Deflection Check Locations Page 1 of 6

COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC., BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA SEPTEMBER 2002

COMPOSITE BEAM DESIGN BS 5950-90
Technical Note
Beam Deflection Checks
This Technical Note describes how the program checks deflection when the
user selects the BS 5950-90 code.
Deflection Check Locations
For each design load combination specified for deflection calculations, the
program checks deflection at the following locations:
All design station locations defined by the user.
The point of maximum moment for the load combination.
The point load location for the load combination.
Deflection of a Composite Beam
Deflections are determined under serviceability load combinations specified
for deflection calculation in the program (BS 6.1.1, 2.4.1). The deflection is
calculated differently for propped (shored) and unpropped (unshored) con-
struction. The effect of partial composite connection is also taken into ac-
count. The program uses the following formula for calculating deflection:
= ( )
]
]
]
]
,
,

,
(
(
,
\
,
,
(
j
+ 1
I
I
PCC 1 5 0 1
bare
eff
c
. , for propped construction (BS 6.1.4)
= ( )
]
]
]
]
,
,

,
(
(
,
\
,
,
(
j
+ 1
I
I
PCC 1 3 0 1
bare
eff
c
. , for unpropped construction(BS 6.1.4)
The preceding two formulas are the simplified version of those given in the
code:
=
c
+ 0.5 (1 N
a
/N
p
) (
s

c
), for propped construction (BS 6.1.4)
=
c
+ 0.3 (1 N
a
/N
p
) (
s

c
), for unpropped construction (BS 6.1.4)
Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 Beam Deflection Checks
Deflection of a Composite Beam Page 2 of 6
In the preceding expressions,
= Deflection of a composite beam at a station for a load combina-
tion considering partial composite connection,

c
= Deflection of a composite beam with full shear connection; cal-
culation of
c
is described in the next section,

