3 Design in reinforced concrete to BS 8110

BEAMS
Beams in reinforced concrete structures can be defined according to:
1. Cross-section
2. Position of reinforcement
3. Support conditions.

Some common beam sections are shown in Fig. 3.12. Beams reinforced with
tension steel only are referred to as singly reinforced. Beams reinforced with
tension and compression steel are termed doubly reinforced. Inclusion of
compression steel will increase the moment capacity of the beam and hence allow
more slender sections to be used. Thus, doubly reinforced beams are used in
preference to singly reinforced beams when there is some restriction on the
construction depth of the section. Under certain conditions, T and L beams are
more economical than rectangular beams since some of the concrete below the
dotted line (neutral axis), which serves only to contain the tension steel, is removed
resulting in a reduced unit weight of beam. Furthermore, beams may be simply
supported at their ends or continuous, as illustrated in Fig. 3.13.

Fig. 3.12 Beam sections: (a) singly reinforced; (b) doubly reinforced; (c) T-
section; (d) L-section.
 Fig. Support conditions: (a) simply supported;(b) continuous.

Fig. 3.14 Notation.

Figure 3.14 illustrates some of the notation used in beam design. Here b is the width
of the beam, h the overall depth of section, d the effective depth of tension
reinforcement, d′ the depth of compression reinforcement, As the area of tension
reinforcement and A ′s the area of compression reinforcement.
The following sub-sections consider the design of:
1. Singly reinforced beams
2. Doubly reinforced beams
3. Continuous, L and T beams

SINGLY REINFORCED BEAM DESIGN

All beams may fail due to excessive bending or shear. In addition, excessive
deflection of beams must be
avoided otherwise the efficiency or appearance of the structure may become
impaired:
1. Bending
2. Shear
3. Deflection
DOUBLY REINFORCED BEAM DESIGN
If the design moment is greater than the ultimate moment of resistance, i.e. M
Mu, or K K′ where K M/fcubd2 and K′ Mu/fcubd2 the concrete will have
insufficient strength in compression to generate this moment and maintain an
under reinforced mode of failure

The required compressive strength can be achieved by increasing the proportions

of the beam, particularly its overall depth. However, this may not always be
possible due to limitations on the headroom in the structure, and in such cases it
will be necessary to provide reinforcement in the compression face. The
compression reinforcement will be designed to resist the moment in excess of
Mu.This will ensure that the compressive stress in the concrete does not exceed
the permissible value and ensure an under-reinforced failure mode.
Beams which contain tension and compression reinforcement are termed doubly
reinforced. They are generally designed in the same way as singly reinforced beams
except in respect of the calculations needed to determine the areas of tension and
compression reinforcement. This aspect is discussed below.
CONTINUOUS, L AND T BEAMS
In most real situations, the beams in buildings are seldom single span but
continuous over the supports, e.g. beams 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Fig. 3.36(a). The design
process for such beams is similar to that outlined above for single span beams.
However, the main difference arises from the fact that with continuous beams the
designer will need to consider the various loading arrangements discussed in
section 3.6.2 in order to determine the design

Fig. Floor slab: (a) plan (b) cross-section.

3.10 SLABS DESIGN
If a series of very wide, shallow rectangular beams were placed side by side and
connected transversely such that it was possible to share the load between
adjacent beams, the combination of beams would act as a slab (Fig. 3.49).
Reinforced concrete slabs are used to form a variety of elements in building
structures such as floors, roofs, staircases, foundations and some types of walls
(Fig. 3.50). Since these elements can be modelled as a set of transversely connected
beams, it follows that the design of slabs is similar, in principle, to that for beams.
The major difference is that in slab design the serviceability limit state of deflection
is normally critical, rather than the ultimate limit states of bending and shear.

3.10.1 TYPES OF SLABS

Slabs may be solid, flat, waffled, ribbed, precast or in-situ, and if in-situ they may
span two-ways. Choice of slab for a particular structure will largely depend upon
economy, buildability, the loading conditions and the length of the span. For
example for short spans, generally less than 5 m, the most economical solution is
to provide a solid slab of constant thickness over the complete span (Fig. 3.51).
With medium size spans from 5 to 9 m it is more economical to provide flat slabs
since they are generally easier to construct (Fig. 3.52). The ease of construction
chiefly arises from the fact that the edge or corner column respectively. The stirrups
work in exactly the same way as conventional shear reinforcement but can simply
be attached to the main steel via the straight bars.
Fig. Floor slab as a series of beams connected transversely.

Fig. Various applications for slabs in reinforced

concrete structures.
Fig. 3.51 Solid slab.

Fig. 3.52 Flat slab

Fig. 3.53 Methods of reducing shear stresses in flat slab construction:
(a) deep slab and large column;
(b) slab with flared column head;
(c) slab with drop panel and column head.

