Assignment #1 – Singly Reinforced Beam

th
Due: 11:59 PM Mar. 6 , 2020 [zip the WORD (or JPG) and EXCEL files and submit it on Canvas]

Name: UID:
Problem #01: Analysis Problem (50 points)
Consider the singly reinforced rectangular concrete beams having the properties listed in the table below. (a)
Compute the nominal and design strengths of beam #1 to #4. (b) Taking beam #1 as the reference beam,
calculate the ratio of design strength of other beams to that of beam #1. (c) What is the most effective way
to increase the design strength φ Mn ? (Note that each beam has the same properties as beam #1 except for
the bolded italicized quantity which is around 1.5 times that of beam #1.)

Beam fc ’ fy Mn (k-in) φ φ Mn (k-in) Design Strength

b (in) d (in) Bars Ratio (2 pt/ea.)
# (ksi) (ksi) (8 pts / ea.) (2 pt/ea) (1 pts/ea.)
1 12 20 4 #10 4 60 1.00
2 12 30 4 #10 4 60
6 #10
3 12 20 two layers
4 60

4 12 20 4 #10 6 60

Problem #02: Design Problem (25 points)

An architect asks you to design a rectangular singly-reinforced beam to carry a dead load of 1000 lbs/ft plus
self weight and a service live load of 450 lbs/ft, with a 20-ft simple span. Material strengths are f’c = 4 ksi and
fy = 60 ksi for concrete and steel, respectively. The total beam depth, h, must not exceed 16 in. The effective
depth, d, may be assumed as 3.0 in. less than the total depth, h (i.e. d = h – 3.0”). Use wc =150 lb/ft3.
(a) Calculate the required beam width (round up to closest even b= ____________ in
inches) using a reinforcement ratio of 0.5ρb. (3 points) h= ____________ in
(b) Compute the required strength and required steel area using Mu = ____________ k-in
the beam width in (a). (6 points) As, required = ____________ in2
(c) Pick rebars based on the results in (b). Make sure that the As, provided = ____________ in2
provided steel area is in between the minimum and maximum As, min = ____________ in2
reinforcement required by ACI Code. (9 points) As, max = ____________ in2
(d) Sketch your final design. Mark clearly the section
dimensions, bar size and exact location. Check ACI requirements
on bar spacing and concrete cover. (4 points)

(e) Compute the design strength of your final design. (3 points) φMn = ____________ k-in
Problem #03 (25 points)
With the same loading condition and material properties as given in Problem 2, repeat the procedure (a)~(e)
and design two additional beams with different span lengths equal to 40 ft and 60 ft, respectively. The cross
sections of the beams should be economical (i.e., you should find the smallest cross section and use the least
reinforcement that satisfies both the strength requirement and other ACI Code requirements).

Span b h hmin** As, required As, provided † Mu φMn Concrete Steel

area area
length (ft) (in) (in) (in) (in2) (in2) (kips-in) (kips-in) ratio †† ratio ††
20* 1.0 1.0
40
60
* This case is the beam you designed in Problem #02.
** hmin should be determined based on the greater value of (1) the hmin specified in Table 9.3.1.1 of
ACI Code (attached in lecture note 02-2) and (2) the hmin controlled by the minimum concrete
cover and minimum bar spacing requirements.
Note that if the beam height (h) you designed in column 3 of the above table is less than hmin,
then you must use hmin as the beam height then check the design again.
† The As, provided should satisfy the maximum and minimum reinforcement requirements in ACI Code.
†† This is the required area of concrete or steel material as compared to the case when span length = 20 ft.
(You may simply use Ag = b*h to estimate the concrete area.)
Problem 3, span=40ft
Uneconomical design, try 12*30 in
Problem 3, span=60ft
Uneconomical design, try 16*45 in
-6 Marks
Remarks:

1. Attach the problem statement page as the cover page of your solution to each problem.
Fill your solutions in the table on the cover page directly.

2. I suggest you to compose an EXCEL spreadsheet or a MATLAB code to carry out the analysis
and calculation. However, you must manually solve at least one problem and demonstrate the
full calculation procedure. Use the hand-calculation to verify the results you obtained from your
EXCEL spreadsheet or MATLAB code. For the remaining problems, you may simply attach the
results of your EXCEL spreadsheet or MATLAB code in the WORD document as the solutions
to the problems. In the e-copy of your Canvas submission, you must include the source files of
EXCEL spreadsheet/MATLAB code for each problem separately. If you include neither the
hand-calculation nor the source file, then you will receive a zero mark on the problem.

3. The dead load and live load given in Problem #02 comes from the loadings on the slab. It DOES
NOT include the self-weight of beam. We need to use wc = 150 lb/ft3 to compute the self-weight
of beam and add it to the dead load. Nonetheless, without b and h, we DO NOT know the
self-weight of beam at the beginning. (Note that with a longer span length, a thicker slab will be
required. That is, in reality the distributed dead load of the slab will increase with the span length.
We, however, do not consider this effect in Problem #03, and thus, we will underestimate the
actual dead load.)
Therefore, for question (a) of Problem #02, you need to make an initial guess of beam size.
With the assumed b and h, you can compute the self-weight. Then you should apply load
combination to calculate the factored load, and use the factored load to estimate the Mu. Use this
Mu to determine the required width b. If your initial assumption of b is less than the required
value for b, you need to change your b to the required b, and round it up to the nearest even
integer. For example, if initially you try b=10 in but the resultant Mu requires b=13.65 in, then
you should use b=14 in and repeat the calculation again. Note that if you increase the beam size,
the resultant Mu will also increase, which may require an even greater b. That is, after you
increase the beam width from b=10 in to b=14 in, the new Mu may require a new beam width of
b=14.21 in. Consequently, you will need to use b=16 in for this case.
On the other hand, if your initial assumption of b is too large, you should reduce your beam
width to a reasonable size. For example, if your initial guess of b=18 in, but the resultant Mu only
requires b=14.26 in, then you should use b=16 in. Note that reducing b will decrease the dead
load, therefore the Mu of the new size will decrease, requiring an even smaller beam width. That
means after you reset b=16 in, then the new Mu may only require b=13.68 in. In such a case, you
should further reduce b to14 in then check all the strength and ACI Code requirements.
 You had not adopted the right
procedure for checking the cross-
section dimensions.
You should use ρ=0.5 ρb to check
the cross section dimension.
(-2 Marks)

As,max=5.16 in2
-2 Marks