Reinforced Concrete Concrete is a material used in building construction, consisting of a hard, chemically inert particulate substance, known as an aggregate

(usually made from different types of sand and gravel), that is bonded together by cement and water. The other major part of concrete besides the cement is the aggregate. Aggregates include sand, crushed stone, gravel, slag, ashes, burned shale, and burned clay. Fine aggregate (fine refers to the size of aggregate) is used in making concrete slabs and smooth surfaces. Coarse aggregate is used for massive structures or sections of cement. Concrete that includes imbedded metal (usually steel) is called reinforced concrete or ferroconcrete. Reinforced concrete was invented (1849) by Joseph Monier, who received a patent in 1867. Joseph Monier was a Parisian gardener who made garden pots and tubs of concrete reinforced with an iron mesh. Reinforced concrete combines the tensile or bendable strength of metal and the compressional strength of concrete to withstand heavy loads. Joseph Monier exhibited his invention at the Paris Exposition of 1867. Besides his pots and tubs, Joseph Monier promoted reinforced concrete for use in railway ties, pipes, floors, arches, and bridges.

Advantages of reinforced concrete

It has relatively high compressive strength It has better resistance to fire than steel It has long service life with low maintenance cost In some types of structures, such as dams, piers and footings, it is most economical structural material It can be cast to take the shape required , making it widely used in pre-cast structural components It yields rigid members with minimum apparent deflection Yield strength of steel is about 15 times the compressive strength of structural concrete and well over 100 times its tensile strength By using steel, cross sectional dimesions of structural members can be reduced e.g in lower floor columns

Disadvantages of reinforced concrete

It needs mixing, casting and curing, all of which affect the final strength of concrete The cost of the forms used to cast concrete is relatively high It has low compressive strength as compared to steel (the ratio is about 1:10 depending on material) which leads to large sections in columns/beams of multistory buildings Cracks develop in concrete due to shrinkage and the application of live loads

Limit state design It is a further step in the strength design method. It indicates the state of the member in which it ceases to meet the service requirements, such as, loosing its ability to withstand external loads or local damage. According to limit state design, reinforced concrete members have to be analyzed with regard to three limit states: 1. Load carrying capacity (involves safety, stability and durability) 2. Deformation (deflection, vibrations, and impact) 3. The formation of cracks The aim of this analysis is to ensure that no limiting state will appear in the structural member during its service life.

Ultimate Limit State To satisfy the ultimate limit state, the structure must not collapse when subjected to the peak design load for which it was designed. A structure is deemed to satisfy the ultimate limit state criteria if all factored bending, shear and tensile or compressive stresses are below the factored resistance calculated for the section under consideration.

Serviceability Limit State Generally the most important serviceability limit states are: (I) Deflection - the appearance or efficiency of any part of the structure must not be adversely affected by deflections. (2) Cracking - local damage due to cracking and spalling must not affect the appearance, efficiency or durability of the structure. (3) Durability - this must be considered in terms of the proposed life of the structure and its conditions of exposure. Other limit states that may be reached include (4) Excessive vibration - which may cause discomfort or alarm as well as damage. (5) Fatigue - must be considered if cyclic loading is likely. (6) Fire resistance - this must be considered in terms of resistance to collapse, flame penetration and heat transfer . (7) Special circumstances - any special requirements of the structure which are not covered by any of the more common limit states, such as earthquake resistance, must be taken into account.

Structural members must be designed to support specific loads. Loads are those forces for which a structure should be proportioned. Loads that act on structure can be divided into three categories. 1. Dead loads 2. Live loads 3. Environmental loads

Dead Loads (gk): Dead loads are those that are constant in magnitude and fixed in location throughout the lifetime of the structure. It includes the weight of the structure and any permanent material placed on the structure, such as roofing, tiles, walls etc. They can be determined with a high degree of accuracy from the dimensions of the elements and the unit weight of the material. Live loads (qk): Live loads are those that may vary in magnitude and may also change in location. Live loads consists chiefly occupancy loads in buildings and traffic loads in bridges. Live loads at any given time are uncertain, both in magnitude and distribution. Environmental loads: Consists mainly of snow loads, wind pressure and suction, earthquake loads (i.e inertial forces) caused by earthquake motions. Soil pressure on subsurface portion of structures. Loads from possible ponding of rainwater on flat surfaces and forces caused by temperature differences. Like live loads, environmental loads at any given time are uncertain both in magnitude and distribution.

Design Load

= characteristic load x partial safety factor = (gk, qk, wk) x f

Partial safety factor Other possible variations such as constructional tolerances are allowed for by partial factors of safety applied to the strength of the materials and to the loadings. It should theoretically be possible to derive values for these from a mathematical assessment of the probability of reaching each limit state. Lack of adequate data, however, makes this unrealistic and in practice the values adopted are based on experience and simplified calculations The partial factor of safety f takes account of:

Possible increases in load. Inaccurate assessment of the effects of loads. Unforeseen stress distributions in members. The importance of the limit state being considered.

Limit State Ultimate

Load combination Dead + Live Dead + Wind Dead + Live + Wind Dead + Live

Design load 1.4 gk + 1.6 qk 1.0 gk + 1.4 wk 1.2 gk + 1.2 qk + 1.2 wk 1.0 gk + 1.0 qk 1.0 gk + 1.0 wk 1.0 gk + 0.8 qk + 0.8 wk

Serviceability

Dead + Wind Dead + Live + Wind

Strength of Materials

Average strength

No of test specimens

5% under strength

Strength

Characteristic strength = Average strength + 1.64 x standard deviation 1.64 was adopted is to ensures that not more than one test result in twenty will fall below characteristic value. e.g: To create a concrete with characteristic strength 30 N/mm2, and standard deviation 5 N/mm2, the average concrete strength should be 38.2 N/mm2.

Concrete characteristic strength (fcu) strength of concrete cube on 28 days. Normal concrete grade; 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50 N/mm2.

Stress- strain diagram:

a) Actual curve
0.67 f cu m

Stress

E c = 5.5

f cu m

0 =

f cu 5000

Strain

0.0035

b) BS 8110 Design curve

a) Actual curve

fy/m

Tension

200 kN/mm2

Compression

fy/m

b) Design curve

Reinforced steel characteristic strength (fy) yield stress of steel, high yield strength 460 N/mm2, mild steel 250 N/mm2, BRC 485 N/mm2. Design Strength = Partial factor.of .safety
Characteristic strength

f cu , f y

Partial safety factor for materials: Materials Reinforced steel Concrete in bending or axial force Concrete in shear m 1.15 1.50 1.25

Durability and Fire Protection: At the beginning of the design, the following should be considered:

The climate and environmental conditions to which the concrete will be exposed. The concrete quality. The cover to reinforcement.

The amount of cover required for durability and fire protection in tables 3.3 and 3.4 of BS8110: Part1: 1997