Chapter Two

Flexural Analysis of Beams

2.1 Introduction
The analysis and design of a structural member may be
regarded as the process of selecting the proper materials and
determining the member dimensions such that the design
strength is equal or greater than the required strength.
The required strength is determined by multiplying the actual
applied loads, the dead load, the assumed live load, and other
loads, such as wind, seismic, earth pressure, fluid pressure,
snow, and rain loads, by load factors. These loads develop
external forces such as bending moments, shear, torsion, or
axial forces depending on how these loads are applied to the
structure.
In proportioning reinforced concrete structural members,
three main items can be investigated:
1. The safety of the structure, which is maintained by
providing adequate internal design strength.
2. Deflection of the structural member under service loads.
The maximum value of deflection must be limited and is
usually specified as a factor of the span, to preserve the
appearance of the structure.
3. Control of cracking conditions under service loads. Visible
cracks spoil the appearance of the structure and also
permit humidity to penetrate the concrete, causing
corrosion of steel and consequently weakening the
reinforced concrete member. The ACI Code implicitly limits
crack widths 0.40 mm for interior members and 0.33 mm
for exterior members. Control of cracking is achieved by
adopting and limiting the spacing of the tension bars.
In this section, it is assumed that a small transverse load is
placed on a concrete beam with tensile reinforcing and that the
load is gradually increased in magnitude until the beam fails. As
this takes place, the beam will go through three distinct stages
before collapse occurs. These are:
1) the uncracked concrete stage,
2) the concrete crackedelastic stresses stage, and
3) the ultimate-strength stage.
A relatively long beam is considered for this discussion so
that shear will not have a large effect on its behavior.

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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

h
L

Uncracked Concrete Stage

At small loads when the tensile stresses are less than the
modulus of rupture (the bending tensile stress at which the
concrete begins to crack), the entire cross section of the beam
resists bending, with compression on one side and tension on
the other.

FIGURE 2.1 Uncracked concrete stage.

Concrete CrackedElastic Stresses Stage

As the load is increased after the modulus of rupture of the
concrete is exceeded, cracks begin to develop in the bottom of
the beam. The moment at which these cracks begin to form
that is, when the tensile stress in the bottom of the beam
equals the modulus of ruptureis referred to as the
cracking moment, Mcr.
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

As the load is further increased, these cracks quickly

spread up to the vicinity of the neutral axis, and then the
neutral axis begins to move upward. The cracks occur at those
places along the beam where the actual moment is greater than
the cracking moment, as shown in Figure 2.2(a).
Now that the bottom has cracked, another stage is present
because the concrete in the cracked zone obviously cannot
resist tensile stressesthe steel must do it. This stage will
continue as long as the compression stress in the top fibers is
less than about one-half of the concretes compression
strength, f`c , and as long as the steel stress is less than its
yield stress.

FIGURE 2.2 Concrete crackedelastic stresses stage.

The straight-line stressstrain variation normally occurs in

reinforced concrete beams under normal service-load conditions
because at those loads, the stresses are generally less than
0.50f`c.
Beam FailureUltimate-Strength Stage
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

As the load is increased further so that the compressive

stresses are greater than 0.50f`c, the tensile cracks move
farther upward, as does the neutral axis, and the concrete
compression to change appreciably from a straight line.

FIGURE 2.3 Ultimate-strength stage.

To further illustrate the three stages of beam behavior that

have just been described, a momentcurvature diagram is
shown in Figure 2.4. For this diagram, is defined as the angle
change of the beam section over a certain length and is
computed by the following expression in which is the strain in
a beam fiber at some distance, y, from the neutral axis of the
beam:
=

The first stage of the diagram is for small moments less

than the cracking moment, Mcr, where the entire beam cross
section is available to resist bending. In this range, the strains
are small, and the diagram is nearly vertical and very close to a
straight line. When the moment is increased beyond the
cracking moment, the slope of the curve will decrease a little
because the beam is not quite as stiff as it was in the initial
stage before the concrete cracked. The diagram will follow
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

almost a straight line from Mcr to the point where the

reinforcing is stressed to its yield point. Until the steel yields, a
fairly large additional load is required to appreciably increase
the beams deflection.
After the steel yields, the beam has very little additional
moment capacity, and only a small additional load is required to
substantially increase rotations as well as deflections. The slope
of the diagram is now very flat.

