III.

WORKING STRESS DESIGN METHOD

(WSD) Rectangular Beam

3.0 Introduction

From the early 1900s until the early 1960s, nearly all reinforced concrete design in the United
States was performed by the working-stress design method (also called allowable-stress design or
straight-line design). In this method, frequently referred to as WSD, the dead and live loads to be
supported, called working loads or service loads, were first estimated. Then the members of the
structures were proportioned so that stresses calculated by a transformed area did not exceed certain
permissible or allowable values.
Nowadays, even though all of the reinforced concrete structures we will encounter will be
designed by the strength design method, it is still desirable to be familiar with WSD for several
reasons. These include the following:
1) AASHTO permits the design of reinforced concrete for highway bridges using either the
WSD or the strength design method. Such design are to be made today in accordance with
the requirements of the 2002 Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges plus the interim
specifications.
2) Some designers use WSD for proportioning fluid-containing structures (such as water tanks
and various sanitary structures). When these structures are designed by WSD, stresses
are kept at fairly low levels, with the result that there is appreciably less cracking and less
consequent leakage.
3) The ACI method for calculating the moments of inertia to be used for deflection calculations
requires some knowledge of the working-stress procedure.
4) The design of prestressed concrete member is based not only on the strength method but
also on elastic stress calculations at service load conditions.

Moreover, the working-stress design has several disadvantages. When using this method,
1) the designer has little knowledge about the magnitudes of safety factors against collapse;
2) no consideration is given to the fact that the different safety factors are desirable for dead
and live loads;
3) the method does not account for variations in resistances and loads, nor does it account for
the possibility that as loads are increased, some increase at different rates than others.

1
3.1 Notations Used in WSD Method: (Single Reinforced Beam)

b c fc

kd C
d neutral
surface
jd
(d-kd)
As
T
fs
beam section s
n
Strain Stress
Figure 1 : Stress and Strain Diagram

Notations used in working stress design method:

c = unit strain per unit length of concrete.

s = unit strain per unit length of steel.

Ec = 0.043 c
1.5 '
f c (MPa) = modulus of elasticity of concrete in compression. The magnitude
depends on the quality of the concrete.
Es = 200,000 MPa = modulus of elasticity of steel.
Es
n = = modular ratio or the ratio of modulus of elasticity of steel to that of concrete.
Ec
f c = 0.45 f c' = allowable compressive unit stress on the concrete at the surface most remote
from the neutral surface.
fs = 0.50 fy = allowable tensile unit stress in the longitudinal reinforcement.
b = width of the rectangular beam.
d = known as the effective depth, the depth from the compression face of the beam to the center
of the longitudinal steel reinforcement.
k = the ratio of distance of the neutral axis of the cross section from extreme fibers in
compression to the effective depth of the beam.
kd = the distance from the neutral axis of the cross section to the extreme fibers in compression.
j = ratio of the distance between the resultant of the compressive stresses and the center of
tensile stresses to d, the effective depth of beam.
jd = the distance between the resultant of the compressive stresses and the center of the tensile
stresses. It is the lever arm of the resisting couple.
As = the area of the cross section of the longitudinal steel reinforcement.
As
= = the ratio of the area of the cross section of the longitudinal steel reinforcement to the
bd
effective area of the concrete.
Mc = the resisting moment of the compressive stress in the concrete.
Ms = the resisting moment of the tensile stress in the longitudinal steel reinforcement.

2
 M = the bending moment resulting from external force.
C = fc kd b = the sum of the horizontal compressive stresses in the concrete.
T = As fs = the sum of the horizontal tensile stresses in the longitudinal steel reinforcement.

3.2 Derivation of Flexure Formula

Loadings

elastic curve

b
c fc
1/3 kd
kd C
d

D jd
(d-kd)
As
T
fs
beam section s
n
Strain Stress
Diagrams Diagrams
(a) (b)

Figure 2. Stress-Strain Diagram

3.2.1 Beam constants

From the stress diagram in Figure 2 (b), by similar triangles

fs
fc n fs
=
kd d kd nd kd
fc kd kd

f s nd kd nd 1 k
fc k

f s n1 k
f s k nf c 1 k
f s k nf c nf c k
f s k nf c k nf c
k f s nf c nf c

3
 nf c
k
f s nf c
1
or k where: k ranges from 0.30 to 0.45
fs
1
nf c
Note : The above equation of k is used for design only.

Also, from the stress diagram

1
d kd jd
3
1
1 k j
3
k
or j 1 where : j ranges from 0.90 to 0.85
3

3.2.2 Bending moment

a. For compression concrete:
Consider the resisting moment Mc with respect to the compressive stresses in
concrete, the resisting moment is

Mc = C (jd) = fckdb (jd)

Mc = fc k j b d2

let: R = fc k j (another beam constant)

then: Mc = R b d2
or M = R b d2

b. For tension steel reinforcement

Consider the resisting moment Ms with respect to the tensile stresses in the steel
reinforcement, the resisting moment is
Ms = T (jd) = Asfs (jd)
Ms = Asfs jd
or M = Asfs jd
Note : M = Mc = Ms

3.2.3 Effective depth and total depth of beam

a. The effective depth is taken from the equation M Rbd
2

M
d
Rb
b. The total depth of the section is : D = d + bar diameter + clear cover

3.2.4 Area of tension steel reinforcement

The area of tensile reinforcement is taken from the equation M = Asfsjd
M
As
f s jd

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3.2.5 Value of k for investigation
From bending moment for tension steel reinforcement

M = Asfs jd
As
if As bd ( from: = )
bd
then M = bd fs jd
or M = fs j bd2 ------------------- Eqn 1

Also, from bending moment of concrete

M = fc k j b d2 ------------------ Eqn 2

Equate: Eqn 2 = Eqn 1

fc k j b d2 = fs j bd2
or fc k = fs
fc k = 2 fs
f c 2
------------------ Eqn 3
fs k
fc k
Also, ---------------- Eqn 4
f s n1 k

Equate: Eqn 4 = Eqn 3

k 2

n1 k k
cross multiply k 2 2 n1 k
k 2 2n 2nk
k 2 2nk 2n
completing the square and solving for k
2 n 2 n
2 2

k 2 nk
2
2 n
2 2
k n 2 2 n n 2
k 2n n n
2
then :

Note : The above equation of k is used for investigation.

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 3.3 Elastic Stresses Concrete Cracked (Use of Transformed Section)

b b fc

kd

NA

(d-kd)
As n As

fs
n
Beam Section Transformed Section Stress
Diagram
Figure 3: Transformed section

For the beam shown in Figure 3, the steel bars are replaced with an equivalent area of fictitious
concrete (nAs), which is 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. A dashed line is shown in the tensile side of the stress diagram
because thediagram is discontinuous. There, the concrete is assumed to be cracked and unable to
resist tension. The value shown opposite the steel is fictitious stress in concrete if it could carry
tension. The value is shown as f s n because it must be multiplied by n to give the steel stress f s .

To locate the position of neutral axis, take the sum of moments of the compression side of
concrete and the tension side of the transformed steel about the neutral axis,

kd
M N A 0 b kd n As d kd
2
solve for the value of kd from the preceding equation.
Mc
The corresponding stresses were developed from the flexure formula, f
I
a. For the compression stress in the concrete
M kd
fc
I
b. For the tensile stress in the tension steel
f s M d kd

n I
where:
I = the moment of inertia of the transformed section (compression concrete and
transformed steel)