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The paper presents a very simple method for the design and analysis of centric loaded, symmetrically rein-
forced concrete columns with rectangular or circular cross-sections. The concept of the “capacity reduction
factor” (or “instability factor”, “buckling coefficient”) is introduced, which was applied for steel, timber
and masonry columns in Eurocode 3, 5 and 6, respectively. The “capacity reduction factor” is determined
on the basis of Eurocode 2. It is shown numerically that the method is always conservative and reasonably
accurate. The usage of the method is demonstrated through numerical examples.
Keywords: Reinforced concrete column, concentric compression, capacity reduction factor, simplified design, parametric calculation,
Eurocode 2.
where NRd is the ultimate load of a column, & is the capacity ee + ei + e2 sum of eccentricities
reduction factor, and N’u is the plastic ultimate load of the etot = max (3)
cross-section: e0 minimal value of eccentricities
,
N u = fcd Ac + As f yd (2) where ee = M0e / NEd is the first order eccentricity (for uniform
bending moment), ei is due to the imperfections and e2 is
where Ac is the cross-sectional area of concrete, As is the the second order imperfection. The expression for ei is as
total cross-sectional area of the reinforcement, fcd is the follows:
design compressive strength of concrete, and fyd is the design
{
N u = fcd Ac + min 400; f yd As . } (11)
Fig. 2: Doubly symmetric cross-section (a) and the interaction diagram with
Fig. 1: Eccentricities of a RC column subjected to a normal force: due to
eccentricity in direction z (b) (For the load NEd ≤ NRd with the eccentricity e,
the load (a), due to the load and the imperfection (b), and due to the load,
the cross-section is safe)
imperfection and second order effects (c)
The value of d’ (Eq. 7) is defined as:
l0
if l ≤ 4 m ,
400 , d = h / 2 + is , (12)
2 l
ei = 0
, if 4 m < l < 9 m , (4) where h is the height of the cross-section and is is the radius of
l 400 gyration of reinforcing bars (rebars) about the center of gravity
2 l0 , if l ≥ 9 m of the reinforcement.
3 400 The minimum value of the eccentricity (Eq.3) is:
where l0 is the effective length of the column (in m), which 20 mm, if h ≤ 600 mm
depends on the length, l, and on the boundary conditions of e0 = . (13)
the column. h / 30, if h > 600 mm
The second order eccentricity is calculated as:
1 l0
2
1 l0
2 We may observe that the eccentricity of the normal force
e2 = 2
≈ , (5) depends on
rP r 10 - the effective length of the column,
where the curvature is - the amount and arrangement of the rebars,
- the value of the axial load, NEd,
1 1
Kr Kij , (6) - the concrete class (through the creep effect).
r r0
the basic value of the curvature is
1 f yd / Es 3. PROBLEM STATEMENT
= , (7)
We consider reinforced concrete columns with concrete class
r0 0.45 d '
up to C50/67, and effective length to depth ratio (l0 / h) up to 22.
and a parameter
The cross-section is either rectangular with doubly symmetric
reinforcement, or circular, where at least six rebars are placed
Kij max ^1 EM ef ;1` , (8)
uniformly around the circumference. The column is subjected
to an axial load at the center of the cross-section.
which depends on the effective creep coefficient, φef
Our aim is to determine the ultimate load NRd of the column
fck L following Eurocode 2. If the parameters of the column and
B = 0, 35 + −
. (9)
the load (NEd) are given, we can determine with the above
200 150
expressions (section 2), whether NRd < NEd or NRd ≥ NEd. In
In Eq. (7) Es is the elastic modulus of steel, in Eq. (9) λ is the
this paper we wish to derive the “capacity design factor”, &,
slenderness ratio of the homogeneous bar (according to EC 2 a
with the aid of which, NRd can be calculated in a very simple
cross-section without cracks should be taken into consideration;
way (see Eq.(1)).
for a rectangular cross-section bent about the
l
y-axis L = 0 12 ), and fck is the characteristic compressive
h 4. METHOD OF SOLUTION
trength of concrete in N/mm2.
To fulfill our goal we performed several thousand calculations
N , − N Ed of different reinforced concrete columns. Here we discuss the
K r = min , u ;1 , (10) procedure and the parameters used in the calculations.
N u − N bal According to the method presented in section 2 the
depends on the applied normal force NEd. In Eq. (10) N’u amount and arrangement of the rebars affect the additional
where μ is given by Eq (17), parameter Δβ is 0.04 or 0.08 and ∆A = 0,14 ( fck − 30 ) , (20)
&2 is given in Table 2 as a function of β, while Δ&1 is 0.09 or
0.10 for the cases shown in Fig 4(a) or 5(a), respectively. The and for fck ≤ 30, ∆A = 0 .
results of the approximation are shown by solid lines in Figs.
