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Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185

Modern Building Materials, Structures and Techniques, MBMST 2016

The numerical analysis of the effective flange width

in T-section reinforced concrete beams
Katarzyna Ciesielczyk*, Maciej Szumigała, Jacek Ścigałło
Institute of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Poznan University of Technology,
Piotrowo 5, 60-965 Poznan, Poland

Abstract

The problem of determining the effective flange width for reinforced concrete T-sections subjected to bending was presented in
the paper. The numerical analysis was performed in order to define an influence of parameters on the width value. Multi-span
reinforced concrete slabs monolithically connected with two-span concrete beams were considered in the analysis. Two material
models were used: elastic for concrete and plastic for reinforced concrete.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of MBMST 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of MBMST 2016
Keywords: effective flange width, non-linear analysis, numerical analysis, relability of RC structures.

1. Introduction

A choice of an appropriate geometric model is one of the major elements in the correct structure analysis.
The effective design width of compressed slab flanges for reinforced concrete T-section profiles depends on beam
dimensions, interacting slab, load type, beam and slab span, support conditions and transverse reinforcement.
The effective flange width was limited only to beam and slab spans as well as support conditions in the design
recommendations included in Eurocode 2 [1]. An attempt to evaluate other remaining factors based on the numerical
analysis performed by the Abaqus CEA [2] software was undertaken in this paper. Both the linear and non-linear
[3,4] material models were considered.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +48-665-3325

E-mail address: katarzyna.ciesielczyk@put.poznan.pl

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of MBMST 2016
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.02.047
 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185 179

Nomenclature

beff effective width

bp width of the plate
bw thickness of the web
h beam height
hf slab thickness
lb beam span
lo distance between points of zero moments
MRd bending resistance
MRd,eff effective bending resistance
S33 normal stress
εc strain in concrete
εs strain in steel
σc stress in concrete
σs stress in steel

2. Effective width of flanges

In order to consider a slab and a beam as a T-section it is necessary to ensure an interaction between these
elements by a monolithic connection or by applying special connectors. Connection in the contact between the slab
and the beam must be capable of ensuring a proper resistance to longitudinal and transverse shear forces. According
to the actual design regulations included in Eurocode 2 [1] the effective width should be determined using
Equation 1:

beff ¦b eff ,i  bw (1)

Fig. 1. Effective width of the plate.

180 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185

Fig. 2. Effective span l0.

­°0.2bpi  0.1lo
beff ,i min ® (2)
°̄0.2lo

Influence of beam dimensions, interacting slab thickness and type of surface stress on the value of the effective
flange width had not been included in these design recommendations [1].

3. Material models

In order to verify if any other parameters influence the effective width, numerical analyses were carried out.
Two following material models were used in the computations:

x elastic model of concrete (concrete model),

x plastic model of concrete with elastic-plastic model of reinforcement (reinforced concrete model).

The basic material parameters used in computations were presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Material parameters used in analysis.

Material parameter Concrete Steel
Young's modulus [GPa] 30 210
Poisson’s ratio [-] 0.2 0.3
Yield strength [MPa] 32 420

The reinforced concrete was modeled using Concrete Damaged Plasticity built-in function of Abaqus CEA
software and the reinforcement was modeled as steel bars (truss elements) embedded in concrete. The relations
between stress and strain in concrete (a) – according to [5], and steel (b) were presented in Figure 3. For the
reinforcement the elastic-plastic steel model with the minimal and linear hardening was adopted, according to
Appendix C of Eurocode 3 [6].
Moreover, the value of the yield stress in concrete, at which the cracking strain appears, was
assumed as 1.76 MPa.

35 b) 490
30 420
25 350
Stress σc [MPa]

Stress σs [MPa]

20
280
15
210
10
140
5
70
0
-0,001 0 0,001 0,002 0,003 0,004 0
-5
0 0,002 0,004 0,006 0,008 0,01
Strain εc [-] Strain εs [-]

Fig. 3. Material models of: a) concrete, b) steel.

 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185 181

4. The numerical analysis

The numerical analysis was performed for a part of a floor composed of a two-span reinforced concrete slab
monolithically connected to three reinforced concrete beams. The two-span static scheme for the beams was
assumed, too. The concrete block was discretised using three dimensional solid elements. For the concrete slab and
the beams C3D8R finite elements – 8-node linear brick elements with reduced integration (smaller number of Gauss
points) and hourglass control, were used. Furthermore, the reinforcement bars were modelled as steel truss elements
(only tensile forces) using T3D2 finite elements – 2-node linear three dimensional truss elements. The reinforcement
was embedded in concrete bricks in order to ensure interaction between these two materials. Loading was defined as
a distributed load applied on the entire upper surface of the concrete slab. Geometry of the analysed model with
the distribution of normal stress (in elastic state) was presented in Figure 4.

Fig. 4. The analysed beam-and-slab floor. Normal stress (S33) distribution in the elastic state.

The normal stress distribution in the span section corresponding to the maximum value of the span bending
moment for elastic concrete model (without reinforcement) and plastic reinforced concrete model, respectively was
presented in Figures 5 and 6.
182 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185

Fig. 5. Normal stress (S33) distribution in elastic state in the span of the concrete structure.

Fig. 6. Normal stress (S33) distribution in plastic state in the span of the reinforced concrete structure.

Influences of varying slab thickness (hf), slab span (bp) and beam span (lb) were analysed during computations.
The geometric properties of the beam cross-section were assumed as constant: width bw = 0.40 m and height
h = 0.80 m. The adopted reinforcement of concrete beams was also kept constant in all the considered cases:

x bottom reinforcement: 4I20,

x top reinforcement: 2I12,
x top reinforcement locally on supports: 7I20.

