CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

3. FLEXURE

3.1 Fundamentals

Assumptions in flexural analysis of RC members

(1) Plane sections remain plane. Not for deep beams (diagonal cracks occur as a result of high
shear stresses).
(2) Perfect bond between reinforcement and concrete. No slip between reinforcing bars and
concrete. At location of very high shear such as beam-column joints, bar slip may be large
enough to significantly affect predictions of both steel and concrete forces within the
section.
(3) The tensile strength of concrete is ignored after cracking. The strength of concrete in
tension is roughly one-tenth of the compressive strength, and the tensile force in the
concrete below the zero strain axis is small compared with the tensile force in the steel. In
some instances, particularly shear, bond, and deflection, the tensile resistance of concrete
is not neglected.
(4) The stresses in the concrete and reinforcement can be computed from the strains using
stress-strain curves for concrete and steel. Stress gradient exists in flexural condition
compared to uniaxial loading condition.
(5) At the ultimate stage, the stress distribution in concrete may be represented by an
equivalent compression stress block (for hand calculation):
 Unconfined concrete:
 The Whitney stress block (Fig. 3.1). Values of 1 in Fig. 3.1 are listed in
Table 3.1.

Figure 3.1. The Whitney rectangular stress block.

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

Table 3.1 Values of 1

'
f
 280
c
350 420 490 560
( kgf/cm 2 )
1 0.85 0.80 0.75 0.70 0.65

 The ultimate compression strain  cu is 0.003 (Fig. 3.2). The

moment-curvature relationship for a typical beam section is relatively flat after
passing the yield point, so the selection of a specific value for  cu will not
significantly affect the calculated value for the nominal flexural strength of the
section.

Figure 3.2. Ultimate strain of unconfined concrete.

 Confined rectangular concrete:

 Fig. 3.3 shows the compression stress block parameters for rectangular
sections with concrete confined by rectangular hoops from Paulay and
Priestley. The average stress is taken as  Kf c' , where K  f cc' / f c' . For a
selected value of the peak compression strain  cm , a value is calculated for 
from Fig. 3.3(a); the value of  is then calculated from Fig. 3.3(b).

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

Figure 3.3. Confined concrete rectangular stress block.

 The ultimate compressive strain  cu can be found from Eq. (2.30).

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

3.2 Moment-Curvature Analysis-Hand Calculation

Figure 3.4. Moment and curvature analysis.

Cracking point
Flexural tension cracking will occur in the section when the stress in the extreme tension fiber
equals to the modulus of rupture, f r . Up to this point, the moment---curvature relationship is
linear and is referred to as the uncracked-elastic range of behavior. In most cases, the
contribution of the reinforcement can be ignored in this range of behavior, and the cracking
moment can be calculated using only the concrete section, normally referred to as the gross
section. If the moment of inertia for the gross section is defined as I g and the distance from
the section centroid to the extreme tension fiber is defined as x (Fig. 3.4), the cracking
moment is defined as the moment that causes the stress in the extreme tension fiber to reach
the modulus of rupture.

fr I g
M cr  (3.1)
x

The section curvature at cracking

M cr
cr  (3.2)
Ec I g

After cracking but before yielding of the tension reinforcement, the relationship between
moment and curvature is again approximately linear, but with a different slope than before
cracking. This is referred to as the cracked-elastic range of behavior. This linear relationship
is important for the calculation of deflections.

Yield point
The yield point represents the end of the elastic range of behavior. As the moment applied to
the section continues to increase after the cracking point, the tension stress in the
reinforcement and the compression stress in the concrete compression zone will steadily

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

increase. Eventually either the steel or the concrete will start to yield (steel) or crush
(concrete). Because the section under consideration here is assumed to be under-reinforced,
the steel will yield (  s   y ) before the concrete reaches its maximum useable strain.

fy
s   y  (3.3)
Es

At this stage of flexural behavior the contribution of the concrete in tension is not significant
for section equilibrium and moment calculations, so the vector, Tc in Fig. 3.4 can be ignored.
The yield moment M y is calculated as the sum of the moments of the internal forces about a
convenient point. The yield curvature  y is

y
y  (3.4)
dx

Ultimate point
The ultimate state is defined as when
(1) The maximum strain in the concrete exceeds  cu .
(2) The maximum strain in the reinforcement exceeds  sm (0.12 for f y  4200 kgf/cm 2 ).
The ultimate moment M u is calculated as the sum of the moments of the internal forces
about a convenient point. The ultimate curvature is defined as the curvature corresponding to
the ultimate moment.

