Reinforced Concrete Design (with Flowchart)

Concrete Beam with Tension

Reinforcement Only
April 14, 2014 by Andy Lin 3 Comments

Have you heard of Mu/4d?

Thats something I learned at work from one of my bosses who has been a licensed SE since
1984! Its basically a quick way to check your numbers for concrete flexure (which I will show
you later in the post).
Apparently thats how engineers used to do quick checks theres no reasons why we cant still
use the same technique today.

In this post, you will learn how to design a reinforced concrete beam step-by-step, with my
simple-to-follow flowchart. By creating and using the flowchart, I was able to recall the info
needed without having to memorize anything which I hope I can help you do the same.

The Goals
There a few things that I want to help you achieve by the end of the post:

To be able to come up with the required reinforcement without having to re-read

anything.

Recall how to design without memorizing.

A step-by-step procedure that can be easily followed so that you dont miss all the little
fine-prints such as minimum/maximum reinforcement requirementetc.

Note that the flowchart mainly addresses the design of a rectangular beam (not T-beams) with
tension reinforcing only. T-beam design will come in a later post.

Assumptions
I want to point out that since you are taking the SE exam, you most likely have some idea about
all of the concrete properties (brittle) and the design theories (compression zoneetc.) so I am
not going to elaborate too much about them.
If you do need more info though, please let me know I am more than happy to help.
Another thing I want to mention is that there are many many ways to do the same design and this
is just the one that I am most familiar with.
OK lets get to this!

Flowchart
The flowchart itself is pretty self-explanatory (maybe because I created it?) but I am going to
give you a quick rundown anyway. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you got any
questions.
Click Here to get the Flowchart
Whats Given?
Usually, you should already have something to get started with on your design:

Mu: Factored design moment based on the worst case from your load combinations.

f c: Specified compressive strength. This is typically 3000, 4000, or 5000 psi.

fy: Specified yield strength of reinforcement. Usually 60,000 psi for new buildings and
40,000 psi for older buildings.

b: Width of the beam.

d: Usually the total beam depth cover 1/2 of the rebar diameter. I am going to assume
you know what this is.

What Are We Trying to Determine?

Ultimate goal is of course to find the reinforcements you need that makes the beam work.
Quick Check

Before you do anything, its a good idea to do this first. Like I mentioned in the beginning, its a
very quick way to get a rough number for the reinforcement you need.
I know the units dont make sense but just go with it and test it out. You want to make sure the
unit for your Mu is [kip-ft] and d is [in]. The result will be in [in2].
Ill show you an example at the end.
Step-by-Step Explanations
#

Equation

Action

Notes/Explanation

Calculat
e

You are going to

calculate this number a
lot. Its used for
determining the
factor which you can see
in the next item.

Use Appendix A Table (of the SE Reference

Determi

This basically tabulates

the equation

so that you dont have to

plug in the numbers. For
example, if you had
calculated
,
Manual)

ne

Calculat
e

Calculat
e (make
sure
your
units are
in psi)

using the table, you get

=0.259. Pretty
handy.Let me know if
you dont have the table,
I can create one and post
it when I get a chance.
You can also solve the
equation using quadratic
formula if needed.
This is basically the
reinforcement ratio you
need. You still need to
verify min/max and
etc.
This is the minimum
reinforcement ratio
required. I have
tabulated the number for
the most common case:
if
and
,
then
.

Calculat
e

This will be used in a

couple of equations later.

Calculat
e

This is the maximum

reinforcement ratio
which was derived from
the requirement of
minimum net tensile
strain at nominal
strength.

Calculat
e

After comparing these

three numbers, we
should now know how
much reinforcement
is needed that meets both
the minimum and
maximum
requirements.PS: I wrote
it in this format because
I am used to writing like
this in Excel functions
which I assume you
might be as well.

Calculat
e

This is for checking to

see if the beam is
tension controlled or
compression
controlled. See below.

Compare

If the statement is true,

then we know that the
beam is tension
controlled.

