Saving Steel using Fe500 grade

rebar in RCC construction

Potential gains over traditional Fe 415
based designs

Choice of rebar is critical..

Steel rebar takes both tensile and compressive
stresses in structural members
It is primarily responsible to hold your structure
together through all cycles of loading
Rebars are critical constituents of any RCC
structure and once put inside a structure its
impossible to replace!

What grade of rebar to use..

Traditionally available in Fe415 grade which is fast
being replaced with Fe500 grade
The nomenclature (Fe500) is based on Yield
Strength (YS) of the rebar i.e. Force or stress it
can carry before failing (in plastic zone)
So, a Fe500 grade rebar can carry 20.5% more
stresses than a Fe415 grade rebar
This offers a potential saving upto 20.5% in your
steel consumption, in case steel requirement is
directly dependent on yield strength (YS)!!

RCC design basics..

Area of steel reinforcement (

0.5 fck
Ast
fy

) required in a beam is given by -

4.6Mu
1 1
2
fckbd

bd

Legend:
For any chosen structural member all

Ast

other factors would be constant. So-

4.6Mu
K 0.50 fck 1 1 Ast 0.5
bd
fck
2
1
fckbd
fy

: Characteristic Strength
of concrete
0.5 fck
4.6Mu
1

bd

2
Yield Strength
of Steel
fy :
fckbd

: Factored Moment (from analysis)

4.6Mu
1
bd : Width and effective depth of beam section
fckbd 2

1
Ast
fy

Steel reinforcement requirement goes

down with increase in YS (or fy) of rebar

The above relation has been arrived at for under-reinforced singly reinforced beam section, as per IS 456 provisions.
However conclusions are valid for other variations as well.

Having seen that steel requirement does

depend on Yield Strength (YS) of rebar;

Lets see what does it actually translate

into for real life structural designs

A Case in Comparison

Specifics of the structure

(Chosen for comparison)

Plinth Area : 1500 sqft

Floors : G+1
Built-up area: 3200 sqft
Floor height: 3 mtr
Soil Bearing capacity: 120
kN/sqm
Concrete grade: M20
This structure is designed using
Fe415 & Fe500 grade rebars,
separately!
Ground Floor Plan (typical)

Analysis & Design

Loading as per IS 875
Analysed & designed
for seismic zones II & III
both
Floor Beam Plan

Reinforcement detailing for

beam group B4 (for both
Fe415 & Fe500 designs) are
reproduced next for detailed
comparison

Reinforcement Details of beam B4

(Fe 415 design)

B12, B13, B14, B15 & B16 are part of beam group B4

Reinforcement Details of beam B4

(Fe 500 design)

B12, B13, B14, B15 & B16 are part of beam group B4

Steel consumption in B4
Steel required (kg)
Rebar Size
8mm
10mm
12mm
16mm
20mm

Fe 500

Fe 415

43.83
0
96.64
25.29
0

42
1.4
56.37
87.93
16.36

Fe 500

Fe 415

165.76 Kg

204.03 Kg

Savings in B4
18.77 %
Savings may vary across different beam groups depending upon how closely Ast provided could be matched with Ast required

How does it compare for beam group B5..

B17 & B18 are part of beam group B5

Savings in Reinforcement for total structure

Comparative Savings from using Fe500 (vis-a-vis Fe415) for the selected structure

Plinth area (sq ft)

No. of floors

Fe 415
Fe 500
% Saving in steel reqmt

Seismic zone II

Fe 415
Seismic zone III
Fe 500
% Saving in steel reqmt

Structure Details
1500
Builtup Area (sq ft)
3200
G+1
Weight of reinforcement bar required (kg)
Beam
Column
Slab
Others
Total
3715.4
1928.21
2061.46
580.11
8285.18
3234.61
1817.71
1900.10
522.90
7475.32
12.9%
5.7%
7.8%
9.9%
9.8%

4768.94
4180.89
12.3%

3601.57
3191.07
11.4%

2061.46
1900.10
7.8%

716.99
642.81
10.3%

11148.96
9914.87
11.1%

Savings : Fe 415 vs Fe 500

It was demonstrated that-

10-11% savings could be achieved even in smaller G+1 structures

But....Why only 10-11%, against a potential of 20.5%

Requirement of minimum reinforcement in structural
members coupled with standard rebar sizes available are
certain constraints, especially in smaller structures!

However as we move up to bigger structures with

heavier members, savings potential definitely
increases!
As tabulated on next page..

Typical comparison of steel consumption

(Fe 415 vs Fe 500)

Indicative values only. Actual savings will vary depending on structure type, occupancy and location etc.