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ProcediaEngineering
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14 (2011)
(2011) 000000
13991407
Procedia

Procedia
Engineering
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

The Twelfth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction

Flexural Strength and Deformability Design of Reinforced

Concrete Beams
K. J. H. ZHOU1ab, J. C. M. HO2, and R. K. L. SU3
1

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
3
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2

Abstract
In the flexural design of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, the strength and deformability, which are interrelated, need
to be considered simultaneously. However, in current design codes, design of strength is separated with deformability,
and evaluation of deformability is independent of some key parameters, like concrete strength, steel yield strength
and confinement content. Hence, provisions in current design codes may not provide sufficient deformability for
beams, especially when high-strength concrete (HSC) and/or high-strength steel (HSS) are used. In this paper,
influences of key factors, including the degree of reinforcement, concrete strength, steel yield strength, compression
steel ratio, and confining pressure, are studied based on a theoretical method. An empirical formula for direct
evaluation of deformability is proposed. Interrelation between the strength and deformability are plotted in charts.
Based on the empirical formula and charts, a new method of beam design called concurrent flexural strength and
deformability design that would allow both strength and deformability requirements to be considered simultaneously
is developed. The method provides engineers with flexibility of using high-strength concrete, adding compression
steel or adding confinement to increase deformability of RC beams.

2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Beam; Flexural deformability; Flexural strength; High-strength concrete; High-strength steel; Degree of reinforcement.

a
b

Corresponding author: Email: jianhui@hku.hk

Presenter: Email: jianhui@hku.hk

18777058 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2011.07.176

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1. INTRODUCTION
In the flexural design of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, deformation capacity should be regarded as
important as strength. Adequate deformation capacity can ensure structural safety when a structure is
overloaded, by dissipating excessive energy through plastic hinges. However, in current design codes,
there are only some empirical deemed-to-satisfy rules that limit maximum allowable tension steel area or
neutral axis depth. Such provisions can ensure a beam is under-reinforced and has a certain level of
deformation capacity, but they are far from sufficient. First, in performance- based design, deformation
capacity needs to be quantitatively evaluated and designed; no formula or method that is accurate enough
is provided in current codes (ACI Committee 2008; Ministry of Construction 2001; ECS 2004; Standards
New Zealand 2006). Second, these empirical rules are developed based on knowledge from beams made
of normal strength concrete (NSC) and normal strength steel (NSS). With the increasingly popular use of
high strength concrete (HSC) and high strength steel (HSS), these rules, which are commonly
independent of concrete and steel grade, may not be able to provide consistent deformation capacity for
beams made of HSC and HSS. Third, strength and deformation capacity are interrelated and affected
simultaneously by some factors, the interrelation factors needs to be well investigated.
In terms of deformation capacity, flexural ductility has been widely studied and applied. However, the
flexural deformability in terms of ultimate rotation capacity is also important from performance-based
design point of view (Rubinstein et al. 2007; Challamel 2009). Due to usually higher initial stiffness for
beams made of HSC and/or HSS, a beam provided with sufficient ductility may not have sufficient
deformability, because ductility is defined as deformation capacity at ultimate state relative to that at the
initial yield state.
In this study, the flexural deformability of beam sections is comprehensively studied. The effects of major
factors on flexural deformability and strength are investigated. Empirical formula for direct evaluation of
flexural deformability and a concurrent flexural strength and deformability design method are proposed.
2. NONLINEAR MOMENT-CURVATURE ANALYSIS
A nonlinear moment-curvature analysis developed previously by the authors (Pam et al. 2001; Ho et al.
2003) has been adopted in this study. Details of this method can be found accordingly. The outline of the
method is given here:
Five basic assumptions are made in the analysis: (1) Plane sections before bending remain plane after
bending. (2) The tensile strength of the concrete may be neglected. (3) There is no relative slip between
concrete and steel reinforcement. (4) The concrete core is confined while the concrete cover is unconfined.
(5) The confining pressure provided to the concrete core by confinement is assumed to be constant
throughout the concrete compression zone. Assumptions (1) to (4) are commonly accepted and have been
adopted by various researchers (Park et al. 2007; Au et al. 2009; Lam et al. 2008; Kwak and Kim 2010).
Assumption (5) is not exact but fairly reasonable (Ho et al. 2010).
The stress-strain curves of concrete developed by Attard and Setunge (1996) are adopted. For steel
reinforcement, the idealised linearly elastic perfectly plastic stress-strain curve is adopted. At a given
curvature, the stress and strain of concrete and steel, and the axial force and moment of the section,
depend only on the neutral axis depth, which can be determined by applying axial force and moment
equilibrium conditions across the section. Having determined the neutral axis depth, the axial force and
moment can be calculated. To obtain a moment-curvature curve of a section, the above procedure is
repeated by increasing curvature step by step until the section goes into post-peak stage and the moment
drops to less than 50% of the peak moment.

