ACI 318-14:

Reorganized for Design

Chapter 23 - Strut-and-Tie Models

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Ch. 23 Strut-and-Tie Models

23.1
23.2
23.3
23.4
23.5
23.6
23.7
23.8
23.9

Scope
General
Design strength
Strength of struts
Reinforcement crossing bottle-shaped struts
Strut reinforcing detailing
Strength of ties
Tie reinforcement detailing
Strength of nodal zones

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Why strut-and-tie models?

Valuable tool where plane-sections
assumption of beam theory does not apply
Truss analogy used to analyze concrete
structures

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Strut and tie models

3 components
Struts
Ties
Nodal zones
P

R
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R
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Struts
Compression elements
2 types
Prismatic
Bottle-shaped
Prismaticstrut
P

Bottleshapedstrut

R
5

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23.4 Strength of struts

Strut strength
Without longitudinal reinforcement,
Fns = fceAcs

With longitudinal reinforcement,

Fns = fceAcs + Asfs

= 0.75 for all struts

Where:

ws

bw

Acs = bwws
ws based on width at node
fce = 0.85 sfc
s Table 23.4.3

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23.4 Strength of struts

Strut coefficient, s Table 23.4.3

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Struts in a flexural tension zone

T
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23.5 Reinf. crossing bottle-shaped struts

Distributed transverse reinforcement
(Asi / bssi)sin i 0.003
for fc 6000 psi
Only required if using s = 0.75
Not practical in all situations
Also meet deep beam minimum
reinforcement in Section 9.9

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Strut and tie models

3 components
Struts
Ties
Nodal zones
P

R
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R
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23.7 Strength of ties

Tensile strength:

Simple tension element

Fnt = Atsfy (nonprestressed)
= 0.75 for all ties
Tie centroid coincides with reinforcement
centroid

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23.8 Tie reinforcement detailing

Develop bars at the centroid within the
extended nodal zone
Develop difference between force on one
side and the other within the nodal zone
C

T
Nodalzone
R

d, min
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Extendednodal
zone
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Strut and tie models

3 components
Struts
Ties
Nodal zones
P

R
13

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23.9 Strength of nodal zones

Node strength
Depends on node type
T

C
C

C
CCC

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CTT

CCT

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23.9 Strength of nodal zones

Node strength

Fnn = fceAnz
fce = 0.85 nfc
n Table 23.9.2
= 0.75 for all nodal zones
Typeofnode
CCC
CCT
CTT

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Examples
Deep beam from SP-17(14)

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Examples
Deep beam from SP-17(14)

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Examples
Deep beam from SP-17(14)

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Examples
Deep beam from SP-17(14)

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Examples
Corbel from SP-17(14)

Tie

Strut

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Examples
Pile cap from SP-17(14)

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Resources
SP-208: Examples for the Design of Structural
Concrete with Strut-and-Tie Models
SP-273 Further Examples for the Design of
Structural Concrete with Strut-and-Tie
Models

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