FIGURE 2.4 Momentcurvature diagram for reinforced concrete beam with tensile re

2.2 Cracking Moment

The area of reinforcing as a percentage of the total crosssectional area of a beam is quite small (usually 2% or less), and
its effect on the beam properties is almost negligible as long as
the beam is uncracked. Therefore, an approximate calculation
of the bending stresses in such a beam can be obtained based
on the gross properties of the beams cross section. The stress
in the concrete at any point a distance y from the neutral axis
of the cross section can be determined from the following
flexure formula in which M is the bending moment equal to or
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

less than the cracking moment of the section and Ig is the gross
moment of inertia of the cross section:
f

My
Ig

M cr =f cr .

where

f cr=0.62 f

Ig
y

(2-1a)

and, but

for rectangular section

M cr 0.62 f `c

S=

S=

Ig
yt

I g bh3 /12 bh2

=
=
yt
h /2
6

bh 2
6

(2-1b)

Example 2.1
a) Assuming the concrete is uncracked, compute the
bending stresses in the extreme fibers of the beam of
Figure 2.5 for a bending moment of 30 kN.m. The
normal-weight concrete has an f`c of 28 MPa.
b) Determine the cracking moment of the section .

375 mm
450 mm

3 #29 bars
(As=1935 mm2)

75 mm

300 mm

FIGURE 2.5 Beam cross section for Example 2.1

Solution:
Example 2.2
a) If the T-beam shown is uncracked, calculate the stress
in the concrete at the top and bottom extreme fibers
under a positive bending moment of 118 kN.m.
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

b) If f`c = 21 MPa and normal-weight concrete is used,

what is the maximum uniformly distributed load the
beam can carry if it is used as a simple beam with 7.5
m span without exceeding the modulus of rupture of
the concrete?
c) Repeat part (b) if the beam is inverted.
bf = 1500 mm
hf = 125 mm

= 270 mm
530 mm

675 mm

bw = 300 mm

2.3 Elastic StressesConcrete Cracked

When the bending moment is sufficiently large to cause the
tensile stress in the extreme fibers to be greater than the
modulus of rupture, it is assumed that all of the concrete on the
tensile side of the beam is cracked and must be neglected in
the flexure calculations.
The cracking of the beam does not necessarily mean that
the beam is going to fail. The reinforcing bars on the tensile
side begin to pick up the tension caused by the applied
moment.
On the tensile side of the beam, an assumption of perfect
bond is made between the reinforcing bars and the concrete.
Thus, the strain in the concrete and in the steel will be equal at
equal distances from the neutral axis. If the strains in the two
materials at a particular point are the same, however, their
stresses cannot be the same since they have different moduli of
elasticity. Thus, their stresses are in proportion to the ratio of
their moduli of elasticity. The ratio of the steel modulus to the
concrete modulus is called the modular ratio, n:
n

Es
Ec
(2-3)

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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

For the beam of Figure 2.6, the steel bars are replaced with
an equivalent area of fictitious concrete (nAs), which supposedly
can resist tension. This area is referred to as the transformed
area. The resulting revised cross section or transformed section
is handled by the usual methods for elastic homogeneous
beams.

FIGURE 2.6 Cracked, transformed section.

To solve such problem precede the following steps:

1. Locate the neutral axis, which is assumed to be located a
distance x from the compression surface of the beam. The
first moment of the compression area of the beam cross
section about the neutral axis must equal the first moment
of the tensile area about the neutral axis.
2. After the neutral axis is located, the moment of inertia of
the transformed section is calculated, and
3. The stresses in the concrete and the steel are computed
with the flexure formula.
Allowable stresses
Concrete stresses at service loads must not exceed the
following:
Flexure Extreme fiber stress in compression 0.45 f 'c
Tensile stresses in reinforcement at service loads must not
exceed the following:
Grade 40 and 50 (fy =280 or 350 MPa) reinforcement
20,000 psi (140 MPa).
Grade 60 (fy = 420 MPa) reinforcement or greater and
welded wire 24,000 psi (170 MPa) reinforcement (plain or
deformed).
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

Example 2.3
Calculate the bending stresses in
the beam shown in Figure 2.7 by
using the transformed area method,
f`c= 21MPa, n = 9, and M = 90kN.m.

425 mm
500 mm

3 #29 bars
(As = 1935 mm2)

75 mm

Solution:

300 mm

FIGURE 2.7 Beam cross section for Example 2.3

300

mm
x
425

nAs

=17415 mm2

425

mm

-x

FIGURE 2.8 Cracked, transformed section for Example 2.3

Example 2.4
Determine the allowable resisting moment of the beam of
Example 2.3, if the allowable stresses are fc = 0.45 f`c = 9.45
MPa and fs = 140 MPa for Grade 50 (fy = 350 MPa) .
Solution:
Example 2.5
For the simply supported beam shown its reinforced by 4#25
bars (fy=420 MPa), the concrete strength ( f'c =21 MPa).
Evaluate the following:
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

1. If the span of beam = 4 m and WD = 8 KN/m, WL =10 KN/m

check the actual flexural stress in concrete and steel with
its corresponding allowable limits.
2. Length of beam span that make the concrete in tension face
start to crack.
3. The actual stress in concrete and steel if the span of beam = 7
m and check the actual stresses with its corresponding
allowable limits.
350 mm
WD +WL
500 mm

420 mm

4m

FIGURE 2.9 Beam for Example 2.5

Solution:

150 mm 150 mm 150 mm

150 mm
x

Example 2.6
Compute the bending stresses in
the beam shown in Figure 2.10 by
using the transformed-area method;
n = 8 and M = 150 kN.m.
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575 mm
575 - x
4 # 32
As = 3276 mm2

13 Concrete Design\ 3rd class

75 mm

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

450 mm
stressstrain curve, with
short-term loading.

