Yield Line and Strip

Method for Slab

Prof. Ir. Dr. Noridah Mohamad
Department of Structure and Material Engineering
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
Yield Line
• A slab is assumed to collapse at its ultimate load through a system of
nearly straight lines which are called yield lines.
• These yield lines divide the slab into a number of panels .
• This pattern of yield lines and panels is termed the collapse
mechanism.
• It is assumed that the bending moment along all yield lines is constant
and equal to the value corresponding to the yielding of the steel
reinforcement
FORMATION OF YIELD LINE
Assumptions in Yield Line Theory
• Slab is under reinforced
• Shear and bond failures must be prevented
• Primary compression failures in flexure must be
prevented
• The moment - curvature relationship is idealised as
elastic-perfectly plastic curve
Type of Supports
YIELD LINE SYMBOLS
• Positive yield line (full line) caused by a sagging yield moment
-concrete cracks in tension in the bottom face of the slab
Negative yield line (broken line) caused by a hogging yield moment
-tensile cracking occurs on the top face
EXAMPLE
• In the collapse mechanism
of the slab in the figure,
the supports are simple A

supports so that the slab

is free to rotate along its Simple

supported edges. Support

Section AA

A
Panel Yield line
• In this figure, the left hand
edge of the slab is built in and
not free to rotate. At collapse,
therefore, a yield line will Simple support
develop along this edge as
shown. Axis of rotation

• Along this line the bending Built-in

moment will be hogging, (i.e. support

negative) and the reinforcing

steel will be positioned in the Free edge
upper region of the slab; where
the bending moment is sagging
the reinforcing steel will be
positioned in the lower region.
RULES FOR YIELD LINES
Guidelines for establishing axes of rotation and yield lines are summarized as
follows:
1. Yield lines are straight lines because they represent the intersection of two planes.
2. Yield lines represent axes of rotation.
3. The supported edges of the slab will also establish axes of rotation. If the edge is
fixed, a negative yield line may form, providing constant resistance to rotation. If
the edge is simply supported, the axis of rotation provides zero restraint.
4. An axis of rotation will pass over any column support. Its orientation depends on
other considerations.
5. Yield lines form under concentrated loads, radiating outward from the point of
application.
6. A yield line between two slab segments must pass through the point of intersection
of the axes of rotation of the adjacent slab segments.
• A slab simply supported along
its four sides
• Rotation of slab segments A
and B is about ab and cd,
respectively.
• The yield line ef between
these two segments is a
straight line passing through f,
the point of intersection of the
axes of rotation.
• In Fig. c, there are axes of rotation over
all four simple supports.
• Positive yield lines form along the lines
of intersection of the rotating segments
of the slab.
• A rectangular two-way slab on simple
supports is shown in Fig. d.
• The diagonal yield lines must pass
through the corners, while the central
yield line is parallel to the two long
sides (axes of rotation along opposite
supports intersect at infinity in this
case).
• Isotropic and orthotropic slabs
- Isotropic slabs
A slab is said to be isotropically reinforced if it is reinforced
identically in orthogonal directions and its ultimate resisting
moment is the same in these two directions as it is along any line
regardless of :its
Isotropic Slab direction.
Equally reinforced in two perpendicular directions

- Orthotropic slabs
A slab is said to be orthotropically reinforced if its ultimate
strengths are different in two perpendicular directions. In such
cases, yield lines will occur across these orthogonal directions.
Determination of the moment capacity Mu for orthotropic slabs
Computation for the moment capacity Mu consistent with the yield
line given the moment capacities Mx and My in the direction of the
reinforcing bars:
Orthotropic Slab : Not equally reinforced in two perpendicular
directions
Ultimate moment along a yield line
• Fig. 3 shows a portion of a slab
reinforced in 2 directions at right
angles
m1
• The ultimate moments of
a cos α
resistance of the reinforcement are:
α
-m1 per unit width of slab α
a sin α
-m2 per unit width of slab a

• Suppose a yield line occurs at an m2

angle α to the reinforcement m2 Yield

line
• consider a triangular element
formed as shown
• from the moment equilibrium of
the element
mαa = m1a cos2 αin
+mthe direction
2 a sin
2
α of mα; Reinforcement
•
mα = m1 cos2 α + m2 sin2α
slab
Fig. 3
 m1 a sin α
nt
y

m1 = m ult per length across

m1 mαa y- axis
α Ø = my = m a sin α
2 ma
α m2 = m ult per length across
1 m2
x
x-axis
a Ø m2 a cos α
= mx = m a cos α
mα= m ult per length across a
= mαa
m1 a sin α

α Ø
m2 a cos α Ø 2

1 mαa
α

mαa mα a
mαa sin α= --------------
m1 a sin α
cos α= --------------
m2 a cos α mαa = m1 a sin αsin α
mαa = m2 a cos αcos α
mα = m1sin2 α + m2cos2α

If m1 = m2 = m ; mα = m (sin2α + cos2α) = m
Internal virtual work due to resisting moment

-If the resisting moment m is constant along a yield line of length L, and if a
rotation ɵ is experienced, the internal work is equal to mLɵ

-For the entire system, the total internal work done is the sum of the
contributions from all yield lines.

-In all cases, the internal work contributed is positive, regardless of the
sign of m, because the rotation is in the same direction as the moment.

-External work, on the other hand, may be either positive or negative, depending
on the direction of the displacement of the point of application of the force
resultant.
External work done by applied loads
An external load acting on a slab segment, as a small virtual
displacement is imposed, does work equal to the product of
its constant magnitude and the distance through which the
point of application of the load moves.

-If the load is distributed over a length or an area, rather than

concentrated, the work can be calculated as the product of
the total load and the displacement of the point of
application of its resultant.

-If a square slab carrying a single concentrated load at its

center is given a virtual displacement defined by a unit value
under the load, the external work is
We=P×1
If the slab shown in the figure is supported
along three sides and free along the
fourth, is loaded with a line load w per
unit length along the free edge, and if that
edge is given a virtual displacement having
unit value along the central part, the
external work is

W e = (2 wa ) × 1/2 + wb = w ( a + b )
When a distributed load q per unit area acts
on a triangular segment defined by a hinge
and yield lines,
W e = qab/2 × 1/3 = qab/6

For the rectangular slab segment

shown in figure , carrying a distributed
load q per unit area, the external work
is

W e = qab x ½ = qab/2
Slab subjected to load per area
• Internal Work = ∑ mLϴ
• External Work Done = ∑ q Ai i

• Where q = applied load ( kN/m2)

A i = Area of panel
= virtual displacement at centroid
Example 1
• Determine the maximum moment, m
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 6 (Line Load)
 Assignment
1)The slab in Figure 1 is subjected to uniform load, 12 kN/m2 and line load 8 kN/m.
Determine the resistance moment, m, for the slab for the given collapse
mechanism.

2.5 m 5m 2.5 m
D
A
H E
1m
G F

5m

B xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
C

Figure 1
2) A slab with 7.5 m x 4.5 m in dimension is as shown in Figure 2.
Given:
i. Live load plus self weight of slab = 15 kN/m2
ii. Dead load of the masonry wall = 3 kN/m
Determine the resistance moment, m, for the slab for the given collapse mechanism.

Free end Masonry wall

1.5m

0.75 m
Panel A
0.75 m Panel B

4.5 m
3m
Panel C

3m 3m
Figure 2
Example 7
- END -