Background Page 1 of 10

COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC., BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA APRIL 2009

CONCRETE SHELL REINFORCEMENT DESIGN
Technical Note
Design Information
Background
The design of reinforcement for concret e shells in accordance wit h a prede-
t ermined field of moment s, as implement ed in SAP2000, is based on t he pro-
visions in DD ENV 1992- 1- 1 1992 Eurocode 2: Design of Concret e St ruct ures.
Generally, slab element s are subj ect ed t o eight st ress result ant s. I n SAP2000
t erminology, t hose result ant s are t he t hree membrane force component s f
11
,
f
22
and f
12
; t he t wo flexural moment component s m
11
and m
22
and t he t wist ing
moment m
12
; and t he t wo t ransverse shear force component s V
13
and V
23
. For
t he purpose of design, t he slab is conceived as comprising t wo out er layers
cent ered on t he mid- planes of t he out er reinforcement layers and an un-
cracked coret his is somet imes called a "sandwich model. " The covers of t he
sandwich model ( i. e. , t he out er layers) are assumed t o carry moment s and
membrane forces, while t he t ransverse shear forces are assigned t o t he core,
as shown in Figure 1. The design implement at ion in SAP2000 assumes t here
are no diagonal cracks in t he core. I n such a case, a st at e of pure shear de-
velops wit hin t he core, and hence t he t ransverse shear force at a sect ion has
no effect on t he in- plane forces in t he sandwich covers. Thus, no t ransverse
reinforcement needs t o be provided, and t he in- plane reinforcement is not
enhanced t o account for t ransverse shear.
The following it ems summarize t he procedure for concret e shell design, as
implement ed in SAP2000:
1. As shown in Figure 1, t he slab is conceived as comprising t wo out er layers
cent ered on t he mid- planes of t he out er reinforcement layers.
2. The t hickness of each layer is t aken as equal t o t he lesser of t he following:
Twice t he cover measured t o t he cent er of t he out er reinforcement .
SAP2000

Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information

Background Page 2 of 10
Twice t he dist ance from t he cent er of t he slab t o t he cent er of
out er reinforcement .
Figure 1: Statics of a Slab Element Sandwich Model
1
1 11 11
d
db f m +
min
max 12 12
d
db f m +
TOP COVER
CORE
BOTTOM COVER
1
1 11 11
d
dt f m +
min
max 12 12
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
db f m +
1
2
2 1
Ct Ct
2 1
d d
2 1
Cb Cb
1
1 11 11
d
db f m +
min
max 12 12
d
db f m +
TOP COVER
CORE
BOTTOM COVER
1
1 11 11
d
dt f m +
min
max 12 12
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
dt f m +
2
2 22 22
d
db f m +
1
2
2 1
Ct Ct
2 1
d d
2 1
Cb Cb
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Page 3 of 10
3. The six result ant s, f
11
, f
22
, f
12
, m
11
, m
22
, and m
12
, are resolved int o pure mem-
brane forces N
11
, N
22
and N
12
, calculat ed as act ing respect ively wit hin t he
cent ral plane of t he t op and bot t om reinforcement layers. I n t ransforming
t he moment s int o forces, t he lever arm is t aken as t he dist ance bet ween
t he out er reinforcement layers.
4. For each layer, t he reinforcement forces NDes
1
, NDes
2
, concret e principal
compressive forces Fc
1
, Fc
2
, and concret e principal compressive st resses Sc
1

and Sc
2
, are calculat ed in accordance wit h t he rules set fort h in Eurocode
21992.
5. Reinforcement forces are convert ed t o reinforcement areas per unit widt h
Ast
1
and Ast
2
( i. e. , reinforcement int ensit ies) using appropriat e st eel st ress
and st ress reduct ion fact ors.