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3. EVALUATION OF FLEXURAL DEFORMABILITY

3.1. Flexural deformability
The flexural deformability of beam sections is expressed in terms of normalised rotation capacity pl
defined as follows:

pl = u d

(1)

where u is the ultimate curvature, d is the effective depth of the beam section. The ultimate curvature u
is taken as the curvature when the resisting moment has dropped to 0.8Mp after reaching Mp, where Mp is
the peak moment. The value of pl evaluated from equation (1) would give the rotation capacity of the
beam with plastic hinge length equal to the effective depth.
3.2. Flexural failure modes
There are three failure modes for beam sections in flexure: (1) Tension failure tension steel yields
during failure; (2) Compression failure none of tension steel yields during failure; and (3) Balanced
failure the most highly stressed tension steel has just yielded during failure. The tension steel ratio in
balanced failure is called balanced steel ratio. From previous studies (Pam et al. 2001; Ho et al. 2003), the
balanced steel ratio for single reinforced beam section bo and for doubly reinforced beam section b, can
be evaluated by equations (2) and (3) respectively:

bo = 0.005 ( f co )0.58 (1 + 1.2 f r )0.3 ( f yt / 460) 1.35

(2)

b = bo + ( f yc / f yt ) c

(3)

where fco is the concrete strength, c is the tension steel ratio, fyt is the tension steel yield strength, fyc is
the compression steel yield strength, fr is the confining pressure evaluated using the method
recommended by Mander et al (1988). It was also revealed that the degree of reinforcement defined by
equation (4) is a good indicator of the failure mode. The beam section is classified as under-reinforced,
balanced and over-reinforced sections when is less than, equal to and larger than 1.0 respectively. In
equation (4), t is the tension steel ratio.

f yt t f yc c
f yt bo

(4)

3.3. Factors affecting flexural deformability

A comprehensive parametric study on the effects of major factors on flexural deformability was
conducted. The studied factors are: (1) Tension and compression steel ratios expressed in terms of degree
of reinforcement; (2) Concrete strength; (3) Steel yield strength; (4) Confining pressure provided by
transverse reinforcement. The beam sections analysed is shown in Figure 1.

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b
d
dn
h
d

Confined
concrete

b = 300 mm

fco = 40 to 100 MPa

h = 600 mm

fy = 400 to 800 MPa

Unconfined
concrete

d = 50 mm

fr = 0 to 4 MPa

d = 550 mm

t = A st /bd = 0.4 to 2 b
c = A sc/bd = 0 to 2%

Section properties
Figure 1: Beam sections analysed

50

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10 -3 rad)

The effects of tension steel ratio and compression steel ratios on deformability are shown in Figure 2. In
Figure 2(a), pl decreases as t increases until t reaches balanced steel ratio, after which pl remains
relatively constant. At a fixed t, pl increases as c increases. Hence, reducing tension steel and adding
compression steel can improve deformability.
c = 0
c = 0.5%
c = 1.0%

40

fco = 70 MPa
fyt = 600 MPa
fyc = 600 MPa

30
20
10
0
0

Tension steel ratio t (%)

(a)

10

50

c = 0
c = 0.5%
c = 1.5%

40

fco = 70 MPa
fyt = 600 MPa
fyc = 600 MPa

30
20
10
0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Degree of reinforcement

(b)

Figure 2: Effects of tension and compression steel ratio on flexural deformability

The same trend is expressed with in Figure 2(b), where the variation of is due to variation of t. The
deformability pl increases until reaches 1.0, after which pl remains relatively constant. At a fixed , pl
increases as c increases. It is evident that degree of reinforcement , which combines effects of tension
and compression steel ratios, can be a good parameter to uniformly express the trend of deformability. To
facilitate obtaining a formula for direct evaluation of deformability, the effects of other factors are studied
firstly at a fixed , their effects at a fixed t will be discussed later.
At a fixed , the effects of concrete strength, tension steel yield strength and confining pressure on
deformability are shown in Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5 respectively. It is observed that the use of
HSC at a fixed would reduce deformability, the use of HSS as tension steel at a fixed could improve
deformability, and increasing confining pressure can improve deformability significantly.

