CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Historical Background

The history of concrete dates back as far as the beginning of human civilization. It was in
about 1824 when Joseph Aspdin invented Portland cement by burning finely ground chalk and
clay until the carbon dioxide was removed. Aspdin named the cement after the stones quarried in
the isle of Portland, England. Jean – Louis Lambot was the first person to use reinforced concrete
by using iron bars and wire mesh to reinforced concrete boats. A French gardener named Joseph
Monier first invented reinforced concrete in the year 1849. If not of this reinforced concrete most of
the modern buildings would not have been standing today. In 1854 William B. Wilkinson used
iron bars and wire ropes to reinforce the concrete floors of a two – story cottage he constructed.
Francois Coignet was a 19th century French industrialist who use iron reinforced concrete in
construction on a widespread scale. In 1889 Gyozo Mihailich designed the first arch bridge using
reinforced concrete, in Solt, Hungary. In 1891 George Bartholomew in United States placed the
first concrete street in Bellefontaine, Ohio. In 1905 Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Unity Temple
to use four massive, identical concrete walls so that the expansive formwork could be repeated
multiple times. In 1827 Eugene Freysiinet developed the pre – stressed concrete, a method of
concrete construction using cables called pre – stressed tendon. With this methodology larger and
more resilient structures that could not be accomplished by traditional method are possible to be
constructed.

Until now reinforced concrete is widely used in the construction of structures combined
with modern technology and methodology.

1.2 Properties of Materials

Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel or crushed rock, and other aggregates held
together in a rock – like mass with a paste of cement and water. Reinforced concrete is a
structural material composed of concrete reinforced with steel bars. The economy, efficiency,
durability, moldability, and rigidity make it an attractive material for a wide range of structural
applications. A unique property of reinforced concrete is that the very low tensile strength of plain
concrete is supplied by the reinforcing steel bars and the high cost of steel is offset by using
concrete for those portion that are in compression or are relatively unstressed, thus reducing the
quantity of steel required.

In the discussion of the course we must know some of the important mechanical
properties of the concrete and steel materials. Among them are the following:

A. Steel
1. Weight. The steel weighs 77.01 kN/m3

2. Strength. The strength of steel is expressed in terms of the yield strength, fy. In English
yield strength is expressed in ksi( kilopound per square inch ) and in MPa ( megapascal )
in SI. We note that MPa is equivalent to N/mm2 and 1 ksi = 6.91 MPa.

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 Philippine Standard steel bas has the following grades with the corresponding
yield strength, fy.

Grade 33 ------- fy = 33 ksi = 230 MPa

Grade 40 ------- fy = 40 ksi = 275 MPa
Grade 50 ------- fy = 50 ksi = 345 MPa
Grade 60 ------- fy = 60 ksi = 415 MPa

Below is the list of the Philippine Standard Bars Size:

10 mm 28 mm
12 mm 32 mm
16 mm 36 mm
20 mm 40 mm
25 mm 50 mm

Note: 40 mm and 50 mm are produced via special order.

3. Modulus of Elasticity. The modulus of elasticity, Es for steel is 200,000 MPa.

B. Concrete
1. Weight. The concrete weighs 23.54 kN/m3

2. Strength. The strength of concrete is expressed in terms of the cylinder strength, fc’ by
testing concrete sample after 28 days of curing. In English cylinder strength is expressed
in psi( pound per square inch ) and in MPa ( megapascal ) in SI. We note that MPa is
equivalent to N/mm2 and 1 ksi = 6.91 MPa.