Example 3.1– unconfined sections

40
f c'  280 kgf/cm 2
5
2#9 f y  4200 kgf/cm 2
As  3  6.4  19.2 cm 2
55
As'  2  6.4  12.8 cm 2
3#9
5 Unit: cm

As 19.2
   0.0096 Tension rebar ratio
bd 40  50
As' 12.8
'    0.0064 Compression rebar ratio
bd 40  50
f c' 6120
b  0.85 1  0.0289 Balanced reinforcement ratio
f y 6120  f y

f r  2.0 f c'  33.5 kgf/cm 2 Modulus of rupture

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

bh3 40  553
Ig    554583 cm 4 Gross moment of inertia
12 12
Ec  15000 f c'  251000 kgf/cm 2 Modulus of elasticity

Without compression steel

(1) Cracking point
f r I g 33.5  554583
M cr    675583 kgf-cm
yt 55 / 2
M cr 675583
cr    4.9  106 / cm
Ec I g 251000  554583
(2) Yield point
c  c Ec
C
x

T
y fy
b

ES 2.04  106
n   8.1
Ec 251000
c y x
 , c  y Maximum strain of concrete
x dx dx
1 1 x
C   c Ec xb   y Ec xb  As Es y Linear stress distribution is assumed
2 2dx
1 bx 2 E
 s As  nAs
2 d  x Ec
bx 2  2(d  x)nAs
bx 2  2 xnAs  2dnAs  0
2nAs  4n 2 As2  8bdnAs
x =16.2 cm Depth of neutral axis
2b
x 16.2
M y  As f y (d  )  19.2  4200  (50  )  3596544 kgf-cm
3 3
y 0.0021
y    6.21 105 / cm
(d  x) (50  16.2)

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

(3) Ultimate point

0.003 0.85 f c'
C
x 1 x

T
s   y fy
b

   b   s   y
0.85 f c' 1 xb  As f y Whitney stress block
As f y 19.2  4200
x   10 cm
0.85 f c 1b 0.85  280  0.85  40
'

1 x 0.85 10
M u  As f y (d  )  19.2  4200  (50  )  3689280 kgf-cm  1.02M y
2 2
 cu 0.003
u    0.0003 / cm
x 10
u 0.0003
    4.8 Curvature ductility
 y 6.21105

4.00E+06
3.50E+06
yield point ultimate point
3.00E+06
Moment (kgf‐cm)

2.50E+06
2.00E+06
1.50E+06
1.00E+06
cracking point
5.00E+05
0.00E+00
0.0E+00 5.0E‐05 1.0E‐04 1.5E‐04 2.0E‐04 2.5E‐04 3.0E‐04 3.5E‐04
Curvature (1/cm)

With compression steel

(1) Cracking point
fr I g
M cr   675583 kgf-cm
yt
cr  4.9 106 / cm

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

(2) Yield point  s'

c  c Ec f s'
d' C'
x C

T
y fy
b
x
c  y
dx
Assume compression steel is not yielded
x  d '  s' x  d'
  s'   y strain of compression steel
d  x y , dx

1 1 x x  d'
C   c Ec xb   s' Es As '   y Ec xb   y Es As '  As Es y
2 2dx dx
1 bx 2 x  d' '
 nAs  As n
2dx dx
1b 2
x  ( As'  As ) x  ( As' d '  As d )  0
2n
b
( As'  As )  ( As'  As ) 2  2 ( As' d '  As d )
x n =14.9 cm
b/n
Check compression steel
14.9  5
 s'   y  5.6  104   y  0.0021
50  14.9
f s'   s' Es  5.6  104  2.04  106  1140kgf / cm 2
C '  f s' As'  1140  12.8  14592kg
T  As f y  19.2  4200  80640kg
C  T  C '  80640  14592  66048kg
x
M y  66048(d  )  14592  (d  d ' )  3631001kgf  cm
3
y 0.0021
y    6 105 / cm
(d  x) (50  14.9)