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Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10 -3 rad)

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

K.J.H. ZHOU et al. / Procedia Engineering 14 (2011) 13991407

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fco = 40 MPa
fco = 70 MPa
fco = 100 MPa

40

fyt = 600 MPa

c = 0

30
20
10
0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

50
40

fyt = 400 MPa

fyt = 600 MPa
fyt = 800 MPa

30

fco = 70 MPa
c = 0

20
10
0
0.0

0.5

Degree of reinforcement

600
Moment (kNm)

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

2.0

Figure 4: Effects of tension steel yield strength

fco = 70 MPa
fyt = 600 MPa
c = 0

30

1.5

700

fr = 0 MPa
fr = 2 MPa
fr = 4 MPa

40

1.0
Degree of reinforcement

Figure 3: Effects of concrete strength

50

20

500
400
300
200

10

fco = 50 MPa
c = 0

100

fyt = 800 MPa, t = 1%

fyt = 400 MPa,

= 2%
t

0
0.0

0.5

1.0
1.5
Degree of reinforcement

Figure 5: Effects of confining pressure

2.0

0.01

0.02

0.03
0.04
Curvature (rad/m)

0.05

0.06

Figure 6: Moment-curvature curves of two beams

3.4. Evaluation of flexural deformability

Based on the effects of these factors, a regression analysis is conducted and the following equations are
obtained for rapid evaluation of deformability of under-reinforced beam sections ( < 1.0):

pl = 0.03m( f co )

0.3

( )

0.4

m = 1 + 4 f co ( f r / f co )
0.2

n = 1 + 3 f co ( f r / f co )

1.0 n

3
0.3

1 + 110( f )1.1 f yc c f yt
co

f 460
yt t

(5a)

(5b)
(5c)

where fco, fyc, fyt and fr are in MPa, 1.0 and 400 fyc and fyt 800 MPa. The validity of the equation
has been compared with available experimental results in the authors previous study (Zhou et al. 2010).
For over-reinforced beam sections ( > 1.0), the deformability can be evaluated by replacing = 1.0 in
Eq. (5a) since the effect of on deformability is now insignificant.
Furthermore, due to the complexity of distribution of confining pressure, the positive effects of confining
pressure are sometimes considered as safety reserve. For under-reinforced beam sections where confining
pressure is not considered and c is much less than t, equation (5) can be simplified into equation (6).

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pl = 0.03( f co )

0.3

( )

1.0

f yt

460

0.3

(6)

Substituting equation (2) and equation (4) into equation (6), the following equation is obtained.

pl =

0.09( f co )
f yt t f yc c
0.28

(7)

From equation (7), it can be concluded that: (1) Reducing tension steel and adding compression steel can
improve deformability; (2) The use of HSC at a fixed t, in other words simply replacing NSC with HSC,
could improve deformability, although HSC is relatively more brittle than NSC. (3) When HSS is used as
tension steel ratio, as long as the product of fytt is the same, the deformability is the same. This can also
be revealed from the comparison of two typical moment-curvature curves shown in Figure 6, where the
two sections share the same peak and post-peak curve and hence have the same strength and
deformability.
4. INTERRELATION BETWEEN FLEXURAL STRENGTH AND DEFORMABILITY

50
fco = 40 MPa
fco = 70 MPa
fco = 100 MPa

t = 1.0%

40

fyt = 600 MPa

c = 0

1.5%

30

2.0%

20

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

To study how the above factors influence flexural strength and deformability simultaneously, the
deformability is plotted against strength, with tension steel ratio varying.
In Figure 7, curves represent different concrete grades used. In each curve, with tension steel ratio
increasing, the deformability drops while the strength increases. This shows the strength is improved at
the cost of deformability, or the deformability is improved at the cost of strength. On the other hand, the
curves shift upper right from NSC to HSC, indicating the use of HSC can improve the strength while
maintaining the same deformability, vice versa. This shows that the limit to strength and deformability
that can be simultaneously achieved is extended, which is a major merit of using HSC.
In Figure 8, three curves were produced, each corresponding to a steel grade. However, the curves
overlap each other, which means the change of steel grade will not change the limit to strength and
deformability that can be simultaneously achieved. This is easily explained by Figure 6 which shows that
two sections with the same value of fytt share the same peak and post-peak curve and hence have the
same strength and deformability. Therefore, the use of HSS can reduce steel area but can not improve the
total performance.