Cylinder strength depends on the concrete mix proportion and most common it has
the following values.

fc’ = 3000 psi = 20. 7 MPa or 21 MPa

fc’ = 4000 psi = 27.6 MPa 28 MPa
fc = 5000 psi = 34.6 MPa or 34 MPa

3. Modulus of Elasticity. The modulus of elasticity, E for concrete is given by the formula,

Ec = wc1.50.043 f 'c ( MPa )

For normal weight concrete, Ec = 4,700 f 'c ( MPa )

Where: f ‘c = 28 day cylinder strength ( MPa )

wc = density of concrete ( kg/m 3 )

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1.3 Design Methods
In consideration of structural safety, there are two design methods which might be used.
The first of these two methods is the Working Stress Design, ( WSD ), which involves the
calculation of working or service loads stresses in comparison to the allowable stresses which are
about 50% of the ultimate stresses attainable of the materials.

In the computation, we set the following allowable stresses:

allowable compressive strength of concrete = 0.45f ‘c
allowable tensile strength of strength = 50fy

The second method is the Ultimate Strength Design Method, ( USD ), in which the
working loads are multiplied by certain load factors larger than one and the resulting factored load
is used to design the structure. This method is discussed in Reinforced Concrete Design 2.

1.4 Modes of Failure

There are three possible ways in which a reinforced concrete structure will fail.
1. Crushing of concrete – when concrete compressive stress reaches the allowable, 0.45f’c.
The word crushing indicates an abrupt failure of concrete because of its brittle property.
2. yielding of steel – when steel tensile stress reaches the allowable, 0.50fy. The term
yielding indicates the large deformation of steel when tensile stresses are applied.
Unlike concrete the failure of steel is gradual.
3. Simultaneous crushing of concrete and yielding of steel – when concrete compressive
stress reaches the allowable, 0.45 f’c and steel tensile stress reaches the allowable,
0.50fy.

1.5 Types of Problems

There are two types of problems we may encounter in the analysis of reinforced concrete
structure.
1. Design – given the load, solve for the size and reinforcement. This in the case where we
make a new structure. We have to determine the size and strength of each member of
the structure to make it functional.

2. Investigation – given the size and reinforcement, compute the load. This is in the case
when we make design checking or revisions are needed.

1.6 Types of Design

The reinforced concrete structure may be designed as follows:
1. Under – reinforced – failure is due to yielding of steel.
2. Over – reinforced – failure is due to crushing of concrete.
3. Balanced design – failure is due to simultaneous crushing of concrete and yielding of
steel.

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 In the above types of design, the recommended design is the under – reinforced for the
reason that gradual failure of the structure is required in order to give a running time for the
occupants. Crushing of concrete is an abrupt failure and not recommended on design codes.

1.7 Criteria for design

Design must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Safety – the most important criterion to be satisfied.
2. Economy – it is important that the design will comply also to minimum cost.
3. Practicability/Aesthetics

1.8 Beam Formulas

In this section we shall recall the shear and moment formulas for beams. Although we
can construct the shear and moment diagram of a beam but sometimes it is better to memorize
formulas for beams with common loading in order to obtain them readily. Also we may encounter
indeterminate beams in which we cannot solve the reactions by statics alone.

1. Simply supported with concentrated load at midspan

P
Mmax = at midspan

P
Vmax = at support
L 2

ymax = at midspan

2. Simply supported with uniformly distributed load

Mmax = at midspan
w
wL
Vmax = at support
L 2

ymax = at midspan

3. Cantilever beam with concentrated load at the free end

P Mmax = at support

Vmax = P at support

L ymax = at free end

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4. Cantilever beam with uniformly distributed load

w Mmax = at support
Vmax = wL at support
L
ymax = at free end

5. Cantilever beam with triangular load w at the support to zero at the free end

w
Mmax = at support
wL
Vmax = at support
L 2
ymax = at free end

6. Fully restrained beam with concentrated load at midspan

P
Mmax = at support
P
Vmax = at support
2
L
ymax = at midspan

7. Fully restrained beam with concentrated load at midspan

P Pab 2 Pba 2
MA = 2
and MB =
a b L L2

Vmax = Va =
Pb
L2
 ab  a 2

 1 if a < b
A L B
Vmax = Vb =
Pa
L2
 ab  b
2
 1  if a > b

8. Fully restrained beam with uniformly distributed load

w Mmax = at support
wL
Vmax = at support
2
L
ymax = at free end

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9. Fully restrained beam with uniformly distributed load extended half the span

