Design strength of materials

The design strength of materials (fd) is given by

fk
fd  
m

Where, fk=characteristic strength of material.

 m =partial safety factor appropriate to the material and the limit state being considered
Design loads
The design load ( Fd) is given by.
Fd=Fk.  f

 f =partial safety factor appropriate to the nature of loading and the limit state being considered.
The design load obtained by multi plying the characteristic load by the partial safety factor for
load is also known as factored load.
Partial safety factor (  m) for materials
When assessing the strength of a structure or structural member for the limit state of collapse, the
values of partial safety factor,  m should be taken as 1.15 for steel.

Thus, in the limit state method , the design stress for steel reinforcement is given by fy /  ms =
fy/1.15=0.87fy.
According to IS 456:2000 for design purpose the compressive strength of concrete in the
structure shall be assumed to be 0.67 times the characteristic strength of concrete in cube and
partial safety factor  mc =1.5 shall be applied in addition to this. Thus, the design stress in
concrete is given by

0.67 f ck / mc  0.67 f ck /1.5  0.446 fck

Partial safety factor for loads

The partial safety factors for loads, as per IS 456:2000 are given in table below

Load Limit State of collapse Limit State of Serviceability

combination DL LL WL/EL DL LL WL/EL
DL+IL 1.5 1.5 - 1.0 1.0 -
DL+WL 1.5 or 0.9* - 1.5 1.0 - 1.0
DL+IL+WL 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.8
 (* This value is to be considered when stability against overturning or stress reversal is
critical)

Limit state of collapse in flexure

The behaviour of reinforced concrete beam sections at ultimate loads has been explained in
detail in previous section. The basic assumptions involved in the analysis at the ultimate limit
state of flexure (Cl. 38.1 of the Code) are listed here.

a) Plane sections normal to the beam axis remain plane after bending, i.e., in an initially
straight beam, strain varies linearly over the depth of the section.

b) The maximum compressive strain in concrete (at the outermost fibre) cu shall be taken as
0.0035 in bending.
c) The relationship between the compressive stress distribution in concrete and the strain in
concrete may be assumed to be rectangle, trapezoid, parabola or any other shape which results
in prediction of strength in substantial agreement with the results of test. An acceptable stress-
strain curve is given below in figure 1.6. For design purposes, the compressive strength of
concrete in the structure shall be assumed to be 0.67 times the characteristic strength. The
partial safety factor y, = 1.5 shall be applied in addition to this.

Figure 1.6 Stress-strain curve for concrete

d) The tensile strength of the concrete is ignored.

e) The stresses in the reinforcement are derived from representative stress-strain curve for the
type of steel used. Typical curves are given in figure 1.3. For design purposes the partial
safety factor  m equal to 1.15 shall be applied.
f) The maximum strain in the tension reinforcement in the section at failure shall not be less
 fy
than:  0.002 1.15Es

Limiting Depth of Neutral Axis

Figure: 1.7 Rectangular beam under flexure xu  xu,max

Figure 1.8 Rectangular beam under flexure xu  xu,max

Based on the assumption given above, an expression for the depth of the neutral axis at the

ultimate limit state, xu , can be easily obtained from the strain diagram in Fig. 1.8.
Considering similar triangles,
x
u 0.0035
 (1)
d 0.87 f y
0.0035   0.002
E
s
According to IS 456:2000 cl no 38.1 (f) ,when the maximum strain in tension reinforcement
x .
is equal to 0.87 f y  0.002 , then the value of neutral axis will be u,max
 Es
x
u,max 0.0035
Therefore, 
d 0.0035  0.87 f y  0.002
Es (2)
The values of xu,max for different grades of steel, obtained by applying Eq. (2), are listed in
table.
Table 1 Limiting depth of neutral axis for different grades of steel
Steel Grade Fe 250 Fe 415 Fe 500
x /d
u,max 0.5313 0.4791 0.4791

The limiting depth of neutral axis xu,max corresponds to the so-called balanced section, i.e., a
section that is expected to result in a ‗balanced‘ failure at the ultimate limit state in flexure. If
the neutral axis depth xu is less than xu,max , then the section is under-reinforced (resulting in a
‗tension‘ failure); whereas if xu exceeds xu,max , it is over-reinforced (resulting in
a‗compression‘ failure).
Analysis of Singly Reinforced Rectangular Sections
Analysis of a given reinforced concrete section at the ultimate limit state of flexure implies the
determination of the ultimate moment MuR of resistance of the section. This is easily obtained
from the couple resulting from the flexural stresses (Fig 1.9).