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

(3) Ultimate point

 s'
0.003 0.85 f c'
f s'
d' 1 x C'
x C

T
s   y fy
b
Assume compression steel is not yielded
x  d' ' x  d'
 s  s'  0.003
x 0.003 , x
x  d'
C  0.85 f c' 1 xb  As' Es 0.003  As f y
x
8092 x 2  2304 x  391680  0
x  7.1 cm
check compression steel
7.1  5
 s'  0.003  0.00089   y  0.002
7.1
C '  As'  s' Es  12.8  0.00089  2.04  106  23239 kgf
C  T  C '  As f y  23239  57401 kgf

1 x
M u  57401( d  )  23239  ( d  d ' )  3743000 kgf-cm
2
0.003
u   4.2 104 / cm
7.1
4.2  104
  7
6  105

M y (tf-m)  y (1/m) M u (tf-m) u (1/m) 

Without
35.97 0.00621 36.89 0.03 4.8
compression steel
With
36.31 0.006 37.43 0.042 7
compression steel

Adding compression steel increases the curvature ductility. This is because compression steel
can take higher stress than the surrounding concrete, reducing the depth of neutral axis and
hence increasing the curvature ductility.
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 CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

Example 3.2 confined sections

Dimension of the section and longitudinal reinforcement are the same as in example 3. The #5
transverse reinforcement has a vertical spacing s  10 cm and a yield strength

f yh  4200 kgf/cm 2 .
Y

40
5
2#9
#5@10cm
55 d c

3#9
5 X Unit: cm
bc
5
(1) Cracking point
As before.
(2) Yield point
As before.
(3) Ultimate point
Properties of confined concrete
2.87 1.59
bc  40  2  (5   )  34.5 cm
2 2
2.87 1.59
d c  55  2  (5   )  49.5 cm
2 2
s  10 cm
A 2  1.99
 x  sx   0.008
Sd c 10  49.5
Asy 2  1.99
y    0.012
Sbc 10  34.5

Assume ke  0.75
f lx' f 4200
'
  x yh' ke  0.008   0.75  0.09
fc fc 280

f ly' f yh 4200
'
 y '
ke  0.012   0.75  0.135
f c f c 280

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

f cc'
 1.6
f c'

f cc'  1.6 f c'  1.6  280  448 kgf/cm 2

1.4(  x   y ) f yh sm 1.4(0.02)4200  0.12

 cu  0.004  '
 0.004   0.036
f cc 448
f cc' 448
Esec    56000 kgf/cm 2
 cc 0.008
Ec 251000
r   1.29
Ec  Esec 251000  56000
c 
x  c  125 c
 cc 0.008

f cc' xr 448(125 c )1.29 72240 c

fc   
r  1  xr 1.29  1  (125 c )1.29
0.29  (125 c )1.29

500
450
400
Confined concrete
350
Stress (kgf/cm2)

300
250
200
Unconfined concrete
150
100
50
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
Strain

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

With confinement, the maximum concrete strain will significantly exceed the spalling
strain (0.006). Therefore, the calculation at ultimate point should assume that the cover
concrete has spalled.
Spalled Compression
region  cm  f cc'
x x

d b

s   y fy

b  34.5 cm
2.87 1.59
d  50  5    47.2 cm
2 2
K =1.6 ,  cm   cu  0.03 ,  cc  0.008
 cm 0.03
   3.8
 cc 0.008

Equivalent stress block parameters for confined concrete

  1 ,   0.9 ,   0.9

The effect of compression steel is ignored.

As f y   f cc'  xb
As f y 19.2  4200
x   5.8 cm
 f b '
cc 0.9  448  1 34.46
x 1 5.8
M u  As f y (d  )  19.2  4200  (47.2  )  3574771 kgf-cm
2 2
 cu 0.03
u    5.2 103 / cm
x 5.8
5.2 103
   87
6  105

M y (tf-m)  y (1/m) M u (tf-m) u (1/m) 

Without 7
36.31 0.006 37.80 0.042
confinement
With
36.31 0.006 35.75 0.52 87
confinement

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

(1) Confinement significantly increases the curvature ductility by increasing the ultimate
strain of concrete.
(2) Ignoring compression steel decreases the curvature ductility but has little effect on the
strength of the section.

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

3.3 Effects of Major Section Design Parameters on Strength and Ductility

Area of tension reinforcement

Increasing the tension steel area As causes a proportional increase in the strength of the
section. However, the higher tension steel areas also causes a less ductile behavior for the
section as shown in Fig. 3.5. Thus, the ACI Code (section 10.3.5) requires that for reinforced
concrete beam sections, the net tensile strain at the extreme tension steel  t at nominal
flexural strength conditions shall be greater than or equal to 0.004.

Figure 3.5. Effects of tension steel area on the strength and ductility

Yield strength of steel

An increase in the steel yield strength f y has the same effect as increasing the tension steel
area; the section moment strength increases and the section ductility decreases. Increasing
either the steel yield strength or the tension steel area have very little effect on the stiffness of
the section before yield. See Fig. 3.6 for illustration.

Effective section depth

Increasing the effective section depth d increases the section moment strength without
decreasing the section ductility. Increasing the effective section depth also increases the
elastic stiffness of the section, because the section moment of inertia is significantly affected
by the depth of the section. See Fig. 3.6 for illustration.

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

Concrete strength and section width

Changes in concrete strength f c' and section width b have a small effect on moment
strength. These two variables have only a small affect on the moment arm between the tension
and compression forces but they do not affect the value of the tension (and thus the
compression) force. Increasing in either the concrete strength or section width does cause a
significant increase in curvature at failure, by decreasing the neutral axis depth required to
balance the tension force from the reinforcing steel. See Fig. 3.6 for illustration.

Compression steel
The addition of compression reinforcement has very little effect on the moment strength of
the beam section. However, because the compression reinforcement carries part of the
compression force that would be carried by the concrete in a singly reinforced beam, the
required depth of the neutral axis is decreased and the section reaches a much higher
curvature before the concrete reaches its maximum useable strain. Thus, one of the primary
reasons for using compression reinforcement will be to increase the ductility of a given beam
section. See Fig. 3.6 for illustration.

Figure 3.6. Effects of effective depth d , steel yield strength f y , concrete compressive
strength f c' , section with b , and compression steel area As' on the strength and ductility of
the beam section

Confinement
Confinement has no effect on the stiffness, little effect on the strength and a significant effect
on ductility of the beam section.

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

3.4 Moment-Curvature Analysis- by In-House Computer Programs

Material models

(1) The stress-strain curve for f y  4200 kgf/cm 2 steel:

where  sh =0.008,  su =0.12. the strain-hardening part of the stress strain curve may be
represented by the following equation:

  0.12   s  
2

f s  f y 1.5  0.5    (3.5)

  0.112  

(2) The stress-strain curve for concrete: Mander model

Note that it is important that the concrete stress-strain relationship distinguish between
cover concrete and confined concrete.

Solution scheme
(1) Select a value of extreme fiber compression strain  c
(2) Assume a value of depth of neutral axis c
(3) Axial force equilibrium
n
bc ( x ) f c ( x )   b( x ) bc ( x )  f cu ( x )  dx   Asi f s ( si )
D /2
P (3.6)
x  ( D /2)  c 
i 1

c
x  ( x  0.5 D  c) (3.7)
c

(4) Repeat (2) and (3) until axial force equilibrium is satisfied.
(5) Moment equilibrium to calculate the section moment

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

n
bc ( x ) f c ( x )   b( x ) bc ( x )  f cu ( x )  xdx   Asi f s ( si )xi
D /2
M  (3.8)
x  ( D /2)  c 
i 1

where f c ( ) , f cu ( ) , and f s ( s ) are the stress-strain relationships for confined concrete,

unconfined concrete, and reinforcing steel, respectively, and Asi is the area of a reinforcing
bars with distance xi from the centroidal axis.
(6) the section curvature is

c
 (3.9)
c

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

3.5 Moment-Curvature Analysis- by Commercial Software

Most moment-curvature analyses carried out in the design office use computer software. Two
examples of such software are

(1) BIAX: developed by Wallace at UC Berkeley in the early 1990s.

(2) Xtract/UCFyber: developed by Chadwell at UC Berkeley in the late 1990s—see the link
to this program at the Imbsen website: http://www.imbsen.com/xtract.htm.

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

3.6 Member Flexural Force-Displacement Relationship

Member force-displacement analysis (pushover analysis) is widely used to evaluate the

structural capacity (strength and displacement ductility) under seismic loading. This section
will present pushover analysis of a RC cantilever member.

