Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures I

Torsion

Table of Contents
6.1 Introduc on............................................................................. 1
6.2 Torsional Stresses .................................................................... 2
Msc. Wissam Nadir
6.3 When Torsional Reinforcing Is Required by the ACI ............... 4
[Company name]
6.4 Torsional Moment Strength .................................................... 6
[Date]
6.5 Torsional reinforcement.......................................................... 9
Lec. Shear and Diagonal Tension in Beam
Page 1 of 14

Chapter six
Torsion
6.1 Introduc on
The average designer probably does not worry about torsion very much. They
thinks almost exclusively of axial forces, shears, and bending moments, and yet
most reinforced concrete structures are subject to some degree of torsion.
Appreciable torsion does occur in many structures, such as in the main girders of
bridges, which are twisted by transverse beams or slabs.
Earthquakes can cause dangerous torsional forces in all buildings. This is
particularly true in asymmetrical structures, where the centers of mass and
rigidity do not coincide. Other cases where torsion may be significant are in
curved bridge girders, spiral stairways.

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6.2 Torsional Stresses
The torsional stresses add to the shear stresses on one side of a member and
subtract from them on the other. This situation is illustrated for a hollow beam
in Figure.

Torsional stresses are quite low near the center of a solid beam. Because of
this, hollow beams (assuming the wall thicknesses meet certain ACI
requirements) are assumed to have almost exactly the same torsional strengths
as solid beams with the same outside dimensions.
In solid sections, the shear stresses due to the torsion, Tu , are concentrated in
an outside “tube” of the member, as shown in Figure above (a), while the shear
stresses resulting from Vu are spread across the width of the solid section, as
shown in part (b) of the figure. As a result, the two types of shear stresses (those
from shear and torsion) are combined, using a square root expression shown in
the next section of this chapter.

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After cracking, the resistance of concrete to torsion is assumed negligible.
The torsion cracks tend to spiral around members (hollow or solid) located at
approximately 45◦ angles with the longitudinal edges of those members.
Torsion is assumed to be resisted by an imaginary space truss located in the
outer “tube” of concrete of the member. Such a truss is shown in Figure below.
The longitudinal steel in the corners of the member and the closed transverse
stirrups act as tension members in the “truss,” while the diagonal concrete
between the stirrups acts as struts of compression members. The cracked
concrete is still capable of taking compression stresses.

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6.3 When Torsional Reinforcing Is Required by the ACI
The design of reinforced concrete members for torsion is based on a thin-walled
tube space truss analogy in which the inside or core concrete of the members is
neglected.

After torsion has caused a member resistance the torsion by almost entirely
closed stirrups and the longitudinal reinforcing located near the member surface.
Once cracking occurs, the concrete is assumed to have negligible torsional
strength left.
In ACI 11.5.1, it is stated that torsion effects may be neglected for
nonprestressed members if
1
<
4
Where:

= = ∅ !
3
∅=" ℎ $ = 0.75
= Equals the area of the entire cross sections (including the area of any voids
in hollow members). =)∗ℎ + "
=Represents the perimeters of the entire cross sections.
= 2 ∗ -) + ℎ/ + "

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If the beam cast monolithically with a slab, the values of and may
be assumed to include part of the adjacent slabs of the resulting T- or L-shaped
sections.
The widths of the slabs that may be included as parts of the beams may not
exceed the projections of the beams above or below the slab (hw) or four times
the slab thickness, whichever is smaller.

When appreciable torsion is present, it may be more economical to select a

larger beam than would normally be selected so that torsion reinforcing does not
have to be used. Such a beam may very well be more economical than a smaller
one with the closed stirrups and additional longitudinal steel required for torsion
design. On other occasions, such a practice may not be economical, and
sometimes-architectural considerations may dictate the use of smaller sections.

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1
6.4 Torsional Moment Strength
0 " 1 " $
4

The ACI Code 11.6.3.1 limits the sizes of members subject to shear and
torsion so that unsightly cracking is reduced and crushing of the surface concrete
caused by inclined compression stresses is prevented. This objective is
accomplished with the condition that follow.
To ensure that solid sections fail in a ductile manner, the following condition
should satisfied:
4 4 2
23 6 +
7
! 9 ∅3 + 6 … . .11.18
)5 $ 1.7 87 )5 $ 3
To ensure that hollow sections fail in a ductile manner, the following

4 4 2
condition should satisfied:
3 6+ ! 9 ∅3 + 6 … . .11.19
7
)5 $ 1.7 87 )5 $ 3

=> =Is the perimeter of the centerline of the outermost closed torsional
Where:

7 = 2-?° + A° /
reinforcing.

BC> =is the cross-sectional area of the member that is enclosed within this

87 = -?° ∗ A° /
centerline.

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Note:

D F D
1- Should the wall thickness of a hollow section be less than Aoh /ph , the
second term in ACI Equa on 11-19 is to be taken not as E LG but as E ,
H.I JKG H.I JKG
Where (t) is the thickness of the wall where stresses are, being checked (ACI
11.5.3.3).
2- For the hollow sections is that the distance from the centerline of the
transverse torsion reinforcing to the inside face of the wall must not be less
than 0.5Aoh/ph

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6.5 Torsional reinforcement
The torsional strength of reinforced concrete beams can be greatly
increased by adding torsional reinforcing consisting of closed stirrups and
longitudinal bars.

