STAIRCASES

Staircases Provides access to different floor levels within the building

Components of Staircase

STAIR CASES

Staircase generally consists of

(i) flight (slab generally called waist slab), and
(ii) steps
Tread

Rise
Landing slab

Step
Thickness of Waist Slab

Flight slab or Waist Slab

Landing slab

Stair Case with Waist slab

Stair Case with steps only (isolated tread slab)

Stair Case without waist slab

Structural behaviour of stair case waste slab similar to slabs

Theses Slabs may have spanning in
Longitudinal direction or flight direction or say in the direction of going
Transverse direction or in the direction of steps

Classification of Staircases:
On the basis of geometrical configuration
On the basis of structural behaviour
Classification of Stair cases on the basis of Geometrical Configuration

Single Flight without landing slab

Single Flight with landing slab
Double Flight
Open-well staircase
Helical Staircase
Straight Flight without Landing
Landing

Double Flight

Landing

Straight Flight with Landing

Quarter Turn
Circular Stair Case

II- FLIGHT

Spiral Stair Case

LANDING

OPEN
WELL

OPEN
WELL

I- FLIGHT

III- FLIGHT

WITH INTERMEDIATE FLIGHT

WITHOUT INTERMEDIATE FLIGHT

Classification of Stair cases on the basis of Structural Geometrical

Behaviour
(a) Stair cases spanning in Transverse Direction or in direction of
steps
(i) Stair case with steps cantilevered
Consists of only steps no slab
Steps are Fixed in wall or on Spandrel Beam
Pre-cast steps may be used
Steps are fixed at one end and free on other end
Design simple- each step behaves as cantilever slab
(ii) Stair case with steps cantilevered both sides of spine beam
Consists of steps and a spine (Central) beam
Pre-cast steps are used
Steps are fixed at spine beam centrally
Design simple- each step behaves as cantilever slab on both side

Staircase with steps supported on Spine Beam

(iii) Stair case with steps simply supported both side on walls
Steps are supported one side on wall and on other side over wall
or on beam

Wall

(iv) Stair case with steps fixed on beams both side of staircase
Steps are fixed on beams on both side

Beam

(b) Stair cases spanning in Longitudinal Direction or in direction

of going
(i) Staircase consist landing which is spanning longitudinally and
Simply supported

(ii) Staircase consist landing which is spanning longitudinally and

Fixed on both ends

(iii) Staircase consist landing and beam at the junction of landing and
staircase slab

beam
(iv) Staircase consist landing and landing spans transversely

Determination of Effective
Span of the Staircases

(a) Effective Span of Stairs spanning perpendicular to the flight

The waist slab is supported by inclined edge beams/walls along both
of its edges

Effective Span = Distance between c/c of supports (walls/beams)

(b) Effective Span when steps are cantilevered from the wall/beam

(c) Effective Span When supported at top and bottom risers by beams

Effective span= Horizontal distance centre to centre of beams

(d) Effective Span when the landing slab is supported

longitudinally and supported on wall (Simply supported)

Wall

Wall

Effective Span

Effective Span = center to center spacing of walls

(e) Effective span when supported at top and bottom by landing

slabs which span perpendicular to the flight

Effective Span = Going of stair + Half the width of Landings

Effective Span of the Stair Case (Summary):

The effective span of stairs without stringer beams shall be taken as the
following horizontal distances:
a) Where supported at top and bottom risers by beams spanning
parallel with the risers, the distance centre to centre of beams
b) Where spanning on to the edge of a landing slab, which spans
parallel, with the risers, a distance equal to the going of the stairs plus
at each end either half the width of the landing or one metre, whichever
is smaller; and
c) Where the landing slab spans in the same direction as the stairs, they
shall be considered as acting together to form a single slab and the
span determined as the distance center to center of the supporting
beams or walls, the going being measured horizontally.

