CE 317

DESIGN OF REINFORCED
CONCRETE STRUCTURES
 1. ULTIMATE LIMITS STATE DESIGN
CONCEPT
Definition
o What is structural design? Design involves the
selection of materials and determination of
structural element sizes. The aim of design is
to build structures which are safe and that can
be used as intended, with minimum cost,
during constructions and maintenance.
 RC Composition
o Reinforced concrete is made by reinforcing
concrete with steel reinforcements.
o Concrete is a composite material of cement,
aggregate, sand and water.
o The compressive strength of concrete is higher
than its tensile strength but it is very weak in
resisting compressive force and lateral
stability.
 RC Composition cont…
o Reinforced concrete is a very strong durable
and versatile structural material.
o It is a combination of concrete and steel.
 Design Process
o Normally a project starts when the client
(individual, government, or company)wants to
build a structure for his/ her intended purpose.

o The client will consult an architect or an engineer

who will then transform the project into drawings
after taking careful considerations into accounts
and possibility in choosing the materials, and the
method of construction.
 Design Process Cont…
o Based on the architect’s drawings, the
engineer will determine the structural layout
such as the structural frame, structural
elements, sizes and dimensions e.g. beams,
columns, foundation etc.
o The engineer will carry out the structural
analysis.
 Design Process
o This involves the calculation and
determination of the force on each structural
element. After that, the sizes of the elements,
their positions and their numbers will be
calculated as shown in the detailed drawings.

o The design process and how the project is

accomplished is shown in Figure 1.
 Design Process
Architect’s Load Calculations/
Layout Plan
Drawings Structural Analysis

Detailed Drawings Structural Design

Figure 1. Design Process

 Reinforced Concrete Structures
o Generally, reinforced concrete structures
consist of various elements e.g. beam, slab,
column, wall, staircase and foundation.
o Each of them will be specifically located at a
particular place as designed by the engineer
and architect.
 Code of Practice
o During the design stage, the engineer will
continuously refer to a particular code of
practice.

o Code of practice is a document which

contains the standard practices i.e. best
practices experienced by enquiries and
research which have been compiled and
documented.
 Code of Practice
o The British Standard is generally referred to
when designing reinforced concrete
structures.

o As far as reinforced concrete design is

concerned, the codes of practice that are
normally referred to are as follow:-
 Code of Practice
1. BS 8110: 1985 : Structural Use of Concrete
Part 1: Code of Practice for Design and
Constructions.
Part 2: Code of Practice for Special
Circumstances
Part 3: Design charts for singly beams,
doubly beams and rectangular columns.
 Code of Practice
2. BS 6399 : 1984 : Design Loading for buildings
Part 1: Code of Practice for Dead and Imposed
Loads.

3. CP3 : 1972 : Chapter V : Loading

Part 2: Wind Loads
 Design Methods
o Design which is in accordance with BS 8110 is
based on Limit States Method.
o This method ensure that the structures are
safe and fit for use i.e. they will not achieve
their limit states during their service life.

o The limit states mentioned earlier are as

follows:
 Limit states
(a) Ultimate Limit State (ULS)
o ULS in concerned with the maximum load –
carrying capacity of the structure within the
limits of strength of the materials used.
(b) Serviceability Limit State (SLS)
o SLS is concerned with the appearance of the
structure, the effects of deflection or
deformation on other elements and the
durability of the structure.
 Limit states
(c) Additional limit State
o The overall stability of the building is, of course,
of paramount importance.
o It is of no use when an individual satisfies all the
design criteria if the connections between the
structure elements are incapable of withstanding
at least some effect from misuse or accidents.
o In this context it is difficult to consider structural
elements in isolation, as they form an integral
part of the structure.
 Limit states
o Generally speaking, reinforced concrete
structures are designed to fulfill the ultimate
limit state and are checked against the
serviceability limit state.
o This process is of paramount importance
because the main purpose of structural
elements of a building is to withstand any load
without jeopardizing the safety of the
occupants.
 Limit states
o For water retaining structures, cracks are the
most important criteria.
o They have to be watertight.
o Therefore the structure should be designed
for Ultimate Limit State(ULS) and checked
against the Ultimate Limit State.
 Limit states
o In addition to that, the durability of reinforced
concrete structures should not be ignored.
o They should be given some attention during
the selection of materials and when designing
details.
 Load
o Generally, load on any structural members
cannot be determined accurately.
o For most structures, it is uneconomical to
design using anticipated maximum load.
o Therefore, in normal design practice, the load
to be used is based on the characteristic load.
o Characteristic load is defined as the minimum
load that statistically will not exceed during
the design life of the structure.
 Load
There are 3 types of load:

1. Characteristic dead load ( gk )

o Characteristic dead loads are fixed loads that will
not be much different from the estimated load.
o Some examples of dead load are the weight of
the elements, finishes, ceiling and fixed
equipment, such as water pipes.
o BS6399 Part 1 gives some of characteristic dead
load to be used in designs.
 Loads
2. Characteristic imposed load ( qk )
o This load is not fixed but may vary such as the
weight of occupants, equipment, furniture,
etc.
o Characteristic imposed load, gk, may also be
obtained from BS 6399: Part 1 Code of
Practice for Dead and Imposed Loads
 Loads
3. Wind load ( wk )
o Wind load depends on the location, form, and
dimension of the building and the wind
velocity of that particular area.
o CP3 Chapter 5 Part 2 gives some guidelines on
how to estimate wind load.
 Loads
o The load is calculated as follows;
Design Load = characteristic load × partial
safety factor
= ( gk , qk , wk ) × γf
o Design load and partial safety factor for
various load combination and limit states are
given in 2.1, BS 8110 Part 1.
 Strength of Materials
o Characteristic strength is used to represent
the strength of material.
o Mean strength is not suitable to be used
because normally 50% of test results will fail.
o Characteristic strength is represented by the
area under the normal distribution curve with
a value of 0.05.
 Strength of Materials
o This is shown in Figure 2 below:

Fig 2
 Strength of Materials
o Characteristic Strength is calculated as follows;

o Characteristic strength = Mean strength – 1.64

× Standard deviation (σ).
o It can be shown that 5 % of the test results will
be less than the characteristic strength.
 Strength of Materials
o For example, to produce a concrete with a
characteristic strength of 30 N/ mm2, and a
standard deviation of 5 N/mm2, you need to have
a mean strength of 38.2 N/mm2 .

o The calculation is as follows:

Characteristic strength = Mean strength – 1.64σ

Mean strength = Characteristic strength + 1.64σ

 Strength of Materials
= 30 + 1.64 (5)
= 30 + 8.2
= 38.2 N/mm2

o Characteristic strength of concrete ( fcu) is the

strength of concrete at the age of 28days .
o Concrete of grade 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50
N/mm2 is normally used.
 Strength of Materials
o Characteristic strength of steel reinforcement (
f y) is the yield stress of steel.

o Three (3) types of steel reinforcement, and

these are high yield steel (T) with a strength
of 460 N/mm2, mild steel (250 N/mm2) and
fabric reinforcement (BRC) with a strength of
485 N/mm2 .
 Strength of Materials
o Design strength is defined as;
Design strength = Characteristic strength/
Partial safety factor

= (fcu, fy)/ɣm
 Partial Safety Factor
o Partial Safety Factor is used in design to take
into account any variation that could happen
to load and strength during design and
construction.
o BS 8110 has established its values in Table 2.2,
Part 1.
o Various factors which contribute to these
values are;
 Partial Safety Factor
o Since ultimate limit state is more severe, so
the safety factors are much bigger than those
for serviceability limit state.
o Safety factor for steel reinforcement is less
than for concrete because steel produced is of
a stringent quality and it is controlled.
o Safety factor for imposed load is more than for
dead load because dead load could be
estimated more accurately that imposed load.