2.5%

3.0%

10

3.5%
4.0%

4.5%

5.0%

0
0

10

15

20

25

Mp/bd2 (MPa)

Figure 7: Effects of concrete strength

30

50
fyt = 400 MPa
fyt = 600 MPa
fyt = 800 MPa

40

t = 1.0%

fco = 70 MPa
c = 0

30
2.0%

1.5%

20

3.0%

4.0%

2.5%

10

3.5%
0
0

10

15

20

25

Mp /bd2 (MPa)

Figure 8: Effects of tension steel yield strength

30

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50

c = 0
c = 1%
c = 2%

fco = 70 MPa
fyt = 600 MPa
fyc = 600 MPa

40

3.5%

30
20

4.0%
5.5%
4.5%
6.0%
5.0%

t = 2.0%
2.5%

10

3.0%

0
0

10

15

20

25

Mp /bd2 (MPa)

Figure 9: Effects of compression steel ratio

30

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

Normalised rotation capacity, pl (10-3 rad)

K.J.H. ZHOU et al. / Procedia Engineering 14 (2011) 13991407

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50
fr = 0 MPa
fr = 2 MPa
fr = 4 MPa

40

t = 1.0%

30

fco = 70 MPa
fyt = 600 MPa

c =0

1.5%

20

2.0%
2.5%

10

3.0%
3.5%
4.0%
4.5%

0
0

10

15

5.5%
5.0%
20

25

30

35

Mp /bd2 (MPa)

Figure 10: Effects of confining pressure

Figure 9 shows the effects of compression steel. Each curve is produced at a fixed amount of compression
steel ratio. The descending trend of each curve shows there is a limit to the strength and deformability that
can be simultaneously achieved at a fixed amount of compression steel ratio, while the upper-right shift of
the curves from low to high compression steel ratio shows that adding compression steel can extend the
limit.
Figure 10 shows the effects of confining pressure. Each curve is produced at a fixed amount of confining
pressure. It is evident that increasing confining pressure can improve strength and deformability
significantly at the same time.
5. CONCURRENT DESIGN OF FLEXURAL STRENGTH AND DEFORMABILITY
With equation (5) and Figure (7), (8) and (9), a design method called Concurrent strength and
deformability design is proposed. This method gives designers multiple choices to design a beam section
with required strength and deformability.
With a given strength and deformability requirement, the beam section should be designed traditionally
according to the strength requirement to obtain the required tension steel ratio, and then the deformability
can be checked using equation (5). If the deformability requirement is not satisfied, the adjustment of
tension steel ratio will not be able to satisfy the strength and deformability requirement at the same time.
Designers can choose to use HSC or add compression steel or add transverse steel. Because of the cost of
steel and steel congestion problem, it is recommended to first try HSC. If concrete grade is prescribed or
using HSC can not provide sufficient deformability, then compression steel or transverse steel is needed.
If all these ways fails, then there is no way but to enlarge the section size.
In current design codes, it is a common way to limit the maximum allowable tension steel ratio to ensure
a certain level of deformability. However, provisions in current codes are usually independent of
designer-specified deformability requirement, or concrete/steel grade or compression steel conditions. To
enable rapid check of maximum allowable tension steel ratio under a specific design deformability
requirement, equation (8) is derived from equation (7).

t ,max = (

0.065( f co )

0.28

pl ,min

+ f yc c ) / f yt

(8)

With equation (8), it is more straightforward to make design choices. If the required tension steel ratio
according to the strength requirement is larger than t,max evaluated from equation (8), then t,max can be
increased by using HSC or adding compression steel. If HSS is used, it should be noted that the t,max is

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reversely proportionally reduced. Since the effect of confining pressure is taken as safety reserve, a design
that satisfies the requirement of equation (8) provides larger deformability.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Based on the method of non-linear moment-curvature analysis, the effects of major factors, including
tension/compression steel ratio, concrete/steel grade, confining pressure, on flexural strength and
deformability are studied. It is found that adjusting tension steel can only increase deformability at the
cost of strength or increase strength at the cost of deformability. To improve strength and deformability at
the same time at a specific section size, designers should choose to use HSC or add compression steel or
add transverse steel.
To enable quantitative design of deformability, equations are derived from regression analysis. Based on
the equations, a design method called Concurrent strength and deformability design is proposed. This
method allows designers to consider strength and deformability requirements at the same time, and
provides designers with the flexibility to make design choices.
7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Generous support from Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research (Project Code: 200910159034)
provided by The University of Hong Kong is acknowledged.
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