjected to bending, in which zone reinforcement is

needed?

A) Generally in tension zone

B) In compression zone depending on design limitations

C) Not needed in compression zone

D) A and B

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6) Which of the following is the reason for providing compression reinforcements

A) Decrease Ductility
B) Change the mode of failure from tension to compression
C) To increase flexural capacity of the section
D) Increase sustained-load deflection
𝛼𝑐𝑐 𝑓𝑐𝑘
7) The value of the design compressive strength is defined as 𝑓𝑐𝑑 = . From this equation
𝛾𝑐

𝛼𝑐𝑐 is the coefficient that introduced for

A) Design assumptions and inaccuracy of calculation
B) Long term effects on the compressive strength and unfavorable effects resulting from
the way loading is applied
C) Possible unusual increases in the magnitude of the actions
D) Unforeseen stress redistributions and constructional inaccuracies
8) For the given concrete strength 𝐶50/60 as per ES EN 1992-1-1:2015, the characteristics
cube compressive strength and cylindrical compressive strength of concrete respectively
are
A) 50𝑀𝑃𝑎 and 60𝑀𝑃𝑎 C) 28.333𝑀𝑃𝑎 and 34𝑀𝑃𝑎
B) 𝟔𝟎𝑴𝑷𝒂 and 𝟓𝟎𝑴𝑷𝒂 D) None
9) Which one of the following is correct about two way slab tension reinforcement placement
during construction?
A) Main (short direction) reinforcement is put above secondary (long direction) reinforcement
B) Main (short direction) reinforcement is put below secondary(long direction)
reinforcement
C) Both main (short direction) reinforcement secondary (long direction) reinforcement is put
at same depth.
D) Both main (short direction) reinforcement and secondary (long direction) reinforcement
can be placed as site engineer wants

10) Which one of the following is preferable in designing of reinforced concrete structures for
flexure?

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A) Yielding of tension reinforcement with uncrushed concrete

B) Yielding of tension reinforcement with crushing concrete

C) Concrete crushing with unyielding of tension reinforcement

D) Rupturing of tension reinforcement with uncrushed concrete

11) In a reinforced concrete section under flexure, the assumption that “section’s perpendicular
to the axis of bending that are plane before bending remains plane after bending” leads to

A) Strain distribution being linear across the depth

B) Stress distribution being linear across the depth

C) Both stress and strain distribution being linear across the depth

D) Strain distribution being uniform across the depth

12) As per ES EN 1992-1-1:2015; the minimum grade of concrete for structural reinforced
concrete members should be
𝐴) 𝐶12/15 C) 𝐶25/30
𝑩) 𝑪𝟐𝟎/𝟐𝟓 D) 𝐶30/37

13) The tensile strain in the reinforcement is limited because of:

A) To limit crack-width with in tension zone of section to the acceptable limit.

B) It has not capacity to undergo large strains.

C) It carries tension forces

D) None

14) About the analysis and design of RC ribbed slab all statements are correct except:
A) It is preferable to use the ribbed slab for slab with long spans and relatively lighter loads.
B) Centers of the ribs should not exceed 1.5m
C) The thickness of the toping should not be less than 50mm or one tenth of clear distance
between the ribs.

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D) Mesh reinforcement with cross sectional area of not less than 1% of the area of topping
has to be provided in each direction.

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Department of Civil Engineering Reinforced Concrete Structures-I

Discussion

1) What is the difference between one way and two ways slabs?

One-way slabs

 Slab supported only on two opposite sides by rigid supports carry the load by flexure in the
direction perpendicular to support
 The plane surface of predominantly uniformly loaded slab deforms into a cylindrical
surface in which curvature and hence bending moment develops only in one direction such
slab are called one-way slab
 One-way slab essentially acts as shallow beams with a large width. The slabs supported on
all four sides also behave as one way slabs if the longer span ratio to shorter span is greater
than two.

Two-way slabs

 The rectangular slabs supported on two adjacent, three or four edges and with the ratio of
longer to shorter span less than two, which carry the load by flexure in two perpendicular
directions are called two-way slabs.

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2) What are the differences between singly reinforced and doubly reinforced beams?

3) What are the three basic assumptions for flexural theory of reinforced concrete?
 Sections perpendicular to the axis of bending that are plane before bending remain plane
after bending.
 The strain in the reinforcement is equal to the strain in the concrete at the same level.
 The stresses in the concrete and reinforcement can be computed from the strains by using
stress–strain curves for concrete and steel.
4) Explain briefly the three different ways of flexural failures
 Balanced failure: This failure mode is characterized by yielding of the tension steel and
crushing of concrete simultaneously at the design bending moment. Such a beam has a
balanced reinforcement.
 Tension failure: This type of failure is called tension failure since it is initiated by yielding
of reinforcement. Reinforcement yields before concrete crushes or reaches its limiting
compressive strain. Such a beam is said to be under-reinforced.

