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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
DIRECT DESIGN OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS
UNDER COMBINED BENDING, SHEAR AND TORSION
ABDEL WAHID HAGO
Department of Civil Engineering,
P.O.Box 33, Code 123,
College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman.

HUSSEIN ELARABI
Building and Road Research Institute,
University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Sudan.

ALI ZARROUG MOHAMED and MUDATHIR S. MOHAMED

Department of Civil Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering & Architecture,
University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Sudan.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a direct design method for the design of reinforced concrete beams under combined
bending, shear and torsion is proposed. The stress distribution in the beam was obtained using a
three dimensional finite element program. A sandwich approach was adopted, in which all
components of stress resultants from different combinations of loading on the beam were lumped
into four plates at its edges. This was done to facilitate the application of the "Direct Design
Method(DDM)" to beams subjected to combined bending, shear and torsion. The stress resultants in
these plates were computed as inplane forces on the plates, and the reinforcement was obtained as to
satisfy the yield conditions on the plates. The approach was verified by comparison with beams
designed by BS8110 (1985) and ACI31883 (1983) Codes, in terms of economy in use of steel, and
conclusions were drawn in favour of the proposed design procedure.

INTRODUCTION

In reinforced concrete structures, torsion often appears with bending and/or shear as in spandrel
beams or in curved girders. The effect of the simultaneous application of bending, shear and torsion
may easily be examined by means of interaction surfaces. Although there had been many studies on
the interaction between bending and torsion(Goode and Helmy 1968, Collins et al 1968, Lampert et
al 1968, 1971, Lampert and Collins 1972, Muller 1976), it does not seem that they agree on one
interaction criterion. Zia(1970) has summarized much of the available information on this respect.
The shear bending theory, and the space truss analogy as developed by Lampert (1968, 1971, 1972)
are in general agreement on the interaction behaviour. Lampert and Collins(1972) deduced that the
two theories were in close agreement and could predict the same torsion-bending interaction
behaviour. Collins et al (1968) correlated the regions of the failure surface for members with
transverse reinforcement with modes of failure. The theory stated that for beams in which the area of
tension steel exceeded that of compression steel, the torsional capacity increased in presence of
flexure up to some optimum value. On the other hand, for beams with equal tension and compression
reinforcement, the presence of bending caused a decrease in the torsional capacity of the beam
(Collins et al 1968). However, the question still needs further investigation.

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
The general procedure adopted by the codes of practice in design for combined torsion, bending and
shear acting simultaneously is to treat each type of loading individually. This may result in
overestimating the amount of reinforcement required for the beam. In the present paper, a more
rational approach is proposed, in which an elastic stress field under the applied loads is obtained by a
three dimensional finite element program, using a 20 nodal isoparametric brick element for plain
concrete. The cross section of the beam is visualized as two vertical and horizontal sandwiches with a
concrete filling in the middle, and each sandwich plate can be designed for the combined stress state
resulting from the external loading.

SANDWICH PLATE ELEMENT

Assuming elastic uncracked properties for the beam, an elastic analysis under the combined loading
of bending, shear and torsion was obtained using a three dimensional finite element program. Details
of the 20 nodal numerically integrated brick element and the standard finite element procedure used
in this research can be found elsewhere (El Hussein 1990, Smith 1971). In obtaining the stress
distribution in the beam, a 3x3x3 Gauss quadrature rule was used. As the proposed method was
originally developed for plates (Hago 1982), the first step in its application to beams was to divide the
cross section of the beam into four plates at its boundaries as shown in Fig.1. The stresses at the gauss
points within the element, which were obtained from the finite element program were integrated into
stress resultants using a 2x2 Gauss quadrature rule. The stress resultants were further converted to
stresses on the surfaces of the sandwich plates according to the following equations (see Fig.2),
which were derived by considering equilibrium of the individual plates; (note that the numerals in
Fig.2 refer to plates numbers):

For plate 1:
Stresses on xz surface:

Fy Mx
σ yy = − ...........................................................(1)
2CB d 1CB

Fyx M yx
τ yx = − ..............................................................(2)
2CB d1CB

Stresses on surface yz.