10

Calculat
e

This simply converts the

ratio to an actual number
so that you can decide
on the number of bars
and the size of bars.Note

that this number is based

on a tension controlled
section and has already
accounted for
.

Calculat
e

11

This is the size of the

compression block (see
diagram on the very
top). We need this to
calculate the location of
neutral axis and the
corresponding
factor if the section is
compression controlled.

12

Calculat
e

13

Calculat
e

Calculat
e

14

Concrete Beam Design Example

Now lets run through this flowchart with an actual example.
Given

Location of neutral axis

from the top fiber.
Corresponding
factor as mentioned
earlier.
Revised (increased)
reinforcement
required since the
section is compression
controlled which has
lower
.

(say cover is 1-1/2 and we are using #8 bar:

)

Quick Check

This is the quick and dirty way to check the required reinforcement. Well come back to verify
when we have an actual solution.
Flowchart
#

Equation

Results

Notes/Explanation

0.1875

Use Appendix A Table (of the SE Reference

Manual)

0.243

Use the table, the number

listed that is closest to
0.1875 is 0.1874 which
corresponds to
.

0.0122

0.0033

0.85

0.0155

0.0122

0.0136

Yes;
therefor
e
tension
governs
.

10

2.9171
in2

Compare to the quick calc

we did above (2.8125 in2),
we are fairly close!
Therefore, we know that
we didnt make any
computational
errors.Based on this, we
will need 4-No.8 bars
(0.79 in2 x 4 =
3.16 in2).Note that if the As
you use is significantly
larger than As.req, you
should repeat steps 7 and 9
to ensure that you didnt
exceed the maximum
reinforcing and to ensure

that tension still

governs.For example:

It is still less than the max

so we are OK.

Tension still governs we

are OK here as well.

Not really necessary if

tension governs but it is
useful later if you want to
calculate out the actual
capacity. I can demonstrate
how this works in a future
post.

11

5.720
in

12

6.729
in

13

Not applicable since

tension governs.

14

Not applicable since

tension governs.

And done!

Now if you change Mu to 300 kip-ft, you can see how it works if compression governs (I wont
demonstrate here).

Determine the Capacity of a Reinforced

Concrete Beam with Tension Reinforcement
May 27, 2014 by Andy Lin 0 Comments

In the last post, I talk about how to determine the required reinforcing for a rectangular beam. To
elaborate more on the same topic, I am going to show you how to actually calculate out the
capacity (using my handy dandy flowchart).
This most likely is just a refresher for many of you but it doesnt hurt to get more familiar with
the calculation (especially if you havent designed concrete for awhile).

The Goal
To determine the moment capacity,

, without having to memorize anything you just

need to follow the flowchart.

Flowchart
This flowchart also includes the stress/strain distribution diagram shown above.
Click Here to Get the Flowchart
Given

(or

Provided reinforcing steel (or steel ratio).

Specified compressive strength. This is typically 3000, 4000, or 5000 psi.

Specified yield strength of reinforcement. Usually 60,000 psi for new buildings
and 40,000 psi for older buildings.

Width of the beam.

Usually the total beam depth cover 1/2 of the rebar diameter.

Determine

Moment capacity of the section.

Quick Check
Ive demonstrated the following quick check in an earlier post:

If we set

and rearrange the equation, we get:

where the units for

is [in] and

is [in].

Step-by-Step
#

Equation

Action

Notes/Explanation

Calculate

This calculates the size of the

compression stress block.

Calculate

This is the ratio between the TC moment arm and d. Itll be

used in step [8] to obtain the
moment capacity.

Calculate

Location of the neutral axis

from top fiber. See previous
post/flowchart step [5] for the
calculation of
.

Calculate

This is the strain in the tension

reinforcement.

This checks whether the section

is tension or compression
controlled per er ACI 318,
9.3.2.2.

Check

Calculate if answer in
[5] is no (i.e.,
compression
controls).

If compression controls, you

have to reduce the
factor

Calculate if answer in
[5] is yes (i.e.,
tension controls).