10(a) and (b). We may conclude that for realistic β values the The results are shown by solid lines in Fig 11. (Note that
results are conservative, and reasonably accurate. the formulas expressions are empirical, they are results of
The approximate curves were calculated for all the cross- fitting different curves on each other and have no real physical
sections shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The results showed similar content.)
tendencies; differences are only found in the values of Δβ and
Δ&1. 5.4 Effect of effective depth to
The recommended values for these parameters can be found
in Table 3.
total depth ratio
If the effective depth, d > 0.85h (or a < 0.15h ), the results
given in Table 2 are conservative. A better approximation can
Table 3: Value of parameters Δβ and Δ&1 depending on cross-sectional shape and rebar arrangement
Cross-section Δβ Δ&1
2 layers of rebars (Fig. 3(a)) 0 0
3 layers of rebars (Fig. 3(b)) 0.05 0.13
Rectangular, uniform reinforcement along the height
4 layers of rebars (Fig. 3(c)) 0.08 0.19
5 or more layers of rebars 0.14 0.30
8 rebars (Fig. 4(a)) 0.04 0.09
Rectangular, uniform reinforcement along the circumferencre 12 rebars (Fig. 4(b)) 0.05 0.10
16 or more rebars 0.06 0.11
Circular 6 or more rebars (Fig. 5) 0.08 0.10
3
l0 l0 / h , M
A= + ∆A B= − ∆B . (23)
h 22 0.5 + M
6. LINEAR APPROXIMATION
If someone needs a really quick answer, the middle part of
curves in Fig. 9 can be replaced by straight lines, and we
obtain an explicit expression for the capacity reduction factor
&2. We write:
l0 / h − 12
&2 = 0.88 − (1.2− B ) ≤ 0.85 , if 0.15 < B < 0.7 (25)
24
Note that B = 0.7 belongs roughly to As / Ac = 4 − 5%
Fig. 13: Effect of effective depth to depth ratio. Rectangular cross-section with (strongly depending on the strength of the materials). The
four bars arranged at the edges, with a = 0.1h and concrete class C30/37 results are shown in Fig. 14.
The modification factors developed in subsections 5.2 to 5.4
(see Eqs. (22-24)) can also be used with Eq. (25).
Fig. 14: Approximate expression (Eq. (25)) and calculated values of Table 2
for rectangular cross-section with four bars arranged at the edges, concrete
class C30/37, a = 0.15h
e0 = 20 mm. (26)
α = l0 / h α = l0 / h α = l0 / h
Concrete class
≤12 14 16 18 20 22 ≤10 12 14 16 18 20 22 ≤12 14 16 18 20 22
C20/25 0.86 0.81 0.75 0.68 0.56 0.39 0.88 0.83 0.77 0.68 0.54 0.41 0.33 0.87 0.82 0.75 0.55 0.38 0.30
C25/30 0.86 0.80 0.74 0.65 0.49 0.38 0.88 0.83 0.76 0.65 0.46 0.40 0.32 0.87 0.82 0.72 0.51 0.37 0.29
C30/37 0.85 0.80 0.74 0.62 0.42 0.37 0.88 0.83 0.76 0.64 0.43 0.37 0.32 0.87 0.81 0.69 0.44 0.36 0.28
C35/45 0.85 0.80 0.73 0.59 0.41 0.35 0.88 0.83 0.76 0.62 0.42 0.36 0.30 0.87 0.81 0.66 0.42 0.36 0.27
C40/50 0.85 0.80 0.73 0.56 0.39 0.33 0.88 0.83 0.75 0.61 0.41 0.34 0.28 0.87 0.80 0.63 0.41 0.34 0.26
C45/55 0.85 0.80 0.72 0.54 0.39 0.31 0.88 0.83 0.75 0.59 0.40 0.33 0.26 0.87 0.80 0.61 0.40 0.33 0.26
C50/60 0.85 0.79 0.71 0.51 0.38 0.30 0.88 0.83 0.75 0.58 0.40 0.32 0.24 0.86 0.79 0.58 0.39 0.31 0.24
Table 5 is recommended to be used for the preliminary design of centric loaded RC columns.
0.5213 .
B = − 0.04 = 0.470
0.5 + 0.5213 .
Using the accurate interaction diagram (see Fig. 15(b)),
From Table 2 – with linear interpolation – we obtain &2 = 0.644
and the final value observed from Eq. (22) is (l0 / h = 20): NRd = 1900 kN > NEd, the column is SAFE.
2 2
20 20 9.5 Evaluation of results
& = 0.644 − 0.09 × + 0.0086 = 0.577 ,
22 22
In summary, the ultimate loads according to the different
which results in (Eq. (1)): calculations are as follows:
- Eurocode 2 (“accurate”) 1900 kN,
NRd = 0.577 × 3190 = 1841 kN > NEd the column is SAFE. - capacity reduction factor (Eq. 22) 1841 kN,
- linear approximation (Eq. 25) 1815 kN,
9.3 Checking using linear - minimal reinforcement (Table 5) 1148 kN.
Note that all the calculations are conservative. Finally we
approximation state that Eurocode also allows the usage of a second order
numerical calculation, which – as a rule – results in higher
The value of &2 can be found quickly if we use the approximate load bearing capacity than the methods above.
equation (Eq. (25)):
20 − 12
&2 = 0.88 − (1.2−0.470 ) × = 0.637 10. DISCUSSION
24
value of & according to Eq. (22): In this paper a table and expressions were developed which
enable the designer to determine the load bearing capacity of
2 2 centric loaded RC columns by Eq.(1), using a simple method
20 20
& = 0.637 − 0.09 × + 0.0086 × = 0.569 , based on the capacity reduction factor and the nominal (plastic)
22 22 resistance of the cross-section. The capacity reduction factor,
& depends on the shape of the cross-section (rectangular or
which results in (Eq. (1)): circular); on the amount and arrangement of the reinforcement
and the concrete class.
NRd = &Nu’ = 0.569 × 3190 = 1815 kN > NEd the column is The values of Table 5 were calculated assuming minimal
SAFE. reinforcement. Taking the effect of the reinforcement and the
concrete class into account (using Table 2 and the modification