0
H
If the factored torsional moment for a particular member is larger than the
M
value given in ACI Sec on 11.5.1 the code provides an expression to
compute the absolute minimum area of transverse closed stirrups that may be
used.
Minimum torsion reinforcement

)5 Q )5 Q
- N+2 O / = 0.062 0 0.35 ACI 11.23
RO RO

Where:
N = is the area of reinforcing required for shear in a distance(s).
O =which represents the area of the stirrups needed for torsion, is for only one

Therefore, the value - N + 2 O / is the total area of both legs of the stirrup
leg of the stirrup.

(for two legged stirrups) needed for shear plus torsion. It is considered desirable
to use equal volumes of steel in the stirrups and the added longitudinal steel so
that they will participate equally in resisting torsional moments.

2
= cot Z ACI 11.21
8 O RO
V
Q
This equation is usually written in the following form:

=
O V
Q 2 8 RO cot Z
Where:

=
DE
V ∅
Is the ultimate applied torque

O Area of one leg of stirrups

RO Yield stress of stirrups must not exceed 420 [

Also 8 = 0.85 87 and Z = 45 $

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As given in the ACI Commentary (R11.5.3.8), the required s rrup areas for
shear and torsion are added together as follows for a two-legged stirrup:
2 O
+ 3 6= +
N\O N
Q Q Q
The spacing of transverse torsional reinforcing may not be larger than

"]^_ = 1 . ` 7 /8
300

Remember also the maximum spacing of s rrups for shear d/2 and d/4 given in
ACI Sec ons 11.4.5.1 and 11.4.5.3.

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Longitudinal reinforcement

Furthermore, extra longitudinal reinforcement is also added as it capable of

resisting torsion as follows:

= ! cot Z cℎ
O RO
b
" 7
R

R =Is the yield stress of longitudinal reinforcement

However, the amount of longitudinal torsional reinforcement b must not be less

than the minimum longitudinal torsional reinforcement b,]eV , which is given as
follows:

0.42
= −3 6 ACI 11.24
O RO
b,]eV
R " 7
R

Note
• that O /" shall not be taken less than 0.175)5 / RO

• The longitudinal reinforcing must be distributed around the inside

perimeter of the closed stirrups and must be spaced no farther apart than
300 mm. At least one bar must be placed in each corner of the s rrups to
provide anchorage for the stirrup legs.
These bars have to be 10 mm or larger in size, and they must have diameters
no less than 0.042 mes the s rrup spacings (ACI 11.5.6.2).

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= 28 [g , A 420 [g , 4 = 190 h $ = 30 h. 1. Assume Ø13

Ex: Design the torsional reinforcing for the beam shown in Figure, for which

s rrups and a clear cover equal to 40 mm.

Solution

1- Is the torsional reinforcement necessary?

<∅ !
12

= 350 ∗ 650 = 22750011

= 2 ∗ -350 + 650/ = 200011

√28 227500
0.75 ∗ 1 ∗ ! ∗ 10jk = 8.55 h. 1 < = 30 h. 1
12 2000
Torsional reinforcement is required
2- Is the concrete section sufficient large to support ?

4 4 2
23 6 +
7
! 9 ∅3 + 6 … . .11.18
)5 $ 1.7 87 )5 $ 3

4 = 190 h, )5 = 35011 $ = 30 h. 1
25
$ = 650 − 40 − 12 − = 585.511
2
87 = ?H ∗ AH
12
?H = 350 − 2 ∗ 340 + 6 = 25811
2
12
AH = 650 − 2 ∗ 340 + 6 = 55811
2
87 = 258 ∗ 558 = 143964 11
8 = 0.85 ∗ 87 = 0.85 ∗ 143964 = 122369.4 11
7 = 2 ∗ -?H + AH / = 2 ∗ -258 + 558/ = 1632 11

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√28
Page 13 of 14

4 = )5 $ = ∗ 350 ∗ 585.5 ∗ 10jl = 180.72 h

6 6

190 ∗ 1000 30 ∗ 10k ∗ 1632 180.72 ∗ 1000 2

23 6 + ! 9 0.75 3 + √286
350 ∗ 585.5 1.7 ∗ 143964 350 ∗ 585.5 3
1.67 [g < 3.3[g
Section is sufficiently large

3- Determine the torsional reinforcement required

30
= = = 40 h. 1
V
∅ 0.75
40 ∗ 10k
= =
O V
Q 2 8 RO cot Z 2 ∗ 122369.4 ∗ 420 ∗ 1
11
= 0.39 + " g
11

4- Determine the shear reinforcement required

4 = 190 h > ∅4 = 135.54 h
Shear reinforcement is required
4 190
4n = −4 = − 180.72 = 72.613 h
∅ 0.75
4n 72.61 ∗ 1000
= = = 0.295 11 o11
N
Q A$ 420 ∗ 585.5
5- Select stirrups spacing
2 O
+ 3 6= + = 0.295 + 2 ∗ 0.39 = 1.075 11 o11
N\O N
Q Q Q
c + " " g

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)5 Q )5 Q
6- Check the minimum area of stirrup
- N + 2 O / = 0.062 0 0.35
RO RO
- +2 O/ )5 )5
= 0.062 0 0.35
N
" RO RO
- N +2 O/ 350 350
= 0.062√28 = 0.273 9 0.35 = 0.29
" 420 420
" = 0.29 11 o11 < + r u = 1.075
-Jp \ Jq / Jpsq
n t

2 ∗ 113.1
" ∅12 11 " = 113.1 11 Q= = 210 11
1.075

1
7- Check the allowable spacing of stirrups
4n = 72.6 h < )5 $ = 361.45 h
3
1632
y ,= = 204 11
7
w8 8
"]^_ = 1 . 30011
x $ 585.5
w = = 293 11
v2 2

S>Smax. Use Ø12 mm @200 mm

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