2.

DETAILING OF BEAMS

(For class held on 5th March 07)

By Dr. G.S.Suresh, Professor, Civil Engineering Department, NIE, Mysore
(Ph:9342188467, email: gss_nie@ yahoo.com)
2.1 Introduction:
Beams are structural elements carrying transverse external loads that cause bending
moment, shear forces and in some cases torsion across their length. Concrete is strong
in compression and very weak in tension. Steel reinforcement is used to take up
tensile stresses in reinforced concrete beams. Mild steel bars of round section were
used in RCC work. But with the introduction of deformed and twisted bars, the use of
mild steel bars had declined. Deformed or High yield strength deformed bars (HYSD)
have ribs on the surface and this increases the bond strength at least by 40%
compared to that of mild steel bar. Fig. 2.1 shows mild steel and deformed steel bars.

Fig. 2.1
To facilitate construction process, good detailing of reinforcements with proper
drawings are essential at the site of construction. These drawing generally also
include a bar bending schedule. The bar bending schedule describes the length and
number, position and the shape of the bar. The detailing is normally associated with
i) Size and number (or spacing) of bars, ii) Lap and curtailment (or bending) of bars,
iii) Development length of bars, iv) Clear cover to the reinforcement and v) spacer
and chair bars.
Anchorage in steel bars is normally provided in the form of bends and hooks. Twisted
steel bars or deformed steel bars are not provided with hooks. The anchorage value of
bend of bar is taken as 4 times the diameter of bar for every 450 bend subjected to
maximum of 16 times the diameter of bar. Fig.2.2 shows the standard hooks and
bends. Bars are lapped over each other for increasing the length of bars. Minimum lap
length should be equal to development length. Development length for bars in
different concrete mix is given tables 4.2 to 4.4 of SP34.

Fig.2.2
The beams are classified as:
i) According to shape: Rectangular, T, L, Circular etc
ii)According to supporting conditions: Simply supported, fixed, continuous and
cantilever beams
iii) According to reinforcement: Singly reinforced and doubly reinforced
Depth of the beam is determined based on flexural strength and to satisfy the deflection
criteria. Generally the ratio of span to depth ratio is kept as 10 to 15 and the depth to
width ratio of rectangular be is taken in the range of 1.5 to 2.
Minimum cover in beams must be 25 mm or shall not be less than the larger diameter of
bar for all steel reinforcement including links. Nominal cover specified in Table 16 and
16A of IS456-2000 should be used to satisfy the durability criteria.
Generally a beam consists of following steel reinforcements:
i) Longitudinal reinforcement at tension and compression face (Min of two 12 mm
diameter bar is required to be provided in tension) in single or multiple rows are
provided.
ii)Shear reinforcements in the form of vertical stirrups and or bent up longitudinal
bars are provided. ( The bar bent round the tensile reinforcement and taken into the
compression zone of an RCC beams are called stirrups)
iii) Side face reinforcement in the web of the beam is provided when the depth of the
web in a beam exceeds 750 mm. (0.1% of the web area and shall be distributed
equally on two faces at a spacing not exceeding 300 mm or web thickness
whichever is less)
Arrangements of bars in a beam should confirm to the requirements of clause given in 8.1
and 8.2 of SP34. Bars of size 6,8,10,12,16,20,25,32,50 mm are available in market. Fig.
2.3 shows different types bars used in a beam.

Fig. 2.3
While drawing the details of a beam following convention representation of bars are used
Mild steel bars : ; HYSD bars: # or
Main bars are shown by thick single line.
Hanger bars are shown by medium thick lines.
Stirrups are shown by dotted or thin line. Different types of stirrups used are shown in
Fig. 2.4.

Fig. 2.4
Maximum spacing of stirrup should be 0.75d or 300mm whichever is less and d or 300
mm whichever is less, where d is diameter of main bar. Diameter of stirrups varies from
6mm to 12mm.
Bar bending schedule should include shape of bar, number of bars used, length and
weight. A standard form of bar bending schedule table is shown below

Format for Bar bending schedule

Sl.No. Type of bar Shape
No.
Length in Weight per Weight
and mark
meter
unit length in Kg
in Kg
Area and weight of different bars are given in the table 2.1
Table 2.1 Standard sizes and weight of round bars
Diameter in mm Sectional Area in Weight per meter in Kg ( N)
mm2
6
28
0.22 (2.2)
8
50
0.39 (3.9)
10
78.5
0.62 (6.2)
12
113
0.89 (8.9)
16
201
1.08 (10.8)
20
314
2.47 (24.7)
25
490
3.85 (38.5)
Generally beams are represented by longitudinal section and cross-section at important
points. A typical beam drawing of a simply supported beam is shown in Fig.

