BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, DHAKA.

OFFICE OF THE MEMBER SECRETARY OF THE COMMITTEE FOR

ADVANCED STUDIES AND RESEARCH, BUET, DHAKA.
(Thesis proposal)
Date: 20.05.2008
Application form for the approval of M.Sc. Engineering Thesis proposal:

1. Name of the student: Ahetesham Uddin Ahmed

Roll No.: 100604330F

Status: Full-Time
Session: April 2008

2. Present Address: House no.-41, Road no.-16, Sector-13, Uttara, Dhaka.

3. Name of the Department: Civil Engineering

Program: M.Sc. Engineering.

4. Name of Supervisor: DR. MUNAZ AHMED NOOR

Designation: Associate Professor

5. Name of Co-Supervisor (if any): N/A

Designation: N/A

6. Date of First Enrolment in the program: October 2006.

7. Tentative Title:

PERFORMANCE OF GRADE 500 STEEL IN REINFORCED CONCRETE

DESIGN.
8. Background and present state of the problem:
In reinforcement concrete (RC), a long-term trend is evident towards the use of high strength
materials, both steel and concrete. Reinforcing bars with 280 MPa (40.6 ksi) yield stress, almost
standard 30 years ago, have largely been replaced by bars with 420 MPa yield stress, both because
they are more economical and because their use tends to reduce steel congestion in the form. This
trends lead to users to use higher grade steel in RC design. ACI Code (ACI 318-05 section 3.5.3.1a
and 3.5.3.4) permits the reinforcing bar up to Grade 520 (f y=520 MPa or 75.4 ksi) steel, which
comply with ASTM A615M and ASTM 496M to use in RC construction. Under ACI Code (ACI 31805 section 21.2.5), for seismic consideration, deformed reinforcement resisting earthquake- induced
flexural and axial forces in frame members, structural walls, and coupling beams, shall comply with
ASTM A706M. ASTM A615M Grades 280 (fy=280 MPa or 40.6 ksi) and Grade 420 (fy=420 MPa or
60.9 ksi) reinforcement shall be permitted in these members if:

The actual yield strength based on mill tests does not exceed fy by more than 12.41MPa

(18,000 psi); and

The ratio of the actual tensile strength to the actual yield strength is not less than 1.25.

According to ACI code (ACI 318-05 section 10.9.3) spiral reinforcement in columns for confinement
closest to the tension face has been allowed to have yield strength of up to 689.5 MPa (100 ksi).
Under ACI Code (ACI 318-05 section 11.5.2) the values of fy and fyt used in design of shear
reinforcement shall not exceed 413.7 MPa (60,000 psi), except the value shall not exceed 551.6 MPa
(80,000 psi) for welded deformed wire reinforcement.
The ACI Code permits reinforcing steels up to f y = 551.6 MPa (80ksi) (ACI 318-05 section 9.4) but
do not refer any standard. Though ASTM (ASTM A1035M) has standardized higher grade steel like
Grade 690 (fy=100ksi) but ACI Code does not recommend these steel to use in RC construction. ACI
Code does not give any specific outline to use higher grade steel than Grade 420 due to seismic
consideration. The main structural properties of RC member, which can be affected by higher
strength of reinforcements, are briefly discussed here:
Strength capacity of section: The strength of any RC section depends on concrete and steel strength.
The main design philosophy according to ACI Code is to ensure tension controlled design to avoid
brittle failure. All types of reinforcing steel have same modulus of elasticity so yield strain is different
for different grade steel. Generally strength capacity of a section increased with the increase in steel
strength. But higher grade steel may require lower value of strength reduction factor, because of
higher yield strain (for tension controlled section design).
Ductility: Reinforced concrete structures are designed to be ductile under overload conditions by
forming plastic hinges in the beam elements. Each plastic hinge zone must be capable of undergoing
large amounts of inelastic deformation with little or no reduction in load carrying ability. The
ductility of a concrete member is dependent on the yield curvature, which is directly related to the
yield strain of the longitudinal reinforcement. The capability of a structural member to develop
inelastic rotation capacity is also a function of the length of the yield region along the axis of the
member. The length of the yield region has been related to the relative magnitudes of ultimate and
yield moments. The larger the ratio of ultimate to yield moment, the longer the yield region.
Stiffness: To obtain the same flexural capacity a reinforced concrete beam member designed with
higher grade (Grade 500) reinforcement would require less area of reinforcing steel than if designed
using lower grade (Grade 420) or less steel. Intuitively the member with the smaller amount of higher
grade steel would have a lower stiffness than the member with the greater amount of lower grade
steel. This can be shown using the transform section method to determine the element stiffness. As a
result it is clear that the stiffness of a member designed with higher grade reinforcement will not be
the same as the stiffness of a member with identical dimensions constructed with lower grade steel.
For this reason deflection is higher when higher grade steel is use than lower grade steel.
Bond with concrete: In reinforced concrete members it is essential to have a good mechanical bond
between the reinforcement and the concrete to allow stresses to be developed. The two most critical
zones for bond in a reinforced concrete building are the lap splice zones between longitudinal