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 Compression failure: This failure mode occurs when the concrete crushes before steel
yields. Such a beam is said to be over-reinforced. It should be noted that compression
failure is sudden and it is not desirable. Therefore, over reinforced section should be
redesigned.
5) State the basic types of cracks and draw the crack propagations
 Flexural cracks are vertical cracks that extend from the tension sides of beams up to the
region of their neutral axes. Should beams have very deep webs the cracks will be very
closely spaced, with some of them coming together above the reinforcing and some
disappearing there. These cracks may be wider up in the middle of the beam than at the
bottom.
 Inclined cracks due to shear can develop in the webs of reinforced concrete beams either
as independent cracks or as extensions of flexural cracks. Occasionally, inclined cracks
will develop independently in a beam, even though no flexural cracks are in that locality.
These cracks, which are called web-shear cracks, sometimes occur in the webs of pre-
stressed sections, particularly those with large flanges and thin webs.
 The usual type of inclined shear cracks are the flexure-shear cracks. They commonly
develop in both pre-stressed and non-pre-stressed beams.
 Torsion cracks are quite similar to shear cracks except that they spiral around the beam.
Should a plain concrete member be subjected to pure torsion, it will crack and fail along
45◦ spiral lines due to the diagonal tension corresponding to the torsional stresses. For a
very effective demonstration of this type of failure, you can take a piece of chalk in your
hands and twist it until it breaks. Although torsion stresses are very similar to shear stresses,
they will occur on all faces of a member. As a result, they add to the shear stresses on one
side and subtract from them on the other.
 Sometimes bond stresses between the concrete and the reinforcing lead to a splitting along
the bars.

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6) Write at least five advantages and disadvantage of reinforced concrete structures

Advantages of reinforce concrete

 It has considerable compressive strength per unit cost compared with most other materials.
 Reinforced concrete has great resistance to the actions of fire and water and the best
structural material available for situations where water is present. During fires of average
intensity, members with a satisfactory cover of concrete over the reinforcing bars suffer
only surface damage without failure.
 Reinforced concrete structures are very rigid.
 It is a low-maintenance material.
 As compared with other materials, it has a very long service life. Under proper conditions,
reinforced concrete structures can be used indefinitely without reduction of their load
carrying abilities. This can be explained by the fact that the strength of concrete does not
decrease with time but actually increases over a very long period, measured in years,
because of the lengthy process of the solidification of the cement paste.
 It is usually the only economical material available for footings, floor slabs, basement
walls, piers, and similar applications.

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 A special feature of concrete is its ability to be cast into an extraordinary variety of shapes
from simple slabs, beams, and columns to great arches and shells.
 In most areas, concrete takes advantage of inexpensive local materials (sand, gravel, and
water) and requires relatively small amounts of cement and reinforcing steel, which may
have to be shipped from other parts of the country.
 A lower grade of skilled labor is required for erection as compared with other materials
such as structural steel.

Disadvantage of reinforced concrete

 Concrete has a very low tensile strength, requiring the use of tensile reinforcing.
 Forms are required to hold the concrete in place until it hardens sufficiently. In addition,
false work or shoring may be necessary to keep the forms in place for roofs, walls, floors,
and similar structures until the concrete members gain sufficient strength to support
themselves. Formwork is very expensive. In the United States, its costs run from one-third
to two-thirds of the total cost of a reinforced concrete structure, with average
 The low strength per unit of weight of concrete leads to heavy members. This becomes an
increasingly important matter for long-span structures, where concrete‘s large dead weight
has a great effect on bending moments. Lightweight aggregates can be used to reduce
concrete weight, but the cost of the concrete is increased.
 Similarly, the low strength per unit of volume of concrete means members will be relatively
large, an important consideration for tall buildings and long-span structures.
 The properties of concrete vary widely because of variations in its proportioning and
mixing. Furthermore, the placing and curing of concrete is not as carefully controlled.
7) Define Analysis and Design, with their difference.
 Analysis: Given a cross section, concrete strength, reinforcement size and location and
yield strength, compute the resistance or strength. In analysis there should be one unique
answer.
 Design: Given a factored design moment, normally designated as select a suitable cross
section, including dimensions, concrete strength, reinforcement, and so on. In design there
are many possible solutions.

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