Beam Design

As = ?

H d=?

Hd=
b=?
cover + radius of bar

CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING

SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
CEE 421: Concrete Structures
Fall 2016
 Designing a Concrete Beam
A typical question might be:

I have a beam that must span 25 feet with simply supported

boundary conditions. The beam must support a concentrated
live load of 50 kips at 10 feet from the left support, a
distributed live load of 1 kip/ft, a concentrated dead load of
30 kips 5 feet from the right support, and its own weight.
Design a cross section to handle the largest factored moment
assuming you can only purchase 75 ksi reinforcing steel and 6
ksi concrete.

In general, we always solve these problems using Ultimate

Design principles. Why?
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Whats the difference between this and analysis?

Analysis:

In analysis, we were given all the cross section properties and

dimensions and asked to calculate capacity by finding the
nominal strength and comparing stresses and or strains in the
concrete or steel to limit values.

Design:

In design, we use what we know from our limits and ultimate

moment to determine the cross sectional dimensions and rebar
layout.
 Designing a Concrete Beam
As = ?
Generally, we are always given
enough information to draw our
d=? shear and moment diagrams.

b=?
Typically, we have 3 unknowns: b, d (and/or H) and As (or ), although H
is usually approximated as d + Cover (usually 2-3 inches). Because of
this, approximations or relationships between these variables are often
made.
Mu
What then are our knowns? = M n , fc, f y , 1
Remember, Mu comes from factored loads! If we know all those variables,
what else do we know??
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Balanced Reinforcement Ratio!:

( 0.85) ( fc) ( 1 ) cu ( 0.85) ( fc) ( 1 ) 87000

bal = = b = =
fy s + cu fy 87000 + f y
(0.85) ( fc) ( 1 ) 87
fy 87 + f
y psi
ksi

From our equilibrium equations, setting C=T, we can solve for a,

so a is not really an unknown, it is calculated. The easiest type of
design question is when you only have to solve for one of the
unknowns.
Lets look at a simplified design procedure:
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Typical Steps to designing one parameter, say As:

This is relatively straight forward and there are many ways to do it.
One crucial item is to follow the limits set forth by ACI in section
9.6 (more specifically, section 9.6.1.2) on the minimum steel
reinforcement ratio As:
3 fc 200
As,min (bw ) ( d ) As,min (bw ) ( d )
fy fy

These limits have to be followed regardless of if we are designing

for As, b and or d. Note that these also set up limits on as well!
As,min 3 fc As,min 200
= min = min
(bw ) ( d ) fy (bw ) ( d ) fy

psi
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Typical Steps to designing one parameter, say As:

Step 1: As usual, lets set C = T and solve for a

As f y
C =T a=
(0.85) ( fc) (b)
Step 2: Now, we have our moment capacity equation
a a
M u M n = As f y d = ( 0.85) ( fc) ( a ) ( b) d
2 2
Lets focus on the capacity equation for steel and the equilibrium
equation and solve both for As:
Mu a ( 0.85) ( fc) ( b)
As = As
a fy
fy d
2
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Now, we have 2 equations and 2 unknowns:
Option 1: set these two equations equal to each other and solve
for a

Mu a ( 0.85) ( fc) ( b) Mu a
ad
=
a fy ( 0.85) ( fc) ( b) 2
fy d
2
Now, lets take the limiting case and change the inequality to an
equality.

Finally, we get a quadratic relationship for a

Mu
(0.5) a 2 ad + =0
( 0.85) ( fc) ( b)
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Now, we have 2 equations and 2 unknowns:
Option 1: set these two equations equal to each other and solve
for a
2 2M u
Now, we rely on the quadratic formula: a = d d
( 0.85) ( fc) ( b)

Since a cannot be greater than d, only the negative root makes

sense, so finally we get: 2 2M u
a=d d
( 0.85) ( fc) ( b)
a ( 0.85) ( fc) ( b)
Now we plug this back into equilibrium & we get: As =
fy
Note we can also do the same thing by first solving each equation
for a, then setting up another quadratic for As, but it becomes
unclear which root of the quadratic should be taken. The math is a
little messy as well.
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Now, we have 2 equations and 2 unknowns:
Option 2: we can iterate to get As, this is often quicker and a little
easier.
Stress Diagram
0.85(fc)

a C
N.A.
d-a/2~jd
T
a Mu Mu
M u M n M u As f y d As
2 a fy ( j ) (d )
fy d
2
Now, assume j ~ 0.9 for beams with narrow compression zones
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Now, we have 2 equations and 2 unknowns:
Option 2: we can iterate to get As, this is often quicker and a little
easier.
Now, plug this first estimate of As into the internal equilibrium
equation to get a:
As f y
a=
(0.85) ( fc) (b)
Now, take the newly estimated a and plug back into external
equilibrium to get a better estimate of As.
Mu
As
a
fy d
2
Now, the more iterations the better, but usually after 2, you
converge pretty quickly.
 Designing a Concrete Beam
Now we move towards no dimensions given:
In this case, we again have 2 more popular options, lets look at
these in some detail:
1) Assume a reinforcement ratio, calculate relationship between
dimensions of cross section
As = bd
Plug this into the internal equilibrium equation by setting C=T, then
plug this into external equilibrium equation

As ( f y ) d ( fy )
a= =
0.85 ( fc) b 0.85 ( fc)

a d ( fy )
M n = As ( f y ) d bd ( f y ) d

2 2 ( 0.85 ) ( f )
c
 Designing a Concrete Beam
We find a relationship between b and d:
Assume a reinforcement ratio, calculate relationship between
dimensions of cross section
Lets clean up the equation

( fy ) Mu
2
M n = bd ( f y ) 1 ( 0.59 ) bd 2 =
( fc) ( fy )
f y 1 ( 0.59 )

( f c)

Now, just like with the balanced steel reinforcement ratio, we have
an equation just considering the material properties and the
moments arising from the externally applied loads.

Now, lets use this to help design a beam. Consider the following
procedure and example: