Stress2DR/C"DeepBeam"Design

IllustrativeExample
Inthisexamplewewilldemonstratetheusage
ofStress2Dsoftwareinadesignofareinforcedconcrete"deep
beam".
Inthisexamplethe"deepbeam",isactuallya"deepcantilever"
wall.(seefigureonleft).Thecantileverwallis3.0mlong,5.0m
deep,and0.5thick(estimated).Itcarries15floorsfromabove,
whichincludesprecastconcretefacadepanelsandthefloor
structure.Theestimatedload(G+Q)is750kN/m.Thecantilever
wallissupportedbyaseriesofcolumns.
Thedesigntaskistoevaluatethestressesinthecantileverwall
andtodesignthereinforcement.
ThebuildingislocatedinSydneyCBD,NSWAustralia,just
behindtheTownHall.

Inthefiguresbelowthecantileverwallisshowninalargerscale.

Thisisatypical2Dstressanalysisproblem,suitableforfiniteelementapproach.Inthiscase,"beamanalogy"willnot
providereliableresults.ThefiniteelementmodelwascreatedusingStress2Dsoftware.Themodelconsistsofseveral2D
panels,representingthecantilever,andfourcolumns.Thisisaverysimplemodel,andittakes5to10min.todrawit
usingStress2Dinteractiveeditor.

Once,themodelispreparedandallmaterialpropertiesareentered,wecanperformthestaticanalysisbythe
usingStress2Dsoftware.Thedeflectionresultsareshowninthefigurebelow.

Inthefigurebelowthehorizontalstresses(SigmaX)areshownintwocharacteristicsections.Thecriticalsectionisabovethe
column,wherethereareatotaltensionforceof1,150kN.Atthecolumn,almost3/4ofthesectionisintension.Wehaveto
putasufficientnumberofhorizontalbarstotakethetensionstresses
Thecompressionstressesweremuchsmallerthanthantheconcretestrength,andthereisnoneedforanyadditional
reinforcementtotakethecompressionstresses.

WecanusesteelbarsY16,inthehorizontaldirections.(Astofonebaris201mm^2)
Ifweallowthatthestressinthesteelwillgoupto50%oftheyieldstrengthof400MPa,thenwecancalculatetherequired
areaofreinforcement.
Ast.tot=1,150/200,000=0.00575m2or5,750mm2(requiredareaofsteel)
TotalTensionForce=1,150kN
50%SteelYieldStrength=200,000kPa

Numberofbars=5,750/201=28barsor14barseachsideofthewall
Ifweplace28horizontalY16bars,thentheloadwillgeneratetensionstressinthebarsof200MPa,whichisonly50%ofthe
yieldstress.Thisisactually,asafetyfactorof2,whichissufficientinthiscase.
Thehorizontalbarswillbeplacedoveralengthof2mfromthetopedge,i.e.Y16@150eachface.
Therestofthestructurewillneedsomenominalhorizontalreinforcement,forinstanceY16@300.
Also,itisagoodideatoputafewextrahorizontalbarsatthetopedge,say5Y24,totaketheconcentrationofthetension
stresses.Theextrabarswillhaveacrosssectionof2,260mm2,whichwillmakeatotalor7,890mm2.Thiswilldropthe
stressinthesteelto146MPa.Now,thesafetyfactoris400/146=2.7.

Theverticalreinforcementmaybedesignedinthasimilarmanner.
Themaximumshearstressesare2.7MPa,whichissmallerthan10%oftheconcretestrength,andnospecialshear
reinforcementisrequired.
Thedeflectionatthetipofthecantileverisabout1mm,whichisconsideredacceptable.(assumingEc=31GPa).

NOTE:INDUCTAEngineeringwasnotinvolvedintheactualdesignoftheabovestructure,noranyofoursoftwarewasused
inthedesign.Wehavechosenthisparticularstructurebecauseofitsspecificgeometry,inordertoillustratethepotential
usageoffiniteelementsoftwareinstructuraldesignof"deepbeams".