Fy My
σ xx = − ...........................................................(3)
2CL d 1CL

Fxy M xy
τ xy = − ...............................................................(4)
2CL d1CL

For plate 2:
Stresses on surface xz:
Fy Mx
σ yy = + ...........................................................(5)
2CB d1CB
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 Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006

Fyx M yx
τ yx = − ...............................................................(6)
2CB d 1CB

Stresses on surface yz:

Fx My
σ xx = − ...........................................................(7)
2CL d 1CL

Fxy M xy
τ xy = − .............................................................(8)
2CL d1CL

For plate 3:
Stresses on surface xz:

Mz
σ yy = − .................................................................(9)
b1CD

Fyz M yz
τ yx = − ...........................................................(10)
2CD b1CD

My
σ zz = − .................................................................(11)
b1CL
Stresses on surface xy:

Fzy M zy
τ zy = − .........................................................(12)
2CL b1CL

For plate 4:
Stresses on surface xz:
M
σ yy = − z
.......... .......... ..........
b 1 CD

Mz
σ yy = ...................................................................(13)
d1CB

Fyz M yz
τ yz = + ...........................................................(14)
2CD b1CD

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 Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
Stresses on surface xy:
M
σ zz =
y
.......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
b 1 CL

My
σ zz = ..................................................................(15)
b1CL

Fzy M zy
τ zy = + .........................................................(16)
2CL b1CL

In this manner, the beam has been converted into a set of four plates, each one became under the
action of inplane (membrane) stresses only. The direct design method (DDM) could then be applied
to obtain the required reinforcement in these plates. For this purpose, equations derived by Nielsen
(1971) for plates and modified further by Clark (1976) were used. These equations were derived
using the theory of plasticity, and assuming unlimited plastic action in concrete. The method was
originally proposed for plates, and full account on its application to reinforced concrete slabs can be
found in (Hago 1982, and Abdel Hafiz 1986).

Effect of the Thickness of the Shell of the Sandwich on the Distribution of Reinforcement:

It can be seen from the above description of the DDM, that a basic parameter to be determined in the
development of the method is the thickness of the sandwich plates. An investigation was carried out
to study its effect on the distribution of the reinforcement. A bending moment of 90 kNm was applied
at the end of a 2 meters long cantilever 250mm depth x 200mm width, and the corresponding
reinforcement was obtained firstly for a constant width and varying depth, and secondly for a
constant depth and varying width. In each case the thickness of the plate was varied from 1.0 mm to
its maximum value of half the width of the beam (125 mm) at increments of 1.0 mm. The above
analysis was repeated for the case of pure torsion (T = 40 kNm), and the case of combined torsion and
bending moment (T = 40 kNm, M = 90 kNm).

The thickness which gave minimum reinforcement was plotted against the corresponding depth of
the shell, while the width was kept constant, as shown in Fig.3. The best equation which simulates
this relationship can be put in the form:

y = α x β ......................................................................(17)

By transforming this equation into a linear equation using logarithmic linear regression, the constants
α and β for each problem was obtained. The results are shown in Table 2. Similar results were also
obtained for the case of pure bending, in which, the depth was kept constant while the width was
varied. The results for all these cases are also shown in Table 2.

Figures 3 and 4 show the relationship between the thickness that gives the minimum volume of
reinforcement, the depth and the width respectively. These relationships can also be represented by
equation (17).

However, it is important to note that the thickness of the sandwich plate is also governed by further
two factors:
1. The condition of minimum cover.

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
2. Practicality of placing the reinforcement.
To satisfy the condition of minimum cover, it was suggested that the thickness of the shell to be
obtained from equation 17 (or Figs.3 or 4), but should not be less than twice the thickness of the
nominal cover specified by the code for durability and fire resistance, in order to satisfy condition 2
above.

Verification of the Developed Direct Design Method

In this section the developed design software was tested. The same cantilever beam was used. The
results obtained for the case of combined torsion and bending showed that the values of shear stresses
in plates (4) and (2), (Fig.2) are simply the sum of that obtained for pure torsion to that obtained for
pure bending. It follows that the reinforcement is approximately the sum of the reinforcement for the
two individual pure cases.

Considering plate (3), it can be seen that the values of shear stresses in case of combined torsion and
bending are equal to the algebraic sum of these values for each individual pure case. The values of
the percentage reinforcements in this plate was approximately equal to the difference between the
percentage of reinforcement in the case of pure bending and that in the case of pure torsion. For plate
(1) the reinforcement in the case of combined torsion and bending was less than that in the case of
pure torsion. This was because in this plate there was only a normal compressive stress obtained from
bending in addition to the shear stress obtained from torsion. The compressive stress in this plate
tended to reduce the effect of the shear stress.