Basic Equations for Transforming Stress Resultants
into Equivalent Membrane Forces
For a given concret e shell element , t he variables h, Ct
1
, Ct
2
, Cb
1
, and Cb
2
, are
const ant and are expect ed t o be defined by t he user in t he area sect ion prop-
ert ies. I f t hose paramet ers are found t o be zero, a default value equal t o 10
percent of t he t hickness, h, of t he concret e shell is used for each of t he vari-
ables. The following comput at ions apply:
1 1
2
Ct
h
dt = ;
2 2
2
Ct
h
dt = ;
1 1
2
Cb
h
db = ;
2 2
2
Cb
h
db =
1 1 1
Cb Ct h d = ;
2 2 2
Cb Ct h d = ;

d
min
= Minimum of d
1
and d
2

db
max
= Maximum of db
1
and db
2

dt
max
= Maximum of dt
1
and dt
2


Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Equations for Design Forces and Corresponding Reinforcement Intensities Page 4 of 10
The six st ress result ant s obt ained from t he analysis are t ransformed int o
equivalent membrane forces using t he following t ransformat ion equat ions:
( )
1
1 11 11
11
d
db f m
top N
+
= ; ( )
1
1 11 11
11
d
dt f m
bot N
+
=
( )
2
2 22 22
22
d
db f m
top N
+
= ; ( )
2
2 22 22
22
d
dt f m
bot N
+
=
( )
min
max 12 12
12
d
db f m
top N
+
= ; ( )
min
max 12 12
12
d
dt f m
bot N
+
=

Equations for Design Forces and Corresponding
Reinforcement Intensities
For each layer, t he design forces in t he t wo direct ions are obt ained from t he
equivalent membrane forces using t he following equat ions according t o rules
set out in Eurocode 2- 1992. I n t he equat ions below, F
11
, F
22
, F
12
, NDes
1
, and
NDes
2
are t emporary variables.

For reinforcement in t op layer -
I f ( ) ) (
22 11
top N top N s t hen ); (
11 11
top N F = ); (
22 22
top N F = ) (
12 12
top N F =
I f ( ) top N
11
> ) (
22
top N t hen ); (
22 11
top N F = ); (
11 22
top N F = ) (
12 12
top N F =
I f
12 11
F F > t hen

12 11 1
F F NDes + =
12 22 2
F F NDes + =
( )
12
2 F top Fc =
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Equations for Design Forces and Corresponding Reinforcement Intensities Page 5 of 10
I f
11
F <
12
F t hen
0
1
= NDes
11
2
12
22 2
F
F
F NDes + =
( ) | |
(
(

)
`

+ =
2
11
12
11
1
F
F
F top Fc
I f ( ) ) (
22 11
top N top N s t hen ( )
1 1
NDes top NDes = ; ( )
2 2
NDes top NDes =
I f ( ) ) (
22 11
top N top N s t hen ( )
2 1
NDes top NDes = ; ( )
1 2
NDes top NDes =

For reinforcement in bot t om layer -
I f ( ) ) (
22 11
bot N bot N s t hen ); (
11 11
bot N F = ); (
22 22
top N F = ) (
12 12
bot N F =
I f ( ) bot N
11
> ) (
22
bot N t hen ); (
22 11
bot N F = ); (
11 22
bot N F = ) (
12 12
bot N F =
I f
12 11
F F > t hen

12 11 1
F F NDes + =
12 22 2
F F NDes + =
( )
12
2 F bot Fc =
I f
1
F <
12
F t hen
0
1
= NDes
11
2
12
22 2
F
F
F NDes + =
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Equations for Design Forces and Corresponding Reinforcement Intensities Page 6 of 10
( ) | |
(
(

)
`

+ =
2
11
12
11
1
F
F
F bot Fc
I f ( ) ) (
22 11
top N bot N s t hen ( )
1 1
NDes bot NDes = ; ( )
2 2
NDes bot NDes =
I f ( ) ) (
22 11
bot N bot N s t hen ( )
2 1
NDes bot NDes = ; ( )
1 2
NDes bot NDes =

Following rest rict ions apply if NDes
1
or NDes
2
is less t han zero:
I f ( ) 0
1
< top NDes t hen ( ) 0
1
= top NDes
I f ( ) 0
2
< top NDes t hen ( ) 0
2
= top NDes
I f ( ) 0
1
< bot NDes t hen ( ) 0
1
= bot NDes
I f ( ) 0
2
< bot NDes t hen ( ) 0
2
= bot NDes

