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Based on test evidence, guidelines for the placement of large web openings RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
in reinforced concrete beams are given, following which a simple design This paper provides a useful procedure for the complete
procedure is suggested. Generally, openings should be positioned so that
analysis and design of reinforced concrete beams with large
chords have sufficient concrete area to develop the ultimate compression
block in flexure and adequate depth to provide effective shear reinforce- web openings. General guidelines for the placement of open-
ment. They should not be deeper than one-half the beam depth and should ings are given. Supported by test results, the procedure
be located not closer than one-half the beam depth from supports or concen- checks for ultimate strength and deflections in both the short
trated loads. and long term. It also insures that cracking at the opening is
For analyses for elastic bending moments and shear forces by conven- controlled by proper reinforcement detailing.
tional methods, the recommended procedure uses an equivalent shear stiff-
ness incorporating an effective length for the opening and considers the
GENERAL GUIDELINES
applied shear to be carried in proportion to the flexural stiffness of the
A review of the literature1-7 on the behavior and strength
chords. The design of chords for strength follows ACI code provisions.
Cracking at the opening is controlled by proper detailing, while deflections
of beams with web openings indicates that the following
are calculated using the same analysis procedure but considering cracked guidelines can be used to facilitate the selection of the size
moment of inertia and checking against code requirements. and location of web openings (refer to Fig. 1):
1. For T-beams, openings should preferably be positioned
Keywords: beams (supports); cracking (fracturing); deflection; openings;
flush with the flange for ease in construction. In the case of
reinforced concrete; serviceability; shear tests; stiffness; strength; struc- rectangular beams, openings are commonly placed at mid-
tural design. depth of the section, but they may also be placed eccentrically
with respect to depth. Care must be exercised to provide
In tall building construction, there is a trend towards sufficient concrete cover to the reinforcement for the chord
providing openings through the webs of reinforced concrete members above and below the opening. The compression
beams to accommodate service ducts. This results in a chord should also have sufficient concrete area to develop
reduction in the amount of dead space above the false ceiling the ultimate compression block in flexure and have adequate
and hence a more compact and economical design. In the depth to provide effective shear reinforcement.
2. Openings should not be located closer than one-half the
past, several methods1-5 have been proposed for strength
beam depth D to the supports to avoid the critical region for
design of beams with large web openings under various
shear failure and reinforcement congestion. Similarly, posi-
loading combinations. However, these methods require the
tioning of an opening closer than 0.5D to any concentrated
magnitudes of forces and moments at the center of the
load should be avoided.
opening to be predetermined, and can therefore be readily
3. Depth of openings should be limited to 50 percent of
applied to statically determinate beams only. In continuous
overall beam depth.
beams that generally occur in practice, reduction in stiffness
4. The factors that limit the length of an opening are the
due to the provision of openings through webs causes a stability of the chord members, in particular the compression
redistribution of internal forces and moments, the amount of chord, and the serviceability requirement of deflection.
which needs to be evaluated before a design can proceed. When the opening gets bigger, it is preferable to use multiple
To facilitate the design process, the authors6 have earlier openings providing the same passageway instead of using a
proposed the use of an equivalent stiffness for the opening single opening.
segment of a beam whereby analysis of a continuous beam 5. When multiple openings are used, the post separating
with large web openings can be reduced to a routine procedure. two adjacent openings should not be less than 0.5D to insure
A comparison of the method with available test results that each opening behaves independently.
shows good agreement with respect to both the strength and
deflection of the beams.6,7 With this tool in hand, a proce- ACI Structural Journal, V. 93, No. 4, July-August 1996.
Received July 22, 1994, and reviewed under Institute publication policies. Copy-
dure suitable for the complete analysis and design of a beam right © 1996, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, including the making of
with large web openings can be formulated. The procedure copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors. Pertinent dis-
cussion will be published in the May-June 1997 ACI Structural Journal if received
is described in this paper and illustrated with an example. by January 1, 1997.
where z is the distance between the plastic centroids of the in which effective length factor K is taken as 1, lu is the
top and bottom chords. unsupported length of the compression chord, and r is the
Distribute the applied shear between the top and bottom radius of gyration. The values of M1b and M2b can be taken
chords as as M3 and M1, respectively, with the signs as dictated by
Section 10.11.4.1 of the ACI Code.8 According to Section
I gt ⎞ 10.11.3 of the Code,8 r can be taken as
V t = V m ⎛ ------------------
- (7)
⎝I + I ⎠
gt gb
r = 0.3dc (14)
I gb ⎞
V b = V m ⎛ ------------------
- (8) where dc can be taken as the depth of the compression chord.