This is the

Calculate

based on this formula.

factor for

tension controlled section.

The moment capacity.
This is the reinforcement ratio
that will cause balanced strain
condition which is when these
two events occur at the same
time:
1. Tension reinforcement
yields.

Calculate (Optional)

2. Strain in the concrete

reaches 0.003.
In terms of design, you just
want to make sure that your
reinforcement ratio is less than
this calculated value to prevent
brittle failures.

Example
Given

(4-No.8)

Quick Check

Remember that this quick check is just an estimate. The point is just to make sure that we didnt
mess up the actual calculation somewhere along the way.
Well verify the real capacity in the table below.
Use the Flowchart
#

Equation

Results

6.1961 in

0.8451

Notes/Explanation

is calculated to be 0.85 for

3

7.2895 in

0.0052

Yes, tension

controls.
6

Not
applicable

0.90

240 kip-ft

This is pretty close to the quick check

(253 kip-ft) which means we probably
didnt screw up arithmetically.
Compares with
, balanced

0.0214

reinforcement ratio is greater; therefore

we will not get brittle failure which is
good.

Done!
There you have it. Is this helpful? Let me know in the comments below.

Retaining Wall Design

Lets actually talk about designing retaining walls now! Since both masonry and concrete
retaining walls are likely to appear on the exam, I will only focus on the general design
requirements for retaining walls.
For the design specific calculations and details of each retaining wall design, I leave up to the
reader for their own studying. If youre taking the SE exam, you should make sure to practice at
least one design of each type of retaining wall.
Im also going to only briefly touch on each area without going into too much detail. There are
plenty of other good references on retaining wall design that will do a much better job than I can
on explaining the detailed design of a retaining wall. The goal of this section is to familiarize
yourself with the basic principles and make sure you cover all the bases during your
studies.

Typical retaining wall types, courtesy Wikipedia

Retaining walls generally have little vertical load other than self-weight and weight of any
soil on a footing. However, this isnt the case if the retaining wall is also a bearing wall. If the
retaining wall is, for example, the basement foundation wall of a building, then it likely has a
beam or other lateral support at the top as well as the cantilevered support at the bottom. Thus,
the wall acts somewhere between a simple span beam and a fixed cantilever.
With the above in mind, lets limit our discussion to non-bearing walls for the remainder of this
article (the principles are similar for both bearing and non-bearing retaining walls). Either way,
the design will likely be one of the four structures shown above: gravity wall, piling wall,
cantilever wall, and an anchored wall.
Of note, I would consider cantilever walls to be a subsection of gravity walls. This is important
because the SE exam specifications list three types of walls that may show up on the exam:

Gravity walls

Anchored walls

Basement walls for buildings

You may also see some mentioning of piling walls or mechanically stabilized earth walls but
they arent specifically called out in the exam specification so I believe you can reasonably

ignore these during your studies. Id just be aware that they exist and understand the
fundamentals of how those retaining structures work prior to the exam.

Loads and Reactions on Retaining Walls

Loads on a retaining wall are generally as follows:

Self-weight of the retaining wall.

Vertical weight of the soil, both in front and behind the wall (as applicable).

Lateral soil load, generally modeled as an equivalent fluid pressure. (Note: If the
backfill is sloped there will be a vertical component to this load as well.)

Surcharge loads from adjacent structures or loads near the wall.

Reactions on a retaining wall depend on the type of wall being designed but will generally
include some of the following:

Vertical base soil pressure reaction, in response to overturning moments.

Passive soil pressure on the front of the wall and footing (sometimes ignored).

Friction forces between the footing of the wall and the soil.

Anchorage forces from any soil anchors in the wall.

Loads and Reactions on Retaining Walls (Photo credit: Structural Engineering Reference
Manual by Alan Williams)

Ive borrowed the image above from Alan Williams excellent Structural Engineering Reference
Manual. Copyright? Whats that? Just kidding, fair-use laws are good to know and I was too lazy
to redraw it, so be quiet.
In the above image we can see all the loads on a cantilevered retaining wall. Many of these loads
are applicable to all types of retaining walls. Ive listed the loads below:

F is the frictional force at the underside of the wall bearing surface.