Distribution of Load in staircases having common Landing slab

When Landing slab is common to both landing slabs half load will be
considered for the design of each flight

If Loads on landings are different

0.5W2

W1
W1

W1

W2
0.5W2

W1

0.5W2

10

Determination of LL on Stair slab when flight or landing is built

into side walls
When the flight or landing is built into side walls, some load of the
stair slab is transferred to wall.
To incorporate this effect in design, IS code recommends:
When the flight or landing is built into side walls not < 110mm and
flight is supported longitudinally :
The width of the slab may be reduced by 150mm while calculating
the LL on flight i.e. if width of slab is B mm, (B-150) mm will be
used to calculate the LL
While designing the slab, the width may be increased by 75 mm
150 mm
110 mm

Loading

75 mm
Effective Breadth

Guide lines for fixing the dimensions

Tread (T) : Horizontal portion of the step where foot rests

Tread (T) = 250 mm- 270 mm for residential buildings.
Tread (T) = 250 mm to 300 mm for public buildings from
Rise (R)
: Vertical distance between two successive steps
Rise (R) = 120 to 190 mm for Residential Buildings
Rise (R) = 120 to 150 mm for Public Buildings
Generally [T + 2R] may be kept: Between 500 mm to 650 mm
The width of the stair
0.8 m to 1 m for residential building and
1.8 m to 2 m for public building.
Number of steps in each flight should not be greater than 12
Pitch of the stair should not be more than 38 degrees.
Head room measured vertically above any step or below the mid
landing shall not be less than 2.1 m.
Depth of section shall be taken as the minimum thickness
perpendicular to the soffit of the staircase.

11

LOADS ON STAIRCASES
Dead Load
Live Load

Determination of Dead Load

(i) when Waist Slab Spanning Longitudinally

T
R

)
+T
2

(R

density of concrete = c

ts

density of finish = f

If Rise = R; Tread = T; Finish = F

Total load acting on horizontal length T
= shaded area multiplied by density of materials

1m

Total load acting over a length T for 1 m width

= [(RT/2) + [tf T] f + ts (R2+T2)] c]
Load per unit span,
w = {[(RT/2) + ws

T
R

(R2+T2)]

c + [tf T] f}/ T

(ii) When Spanning Transversely

Load per step width T = {[(RT/2) + ws (R2+T2)] c + [tf T] f}

12

Determination of Live Load

Take uniformly distributed load over horizontally projected area of flight
i.e. going
For Public Building 5 kN/m2 on going as well as on landing slab
For Residential Building (when LL on floor not > 2kN/m2) 3 kN/m2
w

1.3 kN

For Cantilever slab stair case

consider a concentrated LL of 1.3 kN on free end in addition to above

Determination of Design Moment in Stair Case

Beam

Beam
Ll1

wl1

Lw

ww

Ll2

wl2

13

wl1
Ll1

ww

Lw

RA

wl2

Ll2
RD

Wl1 = DL of landing slab 1 and LL on Landing slab 1

Wl2 = DL of landing slab 2 and LL on Landing slab 2
Ww = DL of waist slab & stairs and LL on waist slab on
horizontal span
Steps to Determine Maximum moment
Determine reaction RA and RD
Write equation for BM variation in the beam
Equate dM/dx = 0 to determine location (i.e. x) of maximum
moment
Determine moment at above determined location i.e. Max BM

Reinforcement Details in Stair Case

(i) When Beam is provided at the end of landing

Not less than Ld

Not less than Ld
Main Steel
Temperature steel
Thickness of waist slab

14

(ii) When Beam is provided at the junction of waist slab and landing

Not less than Ld

Not less than Ld
Main Steel
Temperature steel
Thickness of waist slab

Rise & Tread Type Stair Case

15

Load Effects in Tread-Riser Stairs

In the tread-riser type of arrangement slab is repeatedly folded
Slab behaves essentially like a folded plate
A rigorous analysis is difficult and laborious
simplified analysis generally used

16

Tread-Riser Units Spanning Transversely

It is assumed that each tread-riser unit, comprising the riser slab and
one-half of each tread slab on either side can be assumed to behave
independently
Slab spanning transversely behaves as one-way slabs,
This tread-riser unit behaves as a flanged beam which is
transversely loaded.
The overall depth of the beam is taken as
(R + t), where R is the riser and t the
thickness of the slab