Comparison Between the Direct Design Method and Other Codes of Practice:

A comparison was conducted between the results obtained by the direct design method (DDM), the
British Standard Code of practice (BS8110-1985) and the American Code of practice (ACI 318-83)
for different moment/torque ratios. Seven cantilever beams with the same cross sectional dimensions
(450 x 250 mm) and subjected to cases of pure and combined loading were designed according to the
specifications of (BS8110-1985), (ACI 31883), and the direct design method (DDM). All safety
factors in the two codes of practice and in DDM were taken as unity, so as to have the same grounds
for comparison.

Table (3) shows the amount of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement for various moment/torque
ratios. It also contains the percentage difference (Dif1) between the longitudinal reinforcement
computed by the direct design method (DDM) and the two Codes of Practice, and the percentage
difference (Dif2) between the transverse reinforcement computed by the direct design method and
the two Codes of Practice. From the table, it can be seen that, in the case of pure torsion the direct
design method gives less reinforcement than the two codes of practice. BS8110 gives an amount of
longitudinal and transverse reinforcements which are 1.47 and 1.83 times the respective value
obtained by the direct design method. The corresponding ratios for the ACI are 1.62 and 1.42
respectively. In the case of combined torsion and bending, it can be seen that in general the difference
in the longitudinal reinforcement between the direct design method and both Codes of Practice
decreases as the moment/torque ratio increases. The difference in transverse reinforcement obtained
by ACI and BS8110-1985 from that obtained by the direct design method (DDM) is high, and it is
almost constant for Moment/Torque ratios less than 6, then it reduces for values of Moment/Torque
ratios higher than 6. From Table (3), it can be seen that the total volume of reinforcement in the beam
obtained by the direct design method (DDM) is always less than that obtained by the two Codes of
Practice. Thus, it can be said that the proposed direct design method gives less steel than both the
ACI-318-83 and BS8110-1985 Codes of Practice, bearing in mind the fact that no safety factors were

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
involved in each case. However, ultimate and service behaviour of beams designed by this method
still needs to be investigated.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The Direct Design Method (DDM) suggested in this paper can be applied to solid beams under
different combinations of torsion, bending and shear, by adopting a sandwich approach in
which all components of stress resultants are lumped as inplane stresses in four plates at the
edges of the cross section.
2. The thickness of the sandwich plates to give minimum reinforcement can be obtained from
equation 17 or by use of Figs. 3 and 4. It is recommended that the thickness should not be less
than twice the cover for durability requirements.
3. It is anticipated that, by applying DDM to beams under combined states of loading, an upper
bound to the minimum reinforcement will be obtained.
4. Designs based on the proposed DDM yield more saving in steel than that provided by the
present codes of practice of BS8110-1985 and ACI 318-83.
5. Further investigation into the ultimate and service behaviour of beams designed by this
method is currently underway.

REFERENCES:

ABDEL HAFIZ, L. H.(1986). "Direct Design of reinforced Concrete Skew Slabs". Thesis submitted
for the degree of Ph.D., University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1986.

ACI-318-83, Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete". American Concrete Institute,
Detroit, 1983.

BS8110-1985, British Standard- Structural Use of Concrete. Part 2, Code of Practice for Special
Circumstances, British Standards Institute, London 1985.

CLARK, L. A.(1976). "The Provision of Tension and Compression Reinforcement to resist inplane
forces". Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol 28, No. 94, March 1976, pp 312.

COLLINS, M. P., WALSH, P. F., ARCHER, F. E., AND HALL, A. S.(1968)."Ultimate Strength Of
Reinforced Concrete Beams Subjected to Combined Torsion and Bending". Torsion of Structural
Concrete, SP18, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1968, pp. 279402.

ELHUSSEIN A. E. ELARABI(1990). "Finite Element and Direct Design Method In Combined

Torsion, Bending and Shear of Reinforced Concrete". A thesis submitted for the degree of master of
science in Civil Engineering. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Khartoum, Jan 1990.

GOODE, C. D. AND HELMY M. A.(1968). "Ultimate Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams in

Bending and Torsion". Torsion of Structural Concrete, SP No. 18, American Concrete Institute,
Detroit, 1968, pp. 357377.

HAGO, A. W.(1982). "Direct Design of Reinforced Concrete Slabs". Thesis submitted for the
degree of Ph.D., University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1982.

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
LAMPERT, PAUL AND THURLIAMANN, BRUNO(1969). "Ultimate strength and design of
reinforced concrete beams in torsion and bending". Publications of the International Association for
Bridge and Structural Engineering (Zurich), vol 31I, pp. 107131.

LAMPERT, P., COLLINS, M.P.(1962). "Torsion, Bending and Confusion. An attempt to establish
the facts". Journal of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), August 1972, pp. 500504.

