Plain & Reinforced Concrete Handout 01 Engr. M. Murtaza Nasir, Ph.D.

Scholar

GENERAL
The main objective of a course on structural concrete design is to develop, in the engineering student, the ability
to analyze and design a reinforced concrete member subjected to different types of forces in a simple and
logical manner using the basic principles of statistics and some empirical formulas based on experimental
results. Once the analysis and design procedure are fully understood, its application to different types of
structures becomes simple and direct, provided that the student has a good background in structural analysis.

The material presented in this handout is based on information on material properties, including volume
changes of concrete, stress–strain behavior, creep, and elastic and nonlinear behavior or reinforced concrete.

REINFORCED CONCRETE
The term structural concrete indicates all types of concrete used in structural applications. Structural concrete
may be plain, reinforced, prestressed, or partially prestressed concrete

Reinforced concrete, as a structural material, is widely used in many types of structures. It is competitive with
steel if economically designed and executed. The advantages of reinforced concrete can be summarized as
follows:
1. It has a relatively high compressive strength.
2. It has better resistance to fire than steel.
3. It has a long service life with low maintenance cost.
4. In some types of structures, such as dams, piers, and footings, it is the most economical structural
material.
5. It can be cast to take the shape required, making it widely used in precast structural components. It
yields rigid members with minimum apparent deflection.

The disadvantages of reinforced concrete can be summarized as follows:

1. It has a low tensile strength of about one-tenth of its compressive strength.
2. It needs mixing, casting, and curing, all of which affect the final strength of concrete.
3. The cost of the forms used to cast concrete is relatively high. The cost of form material and artisanry
may equal the cost of concrete placed in the forms.
4. It has a low compressive strength as compared to steel (the ratio is about 1:10, depending on
materials), which leads to large sections in columns of multistory buildings.
5. Cracks develop in concrete due to shrinkage and the application of live loads.

PROPERTIES OF REINFORCED CONCRETE

Water–Cement Ratio: The water–cement ratio is one of the most important factors affecting the strength of
concrete. For complete hydration of a given amount of cement, a water–cement ratio (by weight) equal to 0.25
is needed. A water–cement ratio of about 0.35 or higher is needed for the concrete to be reasonably workable
without additives. This ratio corresponds to 4 gal of water per sack of cement (94 lb) (or 17.8 lb per 50 kg of
cement). Based on this cement ratio, a concrete strength of about 6000 psi may be achieved. A water–cement
ratio of 0.5 and 0.7 may produce a concrete strength of about 5000 and 3000 psi, respectively

Compaction: A void ratio of 5% may reduce the concrete strength by about 30%.

Curing: If the curing temperature is higher than the initial temperature of casting, the resulting 28-day strength
of concrete is reached earlier than 28 days.

Shape and Dimensions of Tested Specimen: The common sizes of concrete specimens used to predict the
compressive strength are either 6×12-in. (150×300-mm) or 4×8 in. (100×200-mm) cylinders or 6-in. (150-mm)

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Plain & Reinforced Concrete Handout 01 Engr. M. Murtaza Nasir, Ph.D. Scholar

cubes. When a given concrete is tested in compression by means of cylinders of like shape but of different
sizes, the larger specimens give lower strength indexes.

Compressive Strength: Compressive strength is the criterion of quality concrete. The other concrete
stresses can be taken as a percentage of the compressive strength, which can be easily and accurately
determined from tests. Specimens used to determine compressive strength may be cylindrical,
cubical, or prismatic. Before testing, the specimens are moist cured and then tested at the age of 28
days by gradually applying a static load until rupture occurs. The rupture of the concrete specimen
may be caused by the applied tensile stress (failure in cohesion), the applied shearing stress (sliding
failure), the compressive stress (crushing failure), or combinations of these stresses

Shear failure

Splitting failure

Tensile strength of concrete is measured indirectly by a splitting test performed on a standard

cylinder. Tensile strength of concrete is approximately 0.1f’c

Flexural strength (modulus of rupture, fr ) of concrete is calculated by testing a 6 × 6 × 28-in. plain

concrete beam.

Nominal shear stress is

Stress-Strain Curve of Concrete:

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Plain & Reinforced Concrete Handout 01 Engr. M. Murtaza Nasir, Ph.D. Scholar

All curves (in previous fig.) consist of an initial relatively straight elastic portion, reaching maximum
stress at a strain of about 0.002; then rupture occurs at a strain of about 0.003.

Modulus of Elasticity: The modulus of elasticity is a measure of stiffness, or the resistance of the
material to
deformation. In concrete, as in any elastoplastic material, the stress is not proportional to the
strain, and the stress–strain relationship is a curved line. The actual stress–strain curve of
concrete can be obtained by measuring the strains under increments of loading on a standard
cylinder.

The initial tangent modulus (Fig. 2.4) is represented by the slope of the tangent to the curve at the
origin under elastic deformation. This modulus is of limited value and cannot be determined with
accuracy. Geometrically, the tangent modulus of elasticity of concrete, Ec, is the slope of the tangent
to the stress–strain curve at a given stress. Under long-time action of load and due to the
development of plastic deformation, the stress-to-total-strain ratio becomes a variable nonlinear
quantity.

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Plain & Reinforced Concrete Handout 01 Engr. M. Murtaza Nasir, Ph.D. Scholar

The ACI Code, Section 8.5.1, gives a simple formula for calculating the modulus of elasticity of
normal and lightweight concrete considering the secant modulus at a level of stress, f’c, equal to half
the specified concrete strength, f’c

POISSON’S RATIO
Poisson’s ratio μ is the ratio of the transverse to the longitudinal strains under axial stress
within the elastic range. This ratio varies between 0.15 and 0.20 for both normal and lightweight
concrete. Poisson’s ratio is used in structural analysis of flat slabs, tunnels, tanks, arch dams, and
other statically indeterminate structures. For isotropic elastic materials, Poisson’s ratio is equal
to 0.25. An average value of 0.18 can be used for concrete.

SHEAR MODULUS

The modulus of elasticity of concrete in shear ranges from about 0.4 to 0.6 of the corresponding
modulus in compression. From the theory of elasticity, the shear modulus is taken as follows:

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Plain & Reinforced Concrete Handout 01 Engr. M. Murtaza Nasir, Ph.D. Scholar

Assignment Q1: What are (1) Homogeneous/Non-Homogeneous Materials (2) Isotropic/Anisotropic Material
(3) Linear/Nonlinear/Plastic Material (4) Elastic/Inelastic Material. Give examples of each material.

Assignment Q2: Write short notes on (1) shrinkage in concrete (2) creep in concrete [Refer Text Book by
Nadim Hassoun.

Assignment Q3: Discuss the behavior of steel as represented in its stress strain curves in the figure below.

Guidelines for submission

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4. Assignment must bear student’s Roll#, Class Section, Batch, assignment number and date of
submission on a separate (front/first) page in bold letters with no over writing
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Note: Noncompliance to these instructions will result in rejection of submitted work.

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