reinforcement, and the bond on the longitudinal reinforcing bars passing through beam-column joint
regions with yielding elements adjacent to the joint.
D. Bull, C. Allington, (2002) discussed implications for the classes of Grade 500: L, N and E
(NewZealand standard) with respect to elongation capacities of each, as well as: bond performance,
stiffness of members, flexural over strength, fatigue resistance and site issues.
The effect of using Grade 500 steel in the overall performance of a structure can be evaluated by
performance-based design procedure. Performance-based seismic design is a process that permits
design of new buildings or upgrade of existing buildings with a realistic understanding of the risk of
life, occupancy and economic loss that may occur as a result of future earthquakes. The process is
performed by modeling a buildings design, then simulating the performance of that design for
various earthquake events. Each simulation provides information on the level of damage, if any,
sustained by the structure, which, in turn, permits estimation of the amount of life, occupancy and
economic loss that may occur. The design of the building can then be adjusted until the projected
risks of loss are deemed acceptable, given the cost of achieving this performance. In these
procedures, building performance is communicated by reference to a series of standard performance
levels that range from states of negligible damage and impact on safety, occupancy and use to states
of near complete damage in which there is extensive risk to life, complete loss of economic value and
permanent loss of use and function. Under these procedures, decision makers must select the desired
performance levels and the earthquakes for which these performance levels are to be achieved. Both
SEAOCs (Structural Engineers Association of California) Vision 2000 (SEAOC, 1995) and the
National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP) Guidelines (ATC, 1996) have attempted
to provide more quantitative definitions of building performance levels. Both have developed similar
systems of designating building performance, though somewhat different terminology has been
utilized. These different performance levels are classified depends on different damage level. And
these damage levels range from no significant damage to substantial structural and nonstructural
damage. According to NEHRP Guideline performance levels are operational, immediate occupancy,
life safety, collapse prevention. In Vision 2000 these terminologies are fully functional, operational,
life safety and near collapse. Needed is simulation procedures that are capable of predicting the
demand force and deformation- imposed by earthquakes on structures more realistically. In response
this need, simplified nonlinear analysis procedure have been incorporated in the ATC-40 (Applied
Technology Council, 1996) and FEMA-273 (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1997)
documents to determine the displacement demand imposed on a building expected to deformed
inelastically.
Different design charts are useful for reinforced concrete members design. Column strength
interaction diagrams (uniaxial moment vs. axial force) are useful for column design. To determine
moment capacity of a rectangular section and design of a rectangular beam flexural resistance factor
(R=Mn/bd2) vs. reinforcement ratio (As/bd) figure is very useful. But available books and
handbooks are containing design charts only for Grade 420 steel.

9. Objectives with specific aims and possible outcomes:

The objective of the study is to find suitability of using Grade 500 steel in RC construction. This
study only cover the structural properties of the member and finding the economical benefit of higher
Grade 500 steel over Grade 420 steel. To achieve above goal following objectives are to be fulfilled