The design forces calculat ed using t he preceding equat ions are convert ed int o
reinforcement int ensit ies ( i. e. , rebar area per unit widt h) using appropriat e
st eel st ress from t he concret e mat erial propert y assigned t o t he shell element
and t he st ress reduct ion fact or, |
s
. The st ress reduct ion fact or is assumed t o
always be equal t o 0. 9. The following equat ions are used:
( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
1
1
y
f
top NDes
top Ast = ; ( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
1
1
y
f
bot NDes
bot Ast =
( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
2
2
y
f
top NDes
top Ast = ; ( )
( )
) ( 9 . 0
2
2
y
f
bot NDes
bot Ast =
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Principal Compressive Forces and Stresses in Shell Elements Page 7 of 10
Principal Compressive Forces and Stresses in Shell
Elements
The principal concret e compressive forces obt ained earlier are used t o com-
put e t he principal compressive st resses t o t op and bot t om layers as follows:

( )
( )
) , ( 2
2 1
Ct Ct Minimum
top Fc
top Sc

= ;
( )
( )
) , ( 2
2 1
Cb Cb Minimum
bot Fc
bot Sc

=

Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Notations Page 8 of 10
Notations
The algorit hms used in t he design of reinforcement for concret e shells are ex-
pressed using t he following variables:
Ast
1
(bot) Reinforcement int ensit y required in t he bot t om layer in local
direct ion 1
Ast
1
(top) Reinforcement int ensit y required in t he t op layer in local direc-
t ion 1
Ast
2
(bot) Reinforcement int ensit y required in t he bot t om layer in local
direct ion 2
Ast
2
(top) Reinforcement int ensit y required in t he t op layer in local direc-
t ion 2
Cb
1
Dist ance from t he bot t om of sect ion t o t he cent roid of t he bot -
t om st eel parallel t o direct ion 1
Cb
2
Dist ance from t he bot t om of t he sect ion t o t he cent roid of t he
bot t om st eel parallel t o direct ion 2
Ct
1
Dist ance from t he t op of t he sect ion t o t he cent roid of t he t op
st eel parallel t o direct ion 1
Ct
2
Dist ance from t he t op of t he sect ion t o t he cent roid of t he t op
st eel parallel t o direct ion 2
d
1
Lever arm for forces in direct ion 1
d
2
Lever arm for forces in direct ion 2
db
1
Dist ance from t he cent roid of t he bot t om st eel parallel t o direc-
t ion 1 t o t he middle surface of t he sect ion
db
2
Dist ance from t he cent roid of t he bot t om st eel parallel t o direc-
t ion 2 t o t he middle surface of t he sect ion
db
max
Maximum of db
1
and db
2

Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
Notations Page 9 of 10
d
min
Minimum of d
1
and d
2

dt
1
Dist ance from t he cent roid of t he t op st eel parallel t o direct ion
1 t o t he middle surface of t he sect ion
dt
2
Dist ance from t he cent roid of t he t op st eel parallel t o direct ion
2 t o t he middle surface of t he sect ion
dt
max
Maximum of dt
1
and dt
2

f
11
Membrane direct force in local direct ion 1
f
12
Membrane in- plane shear forces
f
22
Membrane direct force in local direct ion 2
Fc(bot) Principal compressive force in t he bot t om layer
Fc(top) Principal compressive force in t he t op layer
f
y
Yield st ress for t he reinforcement
h Thickness of t he concret e shell element
m
11
Plat e bending moment in local direct ion 1
m
12
Plat e t wist ing moment
m
22
Plat e bending moment in local direct ion 2
N
11
(bot) Equivalent membrane force in t he bot t om layer in local direc-
t ion 1
N
11
(top) Equivalent membrane force in t he t op layer in local direct ion 1
N
12
(bot) Equivalent in- plane shear in t he bot t om layer
N
12
(top) Equivalent in- plane shear in t he t op layer
N
22
(bot) Equivalent membrane force in t he bot t om layer in local direc-
t ion 2
N
22
(top) Equivalent membrane force in t he t op layer in local direct ion 2
Concrete Shell Reinforcement Design Design Information
References Page 10 of 10
NDes
1
(top) Design force in t he t op layer in local direct ion 1
NDes
2
(top) Design force in t he t op layer in local direct ion 2
NDes
1
(bot) Design force in t he bot t om layer in local direct ion 1
NDes
2
(bot) Design force in t he bot t om layer in local direct ion 2
Sc(bot) Principal compressive st ress in t he bot t om layer
Sc(top) Principal compressive st ress in t he t op layer
|
s
St ress reduct ion fact or

References
DD ENV 1992- 1- 1: 1992 Eurocode 2: Design of Concret e St ruct ures, Part 1.
General rules and rules for buildings