Design aspects of Tread-Riser Stair Case spanning Transversely

Generally tread-riser units spanning transversely have low moments
a nominal slab thickness of 100 mm is found adequate.
For convenience in calculations, the flange portions of the beam
may be ignored and the rectangular portion of the riser slab alone
may be considered.
The reinforced required is generally found same as nominal steel
The main bars are concentrated in the riser slab portion, and may
be located at the top or bottom, depending on whether the slab is
cantilevered or simply supported.
At every bend in the ties where there are no main bars, a nominal 8
mm bar should be provided.
The clear cover to the main bars should be as required for normal
slabs.

17

Reinforcement Details for Tread-Riser Stair Case

Tread-Riser Units Spanning Longitudinally

Bending of slab occurs in the longitudinal direction
Bending takes place in the riser slab as well as the tread slab
Overall behavior of the inter-connected tread-riser units is similar to
longitudinally spanning waist slabs (i.e. BM/SF calculation and design).
The variation of bending moment along the span similar to
horizontal slab having the projected horizontal span with the entire
vertical load acting on it
Each tread slab is subjected to a bending moment (which varies
slightly along the tread) combined with a shear force,
Each riser slab is subjected to a bending moment (which is constant
for a given riser) combined with an axial force (which may be
compressive or tensile)

18

SFD

BMD along Treads

BMD along Risers

19

 It is assumed that the connection between the riser slab and the
adjoining tread slab is a rigid joint
For all practical purposes, generally both tread slabs and riser slabs
are designed for flexure alone, as the shear stresses in tread slabs and
axial stresses in riser slabs are relatively low.
The slab thickness t may be kept the same for both tread slab and riser
slab, and may be taken as about span/25 for simply supported stairs
and span/30 for continuous stairs.

(ii) when spanning Transversely

When stair is spanning transversely, a width equal to the width of step will be
designed as cantilever
Calculation of total DL on step width is same in case of longitudinally supported case
Total load for one step width
with nosing :

w = [(RG/2) + ws (R2+G2)] c + [FG] f

R

without nosing: w = [(RT/2) + ws (R2+T2)] c + [F T] f

Note: Here no need to determine load per unit width so no
division by G or T.

Effective Depth
Depth of slab varies in transverse direction, with maximum
(R+H ) near wall (support) and minimum (H ) at free end.

)
+T
2

(R

ws

Average depth of slab = (1/2)[(R+H) + H ]

Effective depth of slab
= (1/2)R + H - effective cover - / 2

H
H = (W/cos)

20

Determination of Dead Load

(i) When Spanning Longitudinally
Total load acting on horizontal length G (i.e. one step
length) will be equal to shaded area multiplied by

density of materials

G
T

F
R
R

2)

( R

+G

ws

If Rise = R; Tread = T; Nosing = N; Finish = F

and density of concrete = c ; density of finish = f
Total load acting over a length G for 1 m width
= [(RG/2) + ws (R2+G2)] c + [FG] f

w kN/m

Load per unit span, w

= {[(RG/2) + ws (R2+G2)] c + [FG] f}/ G

G=T

If there is no nosing then, G = T

Load per unit span, w

= {[(RT/2) + ws

(R2+T2)]

)
+T

(R

c + [FT] f}/ T

ws

Effective Depth
Effective depth = ws - effective cover - / 2

Loading on Stair Case:

Dead load
Live Load

Dead Load Comprises

Self weight of stair slab i.e.

wt. of tread for tread staircase (step slab cantilevered)
wt. of tread riser slab for stair case without waist slab
(i.e. in the form of riser and tread)

Wt. of waist slab for stair case with waist slab

Self weight of steps (For Stair case with waist slab)
Self weight of trend finish

1.3 kN

Live Load:
Take uniformly distributed load over horizontally projected area of flight i.e. going as
For Public Building 5 kN/m2 on going as well as on landing slab
For Residential Building (when LL on floor not > 2kN/m2) 3 kN/m2
For Cantilever slab stair case consider a concentrated LL of 1.3 kN on free end in
addition to above.

21