CIVL 430:

Design of Concrete Structures

Chapter 1
Review – Design and Structural Safety

The Design Process

Design is an evolutionary and iterative process.

Analysis is only a tool – not an objective.
Common stages of the design process:

„ Conceptual Design

„ Preliminary Design

„ Detailed Design

„ Final Design

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Loads on Structures (Demand)
Types of Loads:
1.Gravity loads
a. Dead load – self-weight, partitions, permanent equipment
b. Live load – due to intended use and occupancy
c. Snow load

2. Lateral loads
a. Wind load
b. Earthquake load

3. Effects due to contraction, expansion, or deflection

Loads on Structures (Dead Load)

Dead load – long term loads over the life of the structure

Dead load must be estimated at the start of the design process since
member sizes are not known. This leads to an iterative design
procedure.

Typical unit weights:

Concrete (incl. reinforcing steel): 24 kN/m3
Steel: 79 kN/m3
Wood: 6.1 kN/m3

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Concentrated Loads

NBCC 2005
Table 4.1.5.10
Minimum Specified
Area of Floor or Roof Concentrated Load, kN

Roof surfaces

Floors of classrooms

Floors of offices etc.

Floors and areas used by vehicles

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Load Combinations
2005 NBCC
Table 4.1.3.2.
Load Combinations for Ultimate Limit States

Load Combination
Case
Principal Loads Companion Loads
1 1.4D ─
2 (1.25D or 0.9D(1)) + 1.5L 0.5S or 0.4W
3 (1.25D or 0.9D(1)) + 1.5S 0.5L or 0.4W
4 (1.25D or 0.9D(1)) + 1.4W 0.5L or 0.5S
5 1.0D + 1.0E 0.5L + 0.25S

Load Path

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2-way bending
beam analogy for a 2-way slab
P
D
Δ CD = PCD L3CD / 48 EI CD
A
B
Δ AB = PAB L3AB / 48EI AB
LCD
C
LAB

Gravity Load Systems

Brzev and Pao, 2006

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Slabs
Plan View

l2
If l1 >2l2 :

l1

Tributary area - Beam

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Tributary Area - Column

Tributary Area - Column

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Reduction in Tributary Area (2005 NBCC)

Effective tributary area can be reduced for members

supporting very large areas:
„ E.g. For assembly areas designed for ≥ 4.8kPa:

Why??

Load patterns
Will equal live load occur on all
spans at same time?

Must use different load patterns

to find maximum demands
throughout beam/slab.
1. Factored DL ___________+
Factored partitions and LL
on _______________spans.
2. Factored DL ___________+
Factored partitions and LL
on _______________spans.
3. Factored DL ___________+
Factored partitions and LL
on _______________spans.

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Load patterns

Moment and shear diagrams

How to determine moment and shear demands for
continuous beams:
„ Beam tables
„

Can use approximate analysis if:

„ Two spans or more
„ Ln long < 1.2Ln short
„ Uniformly distributed loads
„ wLL f < 2 wDL f
„ Beam must be prismatic
„ No significant moments due to lateral loads

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Approximate
analysis

If exterior support is a
beam or girder:
M=

Handbook Table 1.18

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Capacity
We have discussed the DEMAND (D) on the structure. For
structural design you also need to quantify the CAPACITY (C).
For a successful design we want:

The capacity, or strength, of individual members (e.g. columns

and beams) is determined based on the material properties
and the geometry of the section.
„ CIVL 430 will focus on determining the capacity of concrete
members.

In design, it is important to recognize that there is variability

(or uncertainty) in the material properties and calculations
upon which the capacities are based. To account for this you
need to understand basic statistics.

Structural Safety

A successful design will have member capacities that exceed the member
demands throughout the life of the structure. But how do we ensure that
the capacity exceeds the demand considering the variability in both the
capacity and demand described above?

moment

Probability of failure: Pf= P[D C]

= P[(C-D) < 0]

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 Safety index, β

Pf = P[(C-D) < 0]

βσx
PDF on x = (C-D)

Pf

0 x x = C-D

Load and Resistance factors

Approximate derivation for load and resistance factors:

βσ x = x where x =C −D
σ x = σ C 2 + σ D 2 ≈ 0.75σ C + 0.75σ D

β (0.75σ c + 0.75σ D ) = C − D
σc σD
C (1 − 0.75β ) = D (1 + 0.75β )
C D

Coefficients of variation are established by observation and experimentation.

Safety index is specified by a code committee (based on acceptable risk for society).

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Resistance factors in RC Design
In CSA A23.3, resistance factors are applied directly to the
material strength (hence are more commonly called “material
factors”):

φs accounts for variability in:

φc accounts for variability in:

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