s
= Deflection of a composite beam with 0% shear connection; it is
related to moment of inertia of bare steel section (steel shape
with cover plate, if present),
N
a
= Actual number of connectors provided between a point of zero
moment and a point of maximum moment,
N
p
= Number of shear connections required between a point of zero
moment and a point of maximum moment for full composite
connection,
PCC = Percent composite connection, used as a ratio,
I
bare
= Moment of inertia of steel section, including cover plate if pres-
ent, and
I
eff
= Effective moment of inertia of composite section.
Deflection of Composite Beam for Full Composite Connection
When calculating
c
, the behavior of a composite beam is taken as linear
elastic (BS 6.1.4). The program calculates composite beam deflections using
a moment-area technique. An M/EI diagram is constructed by calculating
M/EI values at each output station along the length of the beam and then
connecting the M/EI values at those stations with straight-line segments.
In constructing the M/EI diagram, I
eff
is used for I, moment of inertia. For
simply supported or continuous composite beams, I
eff
is taken as I
p
, the
equivalent moment of inertia for a cracked section in positive moment with
100% composite connection. For cantilever beams, I
eff
is taken as I
n
, the
equivalent moment of inertia for the cracked section in negative moment. The
program assumes that the moment of inertia does not vary along the length
of the beam.
Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 Beam Deflection Checks
Deflection of a Composite Beam Page 3 of 6
Deflections for the beam are calculated at each output station. The overall
deflected shape of the beam is drawn by connecting the computed values of
deflection at each output station with straight-line segments.
In this program's composite beam design, the reported deflection is the verti-
cal displacement relative to a line drawn between the deflected position of
the ends of the beam. For example, refer to the beam shown in Figure 1. Fig-
ure 1a shows the original undeformed beam and also shows an arbitrary point
along the beam labeled A. Figure 1b shows the beam in its deformed position
and illustrates the deflection that the Composite Beam Design postprocessor
reports for the beam at point A.
For cantilever overhangs, the program's Composite Beam Design postproces-
sor reports the displacement of the beam relative to the deformed position of
the supported end. If you use the Display menu > Show Deformed Shape
command to review the displacement at the end of the cantilever, the dis-
placement is reported relative to the undeformed position of the end of the
cantilever. In that case, the rotation at the supported end of the cantilever
overhang is correctly taken into account. However, the displacements dis-
played are all based on the analysis section properties (non-composite mo-
ment of inertias).
A
A
Original position of beam
Line between
position of beam
shown
Deflection reported by
Composite Beam
postprocess
b) Deflected Shape of a)
Figure 1: Deflection Results Reported by the Composite Beam Design
Postprocessor
Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 Beam Deflection Checks
Deflection of a Composite Beam Page 4 of 6
The program considers the effect of propped and unpropped construction
methods. For unpropped construction, the imposed load deflection is based on
the properties of the composite section, but the dead load deflection, result-
ing from the self weight of the steel beam and wet concrete, is based on the
properties of the bare steel section. For propped construction, all deflections
are based on the properties of the composite section (BS 6.1.1, 6.1.3.5).
Typically, the composite beams are simply supported. For those simply sup-
ported composite beams, there is no scope for moment redistribution. Also
the effect of pattern loading and shakedown effects can be neglected. The
program does not consider moment redistribution, shakedown and pattern
loading for calculation of deflection. Those factors may be important for con-
tinuous beams, and the user should consider those effects independently (BS
6.1.1, 6.1.3, 6.1.3.2, 6.1.3.3).
For simply supported composite beams, the code recommends the use of I
g
,
the gross moment of inertia of the equivalent uncracked section, instead of I
p
,
the moment of inertia of the equivalent cracked section, for calculation of de-
flection (BS 6.1.2, 6.1.3.5, 4.2.1). The user should be aware of that there
might be a slight difference between I
p
for 100% PCC and I
g
.
Effective Moment of Inertia, I
eff
The program uses the effective moment of inertia of composite section, I
eff
,
for deflection calculation. For simply supported or continuous composite
beams, I
eff
is taken as I
p
, the equivalent moment of inertia for cracked section
in positive moment with 100% composite connection. For cantilever beams,
I
eff
is taken as I
n
, the equivalent moment of inertia for cracked section in
negative moment.
For calculation of I
p
, the width of the concrete slab and ribs (if ribs run paral-
lel to the beam) is scaled down by a factor of E
c
/E
s
to make the section
equivalent to the steel section in terms of stiffness. Also, the concrete depth
that is in tension under elastic moment distribution is neglected. If the steel
section is large, the elastic neutral axis lies in the web of the steel section. In
such cases, I
p
becomes the same as I
g
, the equivalent moment of inertia for
gross uncracked section. If the concrete section becomes very large, the
elastic neutral axis lies in concrete, and in that case, I
p
may become slightly
smaller than I
g
. The effect of the short term and long term modular ratio is
Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 Beam Deflection Checks
Deflection Limits Page 5 of 6
considered for calculation if I
p
(BS 4.1). See Technical Note Transformed Sec-
tion Moment of Inertia Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 for details.
For calculating I
n
, the concrete is neglected. If there is a cover plate, it is con-
sidered. I
n
becomes the moment of inertia for bare steel (I
bare
), and it also
becomes I
p
for 0% composite connection.
Deflection Limits
The deflection limit for total load and live load is taken as follows:

TL,limit
=
240
L

LL,limit
=
360
L
These are the default deflection limits for total load and live load, represec-
tively, in the program. The user can change those limits (BS 2.4.2; BS 5950-1
2.5.1, Table 5). Note that camber is subtracted from the total load deflection
before the total load deflection is compared to the total load deflection limit.
See Technical Note Camber Calculation Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90
for details about camber.
Deflection Checks
For each service load combination, two deflections are calculatedone for live
load and the other for total loadfor every point. The maximum of the total
load deflection within the span,
TL
, is compared with its allowable limit,

TL,limit
. Similarly, the maximum of the live load deflection within the span,
LL
,
is compared with its allowable limit.
LL,limit
. The following ratios are calculated.
it lim TL,
camber TL

and
it lim , LL
LL

,
where,

TL
= Maximum total load deflection for a load combination,
Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 Beam Deflection Checks
Deflection Checks Page 6 of 6

LL
= Maximum live load deflection for a load combination,

TL, limit
= Maximum allowed total load deflection,

LL, limit
= Maximum allowed live load deflection, and

camber
= Camber of the beam.
The maximum of the total load deflection ratio and the maximum of the live
load deflection ratios considering all of the service load combinations are re-
ported by the program.
Note that camber is subtracted from the total load deflection before the total
load deflection is compared to the total load deflection limit. See Technical
Note Camber Calculation Composite Beam Design BS 5950-90 for details
about camber.