Preliminary Sizing of

Reinforced Concrete
Column
Structure II (ARCH209)

Introduction
The columns in a structure carry the loads
from beams and slab down to the
foundations, and therefore they are
primarily compression members, although
they may also have to resist bending forces
due to continuity of the structure.

Introduction

Loading and Moment

Braced Column
Braced Column where the lateral loads
resisted by wall or some other form of
bracing. With a braced column the axial
forces and moments are caused by the
dead and imposed load only. For a braced
column the critical arrangement of the
ultimate load is usually that which causes
the largest moment in the column, together
with a large axial load.

Loading and Moment

Unbraced Column
Unbraced Column - where the lateral
loads are resisted by the bending action of
the columns. With an unbraced column the
loading arrangements which include the
effects of the lateral loads must also be
considered. When the moments in column
are large and particularly with unbraced
column, it may also be necessary to check
the case of maximum moment combined
with the minimum axial load.

Unbraced column

Classification of Column and

Failure Modes
Classification of Column
Generally, a column can be classified as two types:
Short Column and
Slender Column.

Most columns are termed short columns and fail when

the material reaches its ultimate capacity under the
applied loads and moments. Slender columns buckle
and the additional moments caused by deflection
must be taken into account in design. Since short
columns are more common than slender.

Classification of Column and

Failure Modes

Effective Length
According to BS 8110 the effective length le of a column is defined as:

l e l o
Where lo is the actual length (height) of column and is the
coefficient which depends on the degree of end restraints that
defined as End Fixity Condition 1, 2 and 3 as below:

Effective Length

Effective Length
The effective length or height of a column depends on its end
conditions, i.e. the degree of fixity at each end discussed as
above. Four (4) end condition categories are defined in the
design codes as BS 8110 are:

End condition-1: The end of the column is connected

monolithically to beams or slabs that are deeper than the column
dimension in the relevant plane.

End condition-2: The end of the column is connected

monolithically to beams or slabs which are shallower than the
overall column dimension in the relevant plane.
End condition-3:
The end of the column is connected to members that provide
some nominal restraint. In the context of this program, this
condition is regarded as pinned.
End condition-4:
The end of the column has no lateral or rotational restraint, i.e. a
free end of a cantilever column. In the context of this program,
this condition is regarded as free.

Effective Length

Slenderness
According to BS 8110 slenderness demonstrate the type of
column as short and/or slender, it is expressed in the table below:

Preliminary Sizing of
Column

Columns are classified as being:

Either short or slender
Either braced or unbraced
These distinctions are made because the strength of
slender and/or unbraced columns can be substantially
reduced by the horizontal deflection of the column under
the applied loads.
The majority of structural columns are within the short
classification and slenderness effects can be ignored.
For simplicity, only SHORT column should be used at the
preliminary design stage.
For preliminary design, the effective height can be taken as
0.85 times of the clear column height for braced columns
and as 1.5 times the clear height for unbraced columns

The minimum dimension required for the fire resistance of

rectangular columns are given in table below:

Fire resistance
(hours)

Minimum side
dimension (mm)

1
2
4

200
300
450

A preliminary estimate of the capacity of a short column to

resist axial force:

N Ac 0.44 f ck
f y 0.44 f ck
100

Where:
Ac = cross sectional area of the column (mm2)

Fck = the characteristic cylinder strength (N/mm2)

Fy = the characteristic strength of the reinforcement (N/mm2)

= the percentage of reinforcement (= 100 As/Ac)

A satisfcatory preliminary column design is one which has an ultimate load
capacity , N, greater than the total applied load. This equation is applicable
to braced frames in which axial forces, rather than moment, are dominant
criteria.

However, some moments occurs in all frames owing to the lack of

symmetry in the arrangement of loads. To allow for this, the
ultimate applied load from the floor immediately above the
column being considered should be multiply by the following
factors (ISE manual):
Column balanced in two perpendicular directions (Fig. a) : 1.25
Column balanced in only one direction (Fig. b) : 1.50
Column unbalanced in two perpendicular directions (Fig. c) : 2.00

Fig. a

Fig. b

Fig. c

Percentage of reinforcement

The maximum percentage of longitudinal

reinforcement allowed in columns by EC2 is
8%. It is recommended to take the
percentage of reinforcement, (rho), as 2%
at the preliminary stage of design. This
leaves scope either to increase the amount
of reinforcement in the detail design.

Example:

Preliminary sizing of column

An internal column is a multi-storey building, illustrated in figure

below has a clear height of 5.5 m between the foundation pad and
the first floor. The column carries a total characteristic permanent
gravity load of 750 kN and a total characteristic variable gravity
load of 450 kN from upper levels. In addition, characteristic
permanent and variable gravity loads of 170 kN and 90 kN,
respectively, are transferred to the column at the first floor.

If the column is to have a square

cross section, select appropriate
preliminary
dimensions
and
determine
the
quantity
of
reinforcement required. Assume that
the column is braced and that fck =
35 N/mm2 and fy = 460 N/mm2.

Solution:

Using the partial safety factor, the ultimate

load on the column from upper levels is:

Nupper levels = 1.35 x 750 + 1.5 x 450 = 1688 kN

Similarly, the ultimate load from the first floor is:

Nfirst floor = 1.35 x 170 + 1.5 x 90 = 365 kN

The applied loads from the first floor are

factored by 1.25 (i.e. column balanced in
two
perpendicular
directions)
to
compensate for bending effects. Thus, the
total ultimate load on the column:

N total N upper levels 1.25 N first floor

N total 1688 1.25 365 2144 kN

For a reinforcement percentage of 2:

N Ac 0.44 f ck
(0.67 f y 0.44 f ck )
100

0.67 460 0.44 35

2144 10 Ac 0.44(35)
100

2144 103
Ac
100866 mm 2
2

0.67 460 0.44 35

0.44(35)
100

Assuming the column is square, h, is given by:

h 100,866 318 mm

This is rounded up to give a preliminary side length of 325

mm.
For the calculated depth of the column, it is necessary to
confirm the initial assumption that the column is short.
The effective height of the column (assuming it is braced)
is:

Le 0.85 L 0.85 5.5 4.675 m

Thus:

Le 4.675

14.4 15 hence the column is indeed " short".

h 0.325

One possible solution in which 2 per cent

reinforcement is provided is with the provision of
eight 20 mm diameter bars as illustrated in figure
below (total area of 2513 mm2).

In addition, links are provided to give restraint

against buckling of the main reinforcement.