A RC member is subjected to a lateral force V on the top as shown below.

Figure 3.7. Moment, curvature, and deflection relationships for a RC cantilever member.

Cracking point
The curvature distribution along the height of the member is linear.
The cracking displacement is

 cr  cr l 2 / 3 (3.10)

The corresponding lateral force is

M cr
Vcr  (3.11)
l

Yield point
The actual curvature distribution at yield will be nonlinear as a result of the basic nonlinear
moment curvature relationship (material nonlinearity) and because of local tension stiffening
between cracks. However, adopting the linear approximation suggested in Fig. 3.7(c), the
yield displacement may be estimated as

 y  yl 2 / 3 (3.12)

The corresponding lateral force is

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

My
Vy  (3.13)
l

Ultimate point
The curvature distribution at maximum displacement  u is represented by Fig. 3.7(d),
corresponding to a maximum curvature u at the fixed end of the cantilever. For
convenience of calculation, an equivalent plastic hinge length l p is defined over which the
plastic curvature  p    e is assumed equal to the maximum plastic curvature u   y .
The length l p is chosen such, that the plastic displacement at the top of the cantilever  p ,
predicted by the simplified approach is the same as that derived from the actual curvature
distribution.

l p  0.08l  0.022db f y  MPa  (3.14)

where db is diameter of longitudinal rebar; and f y is the yield strength of the bar. For
typical beam and column proportion, the above equation results in values of l p  0.5h , where
h the section depth.

Note in Fig. 3.7.

(1) Strain penetration:
Elongation of rebar resulting from deformation of the portion of rebar in the foundation.
The term 0.022db f y in the above equation accounts for this phenomenon.
(2) Spread of plasticity:
It results from inclined flexure-shear cracks. Inclined cracks result in steel strains some
distance above the base of the cantilever being higher than predicted by the bending
moment at that level. This phenomenon is also referred to as “tension shift” and will be
further explained in section 4.3 of module 4.
(3) Plastic hinge region and regions that are subjected to plastic rotation and thus require
special detailing are different as shown in Fig. 3.7(d).

The plastic rotation occurring in the equivalent plastic hinge l p is given by

 p   p l p  u   y  l p (3.15)

The plastic displacement at the cantilever tip is

 p   p  l  0.5l p   u   y  l p  l  0.5l p  (3.16)

The ultimate displacement is

u   y   p (3.17)

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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

The corresponding base shear is

Mu
Vu  (3.18)
l

The displacement ductility factor

u  y   p 
    1 p (3.19)
y y y

Example 3.3 Force-displacement relationship of a cantilever beam

A cantilever beam shown below is subjected to a force at the free end. The section design of
the beam is the same as that in example 3.2. Need to consider confinement effect from
transverse reinforcement to the core concrete.

2m

From example 3.2 (Unit: kgf, cm)

M cr cr My y Mu u
(kgf-cm) (1/cm) (kgf-cm) (1/cm) (kgf-cm) (1/cm)
With
675583 4.9 106 3631001 0.00006 3574771 0.0052
confinement

M cr 675583
Vcr    3378 kgf
l 200

 cr  cr l 2 / 3  4.9 106  2002 / 3  0.06 cm

M y 3631001
Vy    18155 kgf
l 200

 y   y l 2 / 3  0.00006  2002 / 3  0.8 cm

l p  0.08l  0.022db f y  0.08  200  0.022  2.87  412(MPa)  42 cm

M u 3574771
Vu    17874 kgf
l 200
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CT5203 Behavior of reinforced concrete members Instructor: Yu‐Chen Ou

 p  u   y  l p  l  0.5l p    0.0052  0.00006  42  200  0.5  42   39 cm

 u   y   p  0.8  39  39.8 cm

p 39
  1   1  50
y 0.8

Note in example 3.2, curvature ductility  is 87, larger than the displacement ductility  .

2.00E+04
1.80E+04
yield point ultimate point
1.60E+04
1.40E+04
Force, V (kgf)

1.20E+04
1.00E+04
8.00E+03
6.00E+03
4.00E+03
cracking point
2.00E+03
0.00E+00
0.0E+00 5.0E+00 1.0E+01 1.5E+01 2.0E+01 2.5E+01 3.0E+01 3.5E+01 4.0E+01 4.5E+01
Displacement, (cm)

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