HA is the total active earth pressure behind wall (HA may also include a hydrostatic
component but note that any hydrostatic load will reduce the active earth pressure ).

HL is the total pressure behind the wall due to live load surcharge (if present).

HP is the total passive earth pressure in front of the wall.

WB is the weight of the base.

WK is the weight of the key (if present).

WL is the weight of the surcharge (if present).

WS is the weight of the backfill.

WW is the weight of wall stem.

The primary method to solve these problems is statics: sum of the forces and sum of the
moments equal to zero. With that you can solve for all of the forces on a retaining wall.
Often you will be given the retaining wall geometry and the soil properties of the backfill. You
then usually are tasked with finding the resulting bearing pressures under the retaining wall. Or
perhaps you have to find the length of the heel of the retaining wall (LH in the image above).
Some design of the structural components will also likely be involved.
The easiest way to speed up the analysis of a retaining wall is to break the vertical weights
into rectangular sections, as the above image has done. You can quickly calculate and tabulate
the centroid and weight of each section based on given densities and dimensions.
After that, you can then sum the moments about a point to obtain the total moment in the wall.
The point typically chosen is the furthest forward, lowest part of the toe of the walls footing
(bottom left corner for the example image above); but any point will serve as long as youre
consistent.
I often choose the typical point such that the vertical loads will cause a clockwise moment
(in the wall orientation shown above) and the soil pressures will cause a counter-clockwise

moment. See the picture below from the 2008 CRSI Handbook for details, note they have
separated the overturning moment Mo and the resisting moment Mr as you are often given one
and must design for the other.

Overturning moment, resisting moment, and soil pressure (Picture credit: 2008 CRSI Handbook)
After tabulating these moments you can then calculate the required length of heel for overturning
resistance, the soil pressure from the soil below the footing of the wall, and any anchorage forces
required, depending on the wall type being designed. Anchorage loading for an anchored wall
should be much simpler to calculate so Ill leave that for another time.
For cantilevered and other gravity walls, you have to first calculate the centroid of the
required soil bearing force (see e in the picture above). If it is outside of the kern (middle
third of the footing) then you will have the soil pressure truncated to zero at some point on the
footing. This will require a more complicated analysis and should be avoided if possible due to
the time required for analysis. Remember that soil is typically assumed to have zero tensile
capacity, though some very small amount does exist.
Once the centroid is determined, you can then calculate the pressure distribution using the
equations shown on page 2-1 of the Structural Engineering Reference Manual. After that, you
can compare soil pressure demand v.s. capacity.
If the exam question asks you to size the footing, most likely you will need to do an iterative
analysis to come up with a satisfactory soil pressure. (Note: if you run into an iterative design
like this, dont focus on an efficient design unless required to.)
For example, sure you think you can make the foundation work with only a 4-foot long heel but
what if you find it needs 4.5 feet? You just wasted 10 minutes writing out a design thats no
good. Instead, just find a rough idea of what will work (remember those CRSI tables I
mentioned?) and then exceed it.
As far as I know you dont lose points for an inefficient design unless they specifically
mention it. Watch out for wording that might read something like find the smallest bar diameter
that can adequately reinforce the wall.
Youll note that I have not discussed passive soil resistance so far. This is because of two very
important reasons. The first being that its unreliable. In practice, some engineers (and myself)
tend to ignore it as it may not exist in certain circumstances (unless the soil report specifically
indicates it). For instance, if the wall toe is excavated for repairs or future construction then there
will be no passive soil resistance to sliding or overturning. Additionally, its possible for the wall
to push the soil away leaving a gap or at least a reduced passive soil pressure.
Passive soil is a real force though so it can be included if required for a design to work. For
example, if a shear key is added below the wall for sliding resistance then passive soil is almost
certainly being used. In the case of a shear key, excavation is unlikely and the weight of the wall
confining the soil will help ensure that the passive soil pressure is likely to be present.
The other issue with passive soil is its generally not required. Frictional forces below a wall can
often be sufficient to resist sliding and are very quick to calculate. Thus, not including passive
soil can speed up your design process. This can save precious time during the exam.

