I Struct E Part 3 Exam

Preparation

Concrete

Charles Johnson

When to use concrete

In building superstructures
1.

Minimum depth
Flat slab- passive steel or post-tensioned
Ribbed or waffle slab

2.

Complex floor shapes

3.

Acoustics

4.

Vibration

5.

Steel supply problem

6.

Personal preference

7.

Cost

Concrete Design
The Big Issues
1.

Shrinkage and thermal cracking

2.

Durability

3.

Weight

4.

Workmanship / Finishes

1.

Shrinkage and thermal cracking

In UK buildings:
Mostly shrinkage
Long term.
Total Long Term Strain K ~ 300 x 10-6
Joint spacing:
Internal: 50 - 75 m
Un-insulated roof slabs: 25m
Beware of effect of shrinkage on distant cores

1.

Shrinkage and thermal cracking

In UK structures exposed to ground/water

only consider early shrinkage - little long term drying
Drying shrinkage K ~ 100 x 10-6
Thermal effects relatively more important, especially in
massive structures with high hydration heat.
K ~ 12 x 10-6 /degree C

2.

Durability

Not normally important issue in internal environments

[cover controlled by fire]
External:
Cement Content
Cover
Concrete Density (i.e. compaction & curing)
Special protection against aggressive conditions
Sulphates BS8110 Tab 6.1
Chlorides

3.

Weight

Say 300mm ave. conc thickness per floor. = 7.5 kN/m2

Equiv. steel build: 120 conc + 1.5 kN/m2 beams = 4.5 kN/m2
Say three floors, and footings ~ 20% of footprint:
3 kN/m2 x 5 = 15 kN/m2 extra bearing pressure per floor.
x3 floors = 45 kN/m2
Or, Say 6m x 5m grid and 150 kN/m2 safe bearing
pressure:
Concrete solution needs 1.8m2 larger pads than steel
Pre-cast components: Beware of transport limits:
~ 40T total? 10T axle load?
25T mobile crane: ~ 10T capacity @ 7m radius (i.e. 4m3)

Initial sizing
-1-: Basic L/D
Beams:
Slabs:
On beams:
Flat slabs:

Cantilevers:
Corbels:

L/10 - L/20
L/25 - L35
Use short span
Use long span

L/5 - L/8
L/1 - L/3

Initial sizing
-2-: Bending
As =

M
.
0.95fy 0.8d
[in finding d remember links/distribution
steel ]
As < ~ 2% . Less on very large sections.
Also check no compression steel needed:

M . < 0.156*
or M < 0.156* fcubd2
bd2fcu
* Varies if redistributing moments (down to 0.104)
b = width of compression zone.
Check bars fit comfortably / how many rows?

Initial sizing
-3-: Deflection
BS8110 basic L/D
Tension steel factor
Factor for steel in compression zone (even if not
needed for compression in bending)
Best to add compression steel, but check quantity no
too great uneconomic.

Initial sizing
-3-: Shear
First check to do in retaining walls, foundations, pile
caps, etc.
Avoid shear reinforcement in these if poss.
So size section assuming:
vc
=
~0.5 N/mm2 for 0.5% As
=
~0.7 N/mm2 for 1.0% As
Also important in flat slabs.
Good initial sizing charts in Scheme design guide if you want
to avoid shear links (vc only). If not...
First perimeter length = col. perimeter + 12d
Min links = 0.4 N/mm2. So v~ 1.0 N/mm2

Columns
For short columns Le/b < 15):
From
N
= 0.35Acfcu = 0.7 Acp fy
p=1%
N
= 15Ac
p=2%
N
= 18Ac
p=3%
N
= 21 Ac
Min column size 220 x 220
Check min size and cover for fire resistance
Specially over 2h.

Reinforcement quantities
Volume of steel x 7800 = Wt of steel in kg
For reinforcement estimates:
Calc. Vol of steel/ known m3 of conc. in sample areas
Per (1m2 of slab/wall x h)
Per (1m length of beam x A)

+ 10 for laps, + 10% contingency

x 7800

Shear Walls and cores

Minimum thickness 200mm but may have problems with areas

of steel congestion (e.g. beam junctions).
So unless quite simple say 250min
Avoid using risers as cores: large holes above ceilings.
Lifts OK but assume no wall on door side
Stairs OK but risk of Arch. wanting it open later.
To estimate As
Use Z~ 0.5d.
Deduct min dead load from wind tension. Ideally no resultant
tension at working loads, then no cracking.

Stairs

May need greater crowd load capacity

Decide form of support
Avoid support on masonry.- Difficult construction sequence
On conc. walls: use bend-out bars or post-drill

Contractors will usually prefer to pre-cast

Min depth: support flights on side of landing, and landing onto
side wall. (take span of flight to centre line of landing)
Simplest: span flights + landings onto end walls
For weight: use av. vertical thickness
For bending strength use min (slope) thickness.

Water-retaining/excluding

BS8007. Concrete Grade C35A

Generally design for 0.2mm crack width instead of the 0.3mm
implied in BS8110
Check for flexural crack width
Use design chart e.g. Batty and Westbrook
Moment capacity limited by crack width, which is also dependent on
bar size and bar spacing.

Check for thermal and shrinkage cracking

Affects distribution/minimum steel
Full external restraint; and steel must control all shrinkage cracks,
or
Enough joints to permit free shrinkage

Bending design
chart for limiting
service crack width.
(From Batty and
Westbrook)