Fig. 3.55 Ribbed slab.

Fig. 3.56 Precast concrete floor units: (a) hollow core
plank (b) double ‘T’ unit.

Fig. 3.57 One-way spanning solid slab: (a) plan; (b) elevation.
Fig. 3.58 Plan of two-way spanning slab. lx length of shorter side, ly length of
longer side. Provided ly/lx ≤ 2 slab will span
in two directions as indicated.
1.3 DESIGN OF ONE-WAY SPANNING SOLID SLAB
The general procedure to be adopted for slab design is as follows:
The detailed procedure for design of simply supported RC slab is as follows:
1. Study the architectural drawings and assign panels;
2. Determine the slab loads using 1.4 as partial factor of safety for dead loads
(Gk) and 1.6 for live (imposed) loads (Qk);
3. Determine the imposed bending moment (Design moment M) using
appropriate method for indeterminate structures;
4. Determine a suitable depth and effective depth of slab from the expression:
Effective depth=overall depth – cover – 0.5*(bar size);
5. Calculate the K value from = , lever where b=1000mm and h-cover to
reinforcement, which can be taken as 24mm,. If K > 0.156, then increase slab
depth by 25mm;

6. Calculate the lever arm factor, la from = . + . − . . or taken

from table;
7. Calculate main reinforcement areas from: = mm2, and choose
.
reinforcement from table. Also provide distribution (secondary) bars at
300mm centre to centre;
8. Check for deflection using the basic span/effective depth ratio from the table
and calculate the modification factor from:
( ) , .
M. F = 0.55 + , where f = f ; β = distribution ratio or
. , .

1.0 if none;
9. Detail the slab appropriately.

Fig. 3.62 Definition of panels and bays (Fig. 3.7, BS 8110)

3.10.4 TWO-WAY SPANNING RESTRAINED SOLID SLAB DESIGN
The design of two-way spanning restrained slabs (Fig. 3.64) supporting uniformly
distributed loads is generally similar to that outlined above for one-way spanning
slabs. The extra complication arises from the fact that it is rather difficult to
determine the design bending moments and shear forces in these plate-like

structures.
Loading on foundations.
 Fig. 3.69 Foundation failures: (a) sliding failure; (b) overturning failure.
FOUNDATIONS
Foundations are required primarily to carry the dead and imposed loads due to the
structure’s floors, beams, walls, columns, etc. and transmit and distribute the loads
safely to the ground (Fig. 3.68). The purpose of distributing the load is to avoid the
safe bearing capacity of the soil being exceeded otherwise excessive settlement of
the structure may occur.
Foundation failure can produce catastrophic effects on the overall stability of a
structure so that it may slide or even overturn (Fig. 3.69). Such failures are likely
to have tremendous financial and safety implications. It is essential, therefore,
that much attention is paid to the design of this element of a structure.

FOUNDATION TYPES
There are many types of foundations which are commonly used, namely:
1. Strip foundations;
2. Pad foundations;
3. Raft foundations;
4. Piles foundations.
The choice of foundation type will largely depend upon the following:
1. Ground conditions (strength and type of soil);
2. Type of structure (layout and level of loading).
PAD FOUNDATION
Pad footings are usually square or rectangular slabs and used to support a single
column (Fig. 3.70). The pad may be constructed using mass concrete or reinforced
concrete depending on the relative size of the loading.
Continuous strip footings are used to support loadbearing walls or under a line of
closely spaced columns (Fig. 3.71). Strip footings are designed as pad footings in
the transverse direction and in the
 Fig. Pad footing: (a) plan; (b) elevation.

Fig. Strip footings: (a) footing supporting columns; (b) footing supporting wall.
Fig. 3.72 Raft foundations. Typical sections through raft foundation: (a) flat slab;
(b) flat slab and down stand;
(c) flat slab and upstand.
Longitudinal direction as an inverted continuous beam subject to the ground
bearing pressure. Where the ground conditions are relatively poor, a raft
foundation may be necessary in order to distribute the loads from the walls and
columns over a large area. In its simplest form this may consist of a flat slab,
possibly strengthened by upstand or downstand beams for the more heavily loaded
structures (Fig. 3.72). Where the ground conditions are so poor that
it is not practical to use strip or pad footings but better quality soil is present at
lower depths, the use of pile foundations should be considered (Fig. 3.73).
The piles may be made of precast reinforced concrete, pre-stressed concrete or in-
situ reinforced concrete. Loads are transmitted from the piles to the surrounding
strata by end bearing and/or friction. End bearing piles derive most of their carrying
capacity from the penetration resistance of the soil at the toe of the pile, while
friction piles rely
on the adhesion or friction between the sides of the pile and the soil.
Fig. Piled foundations.