Fig. 2.5 Detailing of a simply supported beam

Problems:
1.SIMPLY SUPPORTED RECTANGULAR BEAMS
I) Draw the Longitudinal section, cross section and prepare bar bending schedule of a
rectangular simply supported RCC beam with the following data:
Clear span =3.5m
Width of beam = 220mm
Overall depth of beam = 300mm
Bearing width in support = 200 mm
Main reinforcement = 5 Nos -12 mm diameter bars with 2 bars bent up at L/7 from
centre of support
Anchor/hanger bars= 2-10 mm diameter
Stirrups = 6 mm diameter @ 200 mm c/c.
Materials : Mild steel, M20 grade concrete
Solution:
i)
Longitudinal and Cross-Section:

Fig. 2.6 Detailing of a simply supported beam

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ii)
Bar Bending Schedule:
a) Bottom straight bar (12 dia)= Total length of beam +2 x16 -2 x 3 -2 x end cover
= (3500+2 x 200)+26 x 12-2 x 25 =41624200 mm
b) Length of bent up bar (12 dia)= Length of straight bar +2 x (0.42 x depth of bend)
=4162+2 x 0.42 x 250 =43724400 mm
c) Length of hanger bar (10 dia)= Length of straight bar =41624200 mm
d) Stirrups:
Number of stirrups = Length of bar (end to end)/c/c distance of stirrup
= [(3500+2x200)-2x25]/200 = 17
Length of stirrup = 2 ( A+B)+24 of stirrup
= 2x(250+170)+24 x 6 = 984 mm 1000 mm
Bar bending schedule is given below:

II) Draw the Longitudinal section, cross section and prepare bar bending schedule of a
rectangular simply supported RCC beam with the following data:
Clear span =4.5m
Width of beam = 250mm
Overall depth of beam = 300mm
Main reinforcement = 5 Nos -18 mm diameter bars with 2 bars bent up at 900mm
from inside of each end support
Anchor/hanger bars= 2-12 mm diameter
Stirrups = 6 mm diameter @ 200 mm c/c.
Concrete cover = 25 mm
Materials : HYSD bars, M20 grade concrete

Solution:
i)
Longitudinal and Cross-Section:

ii)
Bar Bending Schedule:
a) Bottom straight bar (18 dia)= Total length of beam -2 x end cover
= (4500+2 x 200) -2 x 25 =4850 mm
b) Length of bent up bar (18 dia)= Length of straight bar +2 x (0.42 x depth of bend)
=4850+2 x 0.42 x 250 =5050 mm
c) Length of hanger bar (12 dia)= Length of straight bar =4850 mm
d) Stirrups:
Number of stirrups = Length of bar (end to end)/c/c distance of stirrup
= [(4500+2x200)-2x25]/200 = 24.25 25
Length of stirrup = 2 ( A+B)+24 of stirrup
= 2x(250+200)+24 x 6 = 1044 mm 1100 mm
Bar bending schedule is given below:

2. CONTINUOUS RECTANGULAR BEAMS

I) Draw the Longitudinal section and two cross sections one near the support and other
near the mid span of a RCC continuous beam with the following data:
Clear span of beams = 3m each
Width of beam = 200mm
Overall depth of beam = 300mm
Width in intermediate supports = 200 mm
Main reinforcement = 4 Nos -12 mm diameter bars with 2 bars bent up
Anchor/hanger bars= 2-10 mm diameter
Stirrups = 6 mm diameter @ 300 mm c/c.
Materials : HYSD bars and M20 grade concrete
Solution:

II)
A rectangular beam of cross section 300 x 450 mm is supported on 4 columns
which are equally spaced at 3m c/c. The columns are of 300 mm x 300 mm in section.
The reinforcement consists of 4 bars of a6 mm diameter (+ve reinforcement) at mid
span and 4 bars of 16 mm diameter at all supports (-ve reinforcement). Anchor bars
consists of a 2-16 mm diameter. Stirrups are of 8 mm diameter 2 legged vertical at 200
c/c throughout. Grade of concrete is M20 and type of steel is Fe 415. Draw longitudinal
section and important cross sections.
Solution:

3.CANTILEVER BEAMS
I) Draw to scale of 1:20 the Longitudinal section and two cross-section of a
cantilever beam projecting 3.2 from a support using following data
Clear span
=3.2m
Overall depth at free end
= 150 mm
Overall depth at fixed end
= 450 mm
Width of cantilever beam
= 300 mm
Main steel
= 4-28 mm dia with two bars curtailed at 1.5m from
support
Anchor bars
= 2 Nos. 16 mm dia
Nominal stirrups
= 6mm dia at 40 mm c/c
Bearing at fixed end
= 300 mm
Use M20 concrete and Fe 415 steel
Solution:

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II) A cantilever beam with 3.2m length is resting over a masonry wall and supporting
a slab over it. Draw to a suitable scale Longitudinal section, two cross-sections
and sectional plan with the following data:
Size of beam = 300 mm x 350 mm at free end and 300 mm x 450 mm at fixed end
and in the wall up to a length of 4.8m
Main steel: 4 nos. of 25 mm dia bars, two bars curtailed at 1.2m from free end
Hanger bars: 2 nos. 16mm.
Stirrups: 6mm dia 2 legged stirrups @ 200 mm c/c the support length and @100
mm c/c from fixed end up to length of 1m @ 150mm c/c up to curtailed bars and
remaining @ 200 c/c.
Use M20 concrete and Fe 415 steel
Solution:

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4.FLANGED BEAMS
A beam has following data
Clear span = 4m
Support width = 300mm
Size of web = 350 x 400
Size of flange = 1200 x 120mm
Main reinforcement in two layers : 3-20 tor + 3-16 tor and to be curtailed at a
distance 400 mm from inner face of support
Hanger bars: 3- 20 tor
Stirrups: 2L-8 tor @ 200 c/c
Use M20 concrete and Fe 415 steel
Draw longitudinal and cross section if the beam is
i)
T-beam
ii)
Inverted T-beam
iii)
L-Beam
Solution:

Standard RCC drawings with various data are presented in the figures to follow
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