MULLER, P.(1976). "Failure Mechanisms for Reinforced Concrete Beams in Torsion and
Bending". Publications of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, Vol
36II, 1976, pp. 147163.

NIELSEN, M. P.(1969). "On the Strength of Reinforced Concrete

Slabs". Alborg, Den mark, Ingenioor akademi Bygeninsafdelingen 1971, Bulletin No. B2. Reprinted
from Acta Polytechnica Scandinavica, Civil Engineering And Construction Series, No. 70, 1969, pp
254.

SMITH, G. N.(1971). An Introduction to Matrix and Finite Element Methods in Civil Engineering.
Applied Science Publishers Ltd, London 1971.

ZIA, P. (1970). "What Do We Know About Torsion in Concrete Members". Proceedings of the
American Society Of Civil Engineers,Vol 96, No. ST6, June 1970, pp. 11851199.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank Professor Dr.-Ing. H. Dudeck, Director of Institut fuer Statik of TU
Braunschweig, West Germany, and his staff, for the facilities made available to the second author
during his stay in Germany.

APPENDIX 1: NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper:

A,S = Area and spacing of links (in Table 3)
C = Thickness of the shell
L,B,D = Dimensions of the element (see Fig.1)
b1 , d 1 = Lever arms of the moments, measured from midplane
σxx , σyy , σzz = Normal stresses on surface of the plate
τxy , τyz , τzx = Shear stresses on the surface of the plate
Fx, Fy, Fz = Normal stress resultants on the surface of the element
Fxy,Fyz,Fzx = Shear stress resultants on the surface of the element
Mx,My,Mz = Moments about X, Y, and Z axis respectively.
Mxy,Myz,Mzx = Twisting moments about X, Y, and Z axes.
M = Bending moment
T = Torque
fc = Concrete compressive strength
X = Depth of the beam, in equation 17
Y = Thickness of shell required to give minimum reinforcement (equation 17)

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006
Table 1: The thickness of the sandwich plate which gives minimum reinforcement for a
cantilever under different load combinations

LOAD TYPE LOAD VALUE (KNm) THICKNESS (mm)

Pure Moment 90 40
Pure Torque 40 20
Moment & Torque M=90 , T=40 50

Table 2: Values of the constants α and β in equation 17, for the loading cases considered

LOAD TYPE α β REMARKS

Pure Moment 65.67E3 -1.210 constant width
Pure Torque 12.26E3 -1.052 constant width
Combined Moment and Torque 134.08E3 -1.313 constant width
Pure Moment 22.63E3 -1.148 constant depth
Pure Torque 19.63E3 -1.249 constant depth
Combined Moment and Torque 15.67E3 -1.313 constant depth

Table 3: Reinforcement Obtained by BS8110(1985), ACI-318-83 and DDM

BS8810 ACI DDM

M T M/T MAIN LINKS DIF1 DIF2 MAIN LINKS DIF1 DIF2 MAIN LINKS
KNm KNm STEEL A/S Per Per STEEL A/S Per Per STEEL A/S
Cent Cent Cent Cent
0 30 0 1228.0 2.193 46.7 83.3 1351.7 1.705 61.5 42.3 837.0 1.197
30 30 1 1532.5 2.193 55.5 83.3 1557.4 1.803 60.0 50.7 985.6 1.197
60 30 2 1836.8 2.193 43.1 83.3 1817.3 1.904 41.6 59.1 1283.5 1.197
120 30 4 2500.3 2.193 7.9 83.3 2340.7 2.117 1.1 76.9 2316.2 1.196
120 20 6 2090.9 1.462 1.1 83.3 2246.9 1.186 8.6 48.6 2068.2 0.798
240 20 12 3742.2 1.462 -36.0 19.0 3448.0 1.661 -41.3 35.2 5872.6 1.228
240 0 2923.5 0.0 -37.4 -100 2644.4 0.264 -43.4 -75.8 4670.7 1.088

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006

C
D

Fig.1: Dividing a beam element into shells

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Abdel Wahid Hago, ElHussein A.E. Elarabi, Ali Zarroug and Muddathir Sulieman, “Direct Design of
Reinforced Concrete Beams under Combined Bending, Shear and Torsion”, Sudanese Engineering
Society Journal, Vol. 52, No. 45, Jan. 2006

σyy
PLATE 2 τyx

τxy
σxx Y
τyx
σyy
PLATE 1

τxy

σxx
X
Z σzz

τzy

PLATE 3
σzz

τzy σyy

PLATE 4 τyz

Y
σyy

τyz

X
Fig.2 : Stresses in the shell plates
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