5 wL2 11wL2
w MA = and MB =
192 192
13wL
Vmax = RB = at B
B 32
A L

10. Fully restrained beam with triangular load

w wL2 wL2
MA = and MB =
20 30
7wL
Vmax = RA =
20
A L B

11. Propped beam with concentrated load

P Pab  a
Mmax =  b   at fixed support
a b L2  2

Pa 2  3L  a 
A L B RB =
2L3

12. Propped beam with concentrated load at midspan

P 3PL
Mmax = at fixed support
16
11P
Vmax = RA =
A L B 16

13. Propped beam with uniformly distributed load

wL2
w Mmax = at fixed support
8
5 wL
Vmax = RA =
A L B 8

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 14. Propped beam with uniformly distributed load at half the span

L/2 9 wL2
Mmax = at fixed support
w 128
57wL
Vmax = RA =
A L B 128

15. Propped beam with triangular load from w at the fixed end to zero at the free end

w wL2
Mmax = at fixed support
15
2wL
Vmax = RA =
A L B 5

16. Propped beam with triangular load from zero at the fixed end to w at the free end

w 7 wL2
Mmax = at fixed support
120
11wL
Vmax = RB =
A L B 40

Problem 1: A simply supported beam with a span of 8 m carries a uniformly distributed load of 10
kN/m on its entire span. Compute
1. the maximum moment
2. the maximum shear
3. the maximum deflection if EI = 80 x 1012Nmm2

Solution:

wL2
1. By formula: Mmax =
8

Mmax =
 10  8 2
8
Mmax = 80 kNm

wL
2. By formulas: Vmax =
2

Vmax =
 10  8 
2
Vmax = 40 kNm

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 5wL4
3. By formula: ymax = ; note: w = 10 kN/m = 10 N/mm
384EI
5  10  8,000 4
 
ymax =
384 80 x 10 12

ymax = 6.67 mm

Another Solution: Another solution to obtain the Mmax and Vmax is to draw the shear and moment
diagram.

w = 10 kN/m

A B
For reactions: By Symmetry,
L=8m
wL 10  8 
RA = RB = = = 40 kN
RA = 40 kN RB = 40 kN 2 2

40 kN  Vmax = 40 kN

0 V – diagram By area method,

Mmax Mmax =
1
 40  4 
2
Mmax = 80 kNm
M – diagram

Problem 2: A propped beam with a span of 6 m carries a triangular load which varies from zero at
the fixed end to 8 kN/m at the other end. Compute
1. the vertical maximum shear
2. the maximum negative moment
3. the maximum positive moment

Solution:

The beam is shown below. By formula, the maximum moment and maximum shear can
be computed.
w = 8 kN/m
11wL
1. Vmax = RB =
40
B
A L=6m 11 8  6 
Vmax =
40
Vmax = 13.2 kN

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 7 wL2
2. Mmax = 
120

7 8  6  2
Mmax = 
120
Mmax = – 16.8 kNm

The FBD of the beam is shown below. The shear and moment diagram is drawn.

w = 8 kN/m
For RA:
y
1
MA Fy = 0: RA + RB = wL
MA C L=6m 2
x
RA + 13.2 =
1
 8  6 
RA = 10.8 kN RB = 13.2 kN 2

RA = 10.8 kN
10.8
For x:
0 C V – diagram VC = 0
x
10.8 -
1
 x  y  = 0
2
13.2
+Mmax 8 y 4
By r & p:  --- y = x
6 x 3
0 M – diagram
10.8 -
1
 x  4 x  = 0
2  3 
– 16.8
x = 4.025 m

Solve for y: y =
4
 4.025  = 5.367
3

MC = 0: MC = – 16.8 + 10.8( 4.025 ) –

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 5.367  4.025  4.025 
2  3 
MC = 12.18 kNm