RC-1 REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN 1

PRE-REQUISITE-Theory 2

INTRODUCTION to
REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN

REFERENCES:
Jack C. McCormac. Russell H. Brown. Design of Reinforce Concrete.9th edition
Arthur H. Nilson. David Darwin. Charles W. Dolan. Design of Concrete Structures (SI Units).14th Edition

PREPARED BY:
ENGR. B.G GARWAGEO, MSCE
Assistant Professor

LECTURE 101
Concrete and Reinforced Concrete
Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel, crushed rock, or other aggregates held together in a
rocklike mass with a paste of cement and water. Sometimes one or more admixtures are
added to change certain characteristics of the concrete such as its workability, durability, and
time of hardening. As with most rocklike substances, concrete has a high compressive strength and a
very low tensile strength.

Reinforced concrete is a combination of concrete and steel wherein the steel reinforcement provides the tensile
strength lacking in the concrete. Steel reinforcing is also capable of resisting compression forces and is used
in columns as well as in other situations, which are described later.
Advantages of Reinforced Concrete as a Structural Material
1. It has considerable compressive strength per unit cost compared with most other materials.
2. Reinforced concrete has great resistance to the actions of fire and water and, in fact, is
the best structural material available for situations where water is present. During fires
of average intensity, members with a satisfactory cover of concrete over the reinforcing
bars suffer only surface damage without failure.
3. Reinforced concrete structures are very rigid.
4. It is a low-maintenance material.
5. As compared with other materials, it has a very long service life. Under proper conditions,
reinforced concrete structures can be used indefinitely without reduction of their load carrying
abilities. This can be explained by the fact that the strength of concrete does not decrease with time but
actually increases over a very long period, measured in years, because of the lengthy process of the
solidification of the cement paste.

6. It is usually the only economical material available for footings, floor slabs, basement
walls, piers, and similar applications.
7. A special feature of concrete is its ability to be cast into an extraordinary variety of
shapes from simple slabs, beams, and columns to great arches and shells.

8. In most areas, concrete takes advantage of inexpensive local materials (sand, gravel,
and water) and requires relatively small amounts of cement and reinforcing steel, which
may have to be shipped from other parts of the country.

9. A lower grade of skilled labor is required for erection as compared with other materials
such as structural steel.
Disadvantages of Reinforced Concrete as a Structural Material
1. Concrete has a very low tensile strength, requiring the use of tensile reinforcing.

2. Forms are required to hold the concrete in place until it hardens sufficiently. In addition, false work or shoring may be
necessary to keep the forms in place for roofs, walls, floors, and similar structures until the concrete members gain sufficient
strength to support themselves. Formwork is very expensive. In the United States, its costs run from one-third to two-thirds of the
total cost of a reinforced concrete structure, with average values of about 50%. It should be obvious that when efforts are made to
improve the economy of reinforced concrete structures, the major emphasis is on reducing formwork costs.

3. The low strength per unit of weight of concrete leads to heavy members. This becomes
an increasingly important matter for long-span structures, where concrete’s large dead
weight has a great effect on bending moments. Lightweight aggregates can be used to
reduce concrete weight, but the cost of the concrete is increased.
4. Similarly, the low strength per unit of volume of concrete means members will be
relatively large, an important consideration for tall buildings and long-span structures.

5. The properties of concrete vary widely because of variations in its proportioning and
mixing. Furthermore, the placing and curing of concrete is not as carefully controlled
as is the production of other materials, such as structural steel and laminated wood.
Compatibility of Concrete and Steel
Concrete and steel reinforcing work together beautifully in reinforced concrete structures. The advantages of each material
seem to compensate for the disadvantages of the other. For instance, the great shortcoming of concrete is its lack of tensile
strength, but tensile strength is one of the great advantages of steel. Reinforcing bars have tensile strengths equal to
approximately 100 times that of the usual concretes used.
The two materials bond together very well so there is little chance of slippage between the two; thus, they will act together
as a unit in resisting forces. The excellent bond obtained is the result of the chemical adhesion between the two materials,
the natural roughness of the bars, and the closely spaced rib-shaped deformations rolled onto the bars’ surfaces.

Reinforcing bars are subject to corrosion, but the concrete surrounding them provides them with excellent protection. The
strength of exposed steel subjected to the temperatures reached in fires of ordinary intensity is nil, but enclosing the
reinforcing steel in concrete produces very satisfactory fire ratings. Finally, concrete and steel work well together in relation to
temperature changes because their coefficients of thermal expansion are quite close. For steel, the coefficient is 0.0000065 per
unit length per degree Fahrenheit, while it varies for concrete from about 0.000004 to 0.000007 (average value: 0.0000055).
 Design Codes
American Concrete Institute’s Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-11)
American Concrete Institute’s Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-14)

Static Modulus of Elasticity