In the end, both in real practice and on the exam, only use passive soil pressure if you require it
and understand its limitations.

Structural Design of Wall Components

After youve calculated the forces on the wall you can then design the individual
components for the loads on them. Sum the forces and moments on each member in a freebody diagram and find the internal forces that need to be resisted. Typically its all
cantilevers but youll see others as well. For example, a counterfort retaining wall spans
continuously between the counterforts, assuming no construction joints.
From here, you will design the components typically as reinforced concrete, reinforced masonry,
or steel structural members, whichever is applicable. Most of these will be simple designs in
nature and should be of little difficulty. Note that shear in the walls will likely not control but
dont forget to check it as some minimal shear reinforcement may be required. If possible, break
the retaining wall up into 12 inch sections. This will simplify your design and loads
mathematically.
Further details about design of the wall components is highly dependent of the material of the
retaining wall and I leave it up to the reader to study those further. See the previous blog post
from Andy regarding design of reinforced concrete members for a quick refresher as much of
that will apply to a concrete retaining wall.
Note that the governing section of the codes for masonry and concrete will be the wall and
foundation sections of those codes. Make sure to check their sections for specific requirements
for walls and foundations.

Final Thoughts
Theres much more to cover but I fear that this blog post is getting too long as it is. I will
conclude this by broadly addressing some of the other items the reader should be familiar with
regarding retaining walls.
Remember that if there is a sloped backfill there will be both a vertical and horizontal
component to the active pressure from the backfill (where there was just horizontal with a
level backfill before).
Also, remember that if they dont give you soil data for lateral soil loads (which is unlikely),
then in ASCE 7, chapter 3, there are minimum soil and hydrostatic pressure loads. Glance
over Table 3-1 Design Lateral Soil Loads on page 7 and be familiar with that table and the
footnotes given there. Under AASHTO most retaining walls that are subject to vehicle loads
require some amount of additional backfill to be included to simulate a vehicle surcharge load.
Bearing pressure and other service related design aspects are typically done with unfactored loads under LRFD. Some other service failures that must be checked are sliding of the

wall, lateral deflection of the wall, lateral tilt of the wall due to differential settlement, and crack
control. However, I would expect that any question regarding serviceability failures will likely be
related to how would one fix it and not include much in the way of actual design. This is
entirely my own opinion, though be prepared either way.
Finally, remember that retaining walls are just spread footings that are trying to tip over.
Much of the same design applies to both, and both will likely be encountered in either a large or
small portion of the exam. Shear in the footings, anchorage of the reinforcement, flexure in the
walls, temperature and shrinkage reinforcement, these are all going to be similar in both retaining
walls and typical footings and foundations. Make sure you can do these sorts of problems
quickly because any unfamiliarity will cause issues during both morning and afternoon portions
of the exam. Foundation problems require much tabulation and multiple simple calculations at
each step. Thus, being able to rapidly solve these sorts of problems through familiarity with the
design steps is crucial to success.
I hope youve enjoyed this blog post. It took me a little longer to finish it than I hoped but that
was partly due to my lax attitude to beginning my own studies for the exam. However, that time
is upon us and study we must. I plan to study hard over the next few months to pass this exam
and I hope you will too. Dont let good opportunities to study pass you by; you will miss them as
October gets closer.
Thanks for reading.

Standard disclaimer: The above blog post is offered as a helpful reference for studying for the
NCEES Structural Engineering exam. However, no warranty is given or implied for the accuracy
or correctness of the information presented and any use of this material is at the users own risk.
I am not a licensed engineer in any state nor a subject matter expert in the areas discussed. I
write these blogs for Andy Lin and Engineering HQ to allow myself and others to better prepare
for the SE exam in the hope that we can all learn to be better engineers together.