⎝I + I ⎠ However, when an opening segment is subjected to negative
gt gb
bending (for example, in between the inflection points and
where Igt and Igb are the gross moment of inertia of the top the support of a continuous beam), the compression (bottom)
and bottom chords, respectively. chord should be considered as a member unbraced against
Calculate moments at the ends of chord members from sidesway for which, according to Section 10.11.4 of the
statics (refer to Fig. 2) Code,8 the effects of slenderness may be neglected when
2 Kl u
ωl Vt l o -------- < 22 (15)
M 1 = – --------o – --------- (9) r
8 2
If Eq. (13) or (15) are not satisfied, the moment magnifi-
2
ωl Vt l o cation method as described in Section 10.11.5 may be used
M 2 = – --------o + --------- (10) to design the compression chord. However, it is suggested
8 2
that the dimensions of the chord be revised so as to eliminate
Vb lo the effects of slenderness.
M 3 = – ---------- (11) Design of longitudinal reinforcement for chord members—
2 The longitudinal reinforcement in the top and bottom of the
solid section adjacent to the opening should be continued
Vb lo throughout the opening segments. Additional reinforcement
M 4 = ---------- (12)
2 required to resist the combined moment and axial force in
each chord member is designed, and, as a trial, it could be
such that each chord is symmetrically reinforced. With the
reinforcement for the chord members so decided, the corre-
sponding idealized column interaction diagrams can be
constructed by the method of strain compatibility. The critical
combinations of bending moment and axial load for the chord
members as determined earlier are then plotted in the interaction
diagrams. If all the combinations fall within the appropriate
interaction diagrams, the reinforcement provided will be suffi-
cient. Otherwise, a revision of reinforcement is necessary. Also,
the flexural capacity of the top chord should be sufficient to
support any external loading directly applied to it.
Design of shear reinforcement for chord members—The
shear forces carried by the top and bottom chords are given
by Eq. (7) and (8), respectively. Knowing these forces, the
Fig. 2—Free-body diagram of opening segment. required amount of reinforcement can be designed in a
( 58 )
φV c = 0.85 × 0.17 1 + 0.073 ----------------------- Table 2—Calculated shear and axial forces at
300 ( 250 ) midspan of chord members
30 ( 300 ) ( 192 ) = 45.6 kN > 45.9 kN Loading Nt = –Nb,
case Mm, kNm Vm, kN Vt, kN Vb, kN kN
The bottom chord is treated as a beam; therefore, a 1 –69.7 95.7 49.8 45.9 174.3
minimum amount of links must be provided. The maximum 2 –81.8 48.3 25.1 23.2 204.5
spacing limit is d/2 = 192/2 = 96 mm [ACI Code,8 Section 3 –23.2 95.7 49.8 45.9 58.0
11.5.4.1]. Therefore, provide stirrups of R8 (mild steel bars
of 8-mm diameter) at 90-mm spacing.
The previous design has been based on bending moment Table 3—Moments at critical end sections of chord
and shear force distributions derived using gross section members
properties. With the reinforcement detail so determined, a Top chord Bottom chord
more refined analysis may be carried out using the cracked M1, kNm M2, kNm M3, kNm M4, kNm
Loading case
section properties if necessary.
1 –22.0 14.1 –19.5 19.5
2 –8.4 5.6 –7.6 7.6
Step 3: Design for serviceability
3 –23.0 15.1 –20.7 20.7
a) Cracking
Crack control requirements of the solid segments are met
by proper reinforcement detailing. For the opening segment,
the maximum shear at the left edge occurs for Loading Case 1
and 3. That is, Vt = 95.7 + 38.8 × 0.45 = 113.2 kN. Assuming
η = 2, ϕ = 45 deg, and fyd and fyv = 460 MPa, the required area
of vertical stirrups and diagonal bars [refer to Eq. (16) and
(17)] is
0.25 ( 2 ) ( 113.2 ) 2
A v = ------------------------------------- = 144.7 mm
0.85 ( 460 )
0.75 ( 2 ) ( 113.2 ) 2
A v = ---------------------------------------------- = 614.1 mm
0.85 ( 460 ) ( sin 45° )
0.25 ( 2 ) ( 78.2 ) 2
A v = ---------------------------------- = 100 mm
0.85 ( 460 ) Fig. 7—Linearized interaction diagrams for chord members.