The dimensions of the slabs and the beams adopted in the computation were presented in Table 2. The value of
the distributed load was chosen as to achieve the same load bearing capacity of the beam.

Table 2. List of considered computation cases.

 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185 183

Case Dimensions [m] Load

number [kN/m2]
bp lb hf
1 2.50 8.00 0.18 20.0
2 2.50 8.00 0.12 20.0
3 2.50 8.00 0.08 20.0
4 2.50 8.00 0.25 20.0
5 2.50 6.00 0.18 35.6
6 2.50 10.00 0.18 12.8
7 5.00 8.00 0.18 10.0
8 1.25 8.00 0.18 40.0

5. Discussion of results

Assessment of the effective width of a slab interacting with a monolithically connected beam was the purpose of
the performed numerical analysis. To this end stress distribution in the span section of the beams (corresponding to
the maximum value of the span bending moment) and in the slab monolithically connected to the beams was
analysed. An example of stress distribution in a span section of the central beam for Case 1 was presented in
Figure 7. A stress distribution in plastic and elastic state was given at the height of the cross-section and in
the middle of its width. The percentage values given in the chart correspond to the percentage of the maximum load
(see Table 2).
800

plastic 70%
Cross - section height [mm]

600 elastic 100%

400

200

0
-1,5 -0,5 0,5 1,5 2,5 3,5
Stress [MPa]

Fig. 7. Stress distribution at the height of the middle beam.

It is worth to mention, that in every of the performed cases tension stress block in the span sections occurred only
in beam section. However, in the entire slab cross-section (in the span) only compressive stresses occurred.
Distribution of compressive stress along the entire slab for Case 1 was presented in Figure 8.
184 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185

4,4
plastic 70%
Compression stress [MPa]

4,0
elastic 100%
3,6

3,2

2,8

2,4

2,0
0 600 1200 1800 2400 3000 3600 4200 4800 5400
Length of the slab [mm]

Fig. 8. Compressive stress distribution at the height of the beams and effective slab in the span section.

Table 3. Total compressive stress in the effective flange.

Case 1 Case 8
4,4 8,0
Compression stress [MPa]

Compression stress [MPa]

4,0 7,8
7,6
3,6 7,4
3,2 7,2
plastic 100%
7,0 elastic 100%
2,8
6,8
2,4 plastic 70% 6,6
2,0 elastic 100% 6,4
1450 1950 2450 2950 3450 3950 850 1150 1450 1750 2050
Length of the slab [mm] Length of the slab [mm]
Case 2 Case 4
4,8 5,1
Compression stress [MPa]

Compression stress [MPa]

4,2 4,7
3,6
4,3
3,0
3,9
2,4 elastic 100%
plastic 65% 3,5
1,8
1450 1950 2450 2950 3450 3950 1450 1950 2450 2950 3450 3950
Length of the slab [mm] Length of the slab [mm]
Case 5 Case 6
5,1 4,0
Compression stress [MPa]

Compression stress [MPa]

4,8
4,5 3,8
4,2
3,9 3,6
3,6
3,3 3,4
3,0
2,7 3,2
1450 1950 2450 2950 3450 3950 1450 1950 2450 2950 3450 3950
Length of the slab [mm] Length of the slab [mm]
 Katarzyna Ciesielczyk et al. / Procedia Engineering 172 (2017) 178 – 185 185

Values of resultant total compressive stress in particular cross-sections of the effective slab and central beam
were presented in Table 3. Table 4 presents the values of the effective width for selected cases. The value of the
effective flange width beff was assessed by comparing the load bearing capacity MRd in the section with
the equivalent (effective) load bearing capacity MRd,eff. The load bearing capacity for the section specified by the
stress state in the particular numerical case and the equivalent load bearing capacity were calculated for the T-
section with the slab width beff. Such a comparison was performed both for plastic and elastic material models.
The values of the effective flange width beff obtained from the numerical analysis and the values computed using the
recommendations included in Eurocode 2 [1] were compared in Table 4.

Table 4. Results of the performed analysis.

Case beff (FE model) [m] beff (EC2)
number [m]
elastic plastic
1 2.02 2.02 2.18
2 1.59 1.52 2.18
3 1.32 1.21 2.18
4 2.21 - 2.18
5 1.80 - 1.84
6 2.23 - 2.52
7 2.99 2.95 2.68
8 1.10 1.10 1.25

6. Concluding remarks

The numerical analysis carried out here proved that the thickness of the slab interacting with the beam has a
significant influence on the width of the slab. In a case of thinner slabs (in the analyzed examples: 12 and 8 cm)
the effective flange may have a decisive influence on the results. Failing to take the slab thickness into account when
determining of the effective width may result in overestimating the load bearing capacity in the section. Magnitude
of this overestimation depends on the stress value and on the level of the section reinforcement.

References

[1] EN 1992-1-1, Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures – Part 1-1: General rules and rules for building, CEN European Committee for
Standardization, Brussels, 2002.
[2] Abaqus 6.13 Documentation, Abaqus Analysis User’s Manual.
[3] J. Pamin, Computational modeling of localized deformation with regularized continuum models. Mechanics & Control, 30(1), (2011), 27-33.
[4] R. de Borst, M.A. Crisfield, J.J.C Remmers, C.V. Verhoosel, Non-linear Finite Element Analysis of Solid and Structure, Wiley, Second
Edition 2012.
[5] J.J. Lubliner, S.O. Oliver, E. Oñate, A plastic-damage model for concrete, International Journal of Solids and Structures 25(3) (1989) 229-
326.
[6] EN 1993-1-5, Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures – Part 1-5: Plated structural elements, CEN European Committee for Standardization,
Brussels, 2006.