Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

Note: Over-reinforced typically means the tensile steel does not yield at failure.
for this example, over-reinforced means the section is not tension
controlled per ACI standards even though the steel does yield
Given:

fc = 6,000 psi

fy = 60 ksi

Required:

Determine the nominal moment capacity, Mn

Assumptions:

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1.

Plain sections remain plain (ACI 318-08 section 10.2.2)

2.

Maximum concrete strain at extreme compression fiber = 0.003 (ACI

section 10.2.3)

3.

Tensile strength of concrete is neglected (10.2.5)

4.

Compression steel is neglected in this calculation.

Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

Lets start by constructing the stress and strain diagrams:

Next, well calculate d, the depth from the extreme compression fiber to the center of reinforcement in the tensile zone.
d = h Clear Spacing dstirrup dreinforcement - Clear Spacing Between Bars/2
d = 24 1.5 0.5 - 1 - 1/2
d = 20.5

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Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

Next, we want to use equilibrium to solve for a, the depth of the Whitney stress block

From the rules of equilibrium we know that C must equal T

C=T
C = 0.85 x fc x b x a

Defined in ACI section 10.2.7.1

b = width of compression zone

a = depth of Whitney stress block

C = 0.85 x 6000psi x 12 x a = 61,200 lb/in x a

T = fs x As

fs = stress in the steel (we make the assumption that the steel yields, and will later
confirm if it does).

As = area of tensile steel

T = 60000psi x (8 x 0.79 in2) = 379,200 lb

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Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

Solve for a:

Now that we know the depth of the stress block, we can calculate c, the depth to the
neutral axis.

61,200 lb/in x a = 379,200 lb

From ACI 318 section 10.2.7.1 a = 1 x c

a = 6.196

1 is a factor that relates the depth of the Whitney stress block to the depth of the
neutral axis based on the concrete strength. It is defined in 10.2.7.3
1 = 0.65 0.85 - ((fc 4000psi)/1000)) x 0.05 0.85
1 = 0.85 ((6000psi 4000psi)/1000) x 0.05 = 0.75
c = a / 1 = 6.196/0.75
c = 8.261
With c, we can calculate the strain in the extreme tensile steel using similar triangles.
With this strain calculated, we can check our assumption that the steel yields, and
determine if the section is tension controlled.
First, lets calculate dt, the depth from the extreme compression fiber to the extreme
tensile steel
dt = 24 - 1.5 - 0.5 - 1/2 = 21.5
c/c = dt/(c + t)
t = (dt x c)/c c = (21.5 x 0.003)/8.261 0.003
t = 0.0048

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Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

Determine if the section is tension controlled:

Determine if the section is tension controlled:

Per ACI section 10.3.4 a beam is considered tension controlled if the strain in the extreme tension steel is greater than 0.005.
The calculated steel strain in our section is 0.0048 which is less than 0.005 therefore this beam section is not tension controlled.
Per ACI section 10.3.5 t at nominal strength for flexural members shall not be less than 0.004 (0.0048 is acceptable)

The strain for our section is between the limit for compression controlled (.002 per ACI section 10.3.3) and the limit for tensioned controlled
sections, 0.005. Therefore, we must interpolate to determine our factor in accordance with ACI 9.3.2.2
(0.9 - 0.65)/(0.005 - 0.002) = ( - 0.65)/(0.0048 - 0.002)
= 0.88

Determine the strain at which the steel yields and check our assumption that the steel in fact yielded:
E = fy/y
E = Youngs modulus which is generally accepted to be 29,000 ksi for steel
fy = steel yield stress
y = yield strain
y = 60ksi / 29,000 ksi = 0.00207

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Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

When we checked if the section was tensioned controlled, we check the strain at the extreme layer of steel. We must calculate the strain at the
centroid of the tensile steel to determine if it yields:

s = (d x c)/c c = (20.5 x 0.003)/8.261 0.003

t = 0.0044
0.0044 is greater than 0.00207 therefore our assumptions are correct and the steel yields prior to failure

Next, lets determine if the beam section satisfies the minimum steel requirements of ACI:

Per ACI section 10.5.1, the minimum steel requirement is:

As, min = ((3 x square root(fc))/fy) x bw x d (200/fy) x bw x d
As a side note, the 200/fy minimum controls when fc is less than 4,500 psi
As, min = ((3 x squareroot(6,000 psi))/60,000psi) x 12 x 20.5
As,min = 0.95 in2
As = 8 x 0.79 in2 = 6.32 in2 > 0.95 in2 therefore we satisfy the minimum steel requirements of ACI

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Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

Finally, lets calculate the nominal moment capacity of the section:

Using moment equilibrium, we can calculate the moment capacity by taking the moment about the center of the tensile force, or the center of the
compressive force.

Calculate the moment about the center of the compressive force:

Mn = x T x (d a/2)
= 0.88 as we previously calculated
T = Asfy
Mn = 0.88 x 6.32 in2 x 60 ksi (20.5in - 6.196in / 2)
Mn = 5,807 kip*in = 483.9 kip*ft

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Over-Reinforced Concrete Beam Design ACI 318-08

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