FIGURE 2.10 Beam cross section for Example 2.6.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

Solution:
Example 2.7
Calculate the bending stresses in the concrete and the
reinforcing steel, using the transformed area method: f`c =
21MPa, normal-weight concrete, n = 9, M = 345 kN.m.
bf = 1500 mm
hf = 125 mm
As = 6#25 bars

d = 700 mm

bw = 300 mm

Solution:
bf = 1500 mm
hf = 125 mm
nAs = 27540 mm2

d = 700 mm

bw = 300 mm

A doubly reinforced concrete beam

That is, one that has compression steel as well as tensile steel.
Compression steel is generally thought to be uneconomical, but
occasionally its use is quite advantageous.
Compression steel will permit the use of appreciably
smaller beams than those that make use of tensile steel only.
Reduced sizes can be very important where space or
architectural requirements limit the sizes of beams.
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

Compression steel is quite helpful in reducing long-term

deflections, and such steel is useful for positioning stirrups or
shear reinforcing.
The long-term stresses (due to creep) in that reinforcing
will be greatly affected by the creep in the concrete. As time
goes by, the compression concrete will compact more tightly,
leaving the reinforcing bars (which themselves have negligible
creep) to carry more and more of the load.
As a consequence of this creep in the concrete, the
stresses in the compression bars computed by the transformedarea method are assumed to double as time goes by. In next
Example, the transformed area of the compression bars is
assumed to equal 2n times their area, As`.
The transformed area of the compression side equals the
gross compression area of the concrete plus 2nAs` minus the
area of the holes in the concrete (1As`), which theoretically
should not have been included in the concrete part. This equals
the compression concrete area plus (2n 1)As`.
Example 2.8
Compute the bending stresses in the beam shown in Figure
2.11; n = 10 and M = 163 kN.m.
65 mm
x

350 mm

2 # 29
(As` = 1290 mm2)

435 - x

4 # 29

500 mm
370 mm

(As = 2580 mm2)

65 mm

350 mm

(a) Actual section

(b) Transformed section

FIGURE 2.11 Beam cross section for Example 2.8.

Solution:

2.4 Ultimate or Nominal Flexural Moments

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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

At this stage, it is assumed that the tensile reinforcing bars are

stressed to their yield point before the concrete on the
compressive side of the beam is crushed.
To calculate nominal flexural moment, it is assumed the
curved compression diagram is replaced with a rectangular one
with a constant stress of 0.85f`c, as shown in part (c) of the
figure. The rectangular diagram of depth a is assumed to have
the same c.g. (center of gravity) and total magnitude as the
curved diagram. These assumptions will enable us to easily
calculate the theoretical or nominal flexural strength of
reinforced concrete beams.

FIGURE 2.12 Compression and tension couple at nominal moment.

To obtain the nominal or theoretical moment strength of a

beam, follow the following steps:
1. Compute total tensile force T = As fy .
2. Equate total compression force C = 0.85f`c ab to As fy and
solve for a. In this expression, ab is the assumed area
stressed in compression at 0.85f`c. The compression force
C and the tensile force T must be equal to maintain
equilibrium at the section.
3. Calculate the distance between the centers of gravity of T
and C. (For a rectangular beam cross section, it equals d
a/2.)
4. Determine Mn, which equals T or C times the distance
between their centers of gravity.
Example 2.9
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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

Determine Mn, the nominal or theoretical ultimate moment

strength of the beam section shown in Figure 2.12, if fy = 400
MPa and f`c = 20 MPa.

d = 575mm
600 mm
3 # 29
(As = 1935 mm2)
75 mm

b = 350 mm

FIGURE 2.13 Beam cross section for Example 2.9.

Example 2.10
Calculate the nominal or theoretical ultimate moment strength
of the beam section shown in Figure 2.13, if fy = 400 MPa and
f`c = 20 MPa. The 150 mm wide ledges on top are needed for
the support of precast concrete slabs.
150 mm 150 mm 150 mm

150 mm

600 mm
375 mm

4 # 29
(As = 2580 mm2)
75 mm

450 mm

FIGURE 2.13 Beam cross section for Example 2.10.

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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

Chapter Two
Flexural Analysis of Beams

22500
mm2

150 mm
a = 233 mm

37498 mm2

3 7 4 98
8 3mm
450

450 mm

FIGURE 2.14 Area under compression stress block

for Example 2.9.

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stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.

stressstrain curve, with short-term loading.