Fig. 1.9 Concrete stress-block parameters in compression

M uR Cu . z  Tu .z (3)

where Cu and Tu are the resultant (ultimate) forces in compression and tension respectively, and
z is the lever arm.
Tu  f st .Ast (4)
 for x  x
Where fst  0.87 f y u u,max
and the line of action of Tu corresponds to the level of the centroid of the tension steel.

Concrete Stress Block in Compression

In order to determine the magnitude of Cu and its line of action, it is necessary to analyse the
concrete stress block in compression. As ultimate failure of a reinforced concrete beam in
flexure occurs by the crushing of concrete, for both under- and over-reinforced beams, the shape
of the compressive stress distribution (‗stress block‘) at failure will be, in both cases, as shown
in Fig. 1.9. The value of Cu can be computed knowing that the compressive stress in concrete is

uniform at 0.447 fck for a depth of 3xu / 7, and below this it varies parabolically over a depth of

4xu / 7 to zero at the neutral axis [Fig. 1.9].

For a rectangular section of width b,

3x 2 4xu 
Cu  0.447 fck b  u 
 x 
7 3 7 


Therefore, Cu  0.361 f ck bxu (5)

Also, the line of action of Cu is determined by the centroid of the stress block, located at a
distance x from the concrete fibres subjected to the maximum compressive strain.

Accordingly, considering moments of compressive forces Cu, C1 and C2 [Fig. 1.9] about the
maximum compressive strain location,

 3  1.5xu   2 4  5 4x 
(0.362 f ck bxu ) x x  (0.447 f ck bxu )     x  xu  x u
 7  7  3 7  7 
 

Solving x  0.416xu (6)

Depth of Neutral Axis

For any given section, the depth of the neutral axis should be such that Cu  Tu , satisfying
equilibrium of forces. Equating Cu  Tu , with expressions for Cu and Tu given by Eq. (5) and
Eq. (4) respectively.

x  0.87 f y Ast , valid only if resulting x  x (7)

u u u,max
0.361 f ck b
Ultimate Moment of Resistance
The ultimate moment of resistance MuR of a given beam section is obtainable from Eq. (3).
The lever arm z, for the case of the singly reinforced rectangular section [Fig. 1.8, Fig. 1.9] is
given by
z  d  0.416xu (8)
Accordingly, in terms of the concrete compressive strength,
M uR  0.361 f ck bxu (d  0.416 x u ) for all xu (9)
Alternatively, in terms of the steel tensile stress,
M uR  f st A st (d  0.416 x u ) for all xu (10)
With fst=0.87fy for xu  xu,max
Limiting Moment of Resistance
The limiting moment of resistance of a given (singly reinforced, rectangular) section,
according to the Code (Cl. G−1.1), corresponds to the condition, defined by Eq. (2). From
Eq. (9), it follows that:

Mu ,lim  0.361 fck bxu ,max (d 0.416 xu,max ) (11)

x  0.416 x u,max  2
M  0.361 f ck  1  bd (11a)
u ,max
u ,lim 

 d  d 
Limiting Percentage Tensile Steel
Corresponding to the limiting moment of resistance Mu,lim , there is a limiting percentage

tensile steel pt ,lim 100xAst,lim / bd . An expression for pt,lim is obtainable from Eq. (7) with:

x x .
u u,max
x p
u ,max
 0.87 f y x t,lim

d 0.361 fck 100

f x
 ck  u,max 
p
t,lim  41.61



 (12)
d
 f y   
Mu
The values of pt,lim and 2 (in MPa units) for, different combinations of steel and
bd
concrete grades are listed in Table 2. These values correspond to the so-called ‗balanced‘ section
for a singly reinforced rectangular section.
 M
u
Table 2 Limiting values of p and for singly reinforced rectangular beam sections for
t,lim 2
bd
various grades of steel and concrete.

(a) pt,lim values

M20 M25 M30 M35 M40

Fe 250 1.769 2.211 2.653 3.095 3.537

Fe 415 0.961 1.201 1.441 1.681 1.921

Fe 500 0.759 0.949 1.138 1.328 1.518

M
u,lim
(a) values (MPa)
2
bd
M20 M25 M30 M35 M40
Fe 250 2.996 3.746 4.495 5.244 5.993

Fe 415 2.777 3.472 4.166 4.860 5.555

Fe 500 2.675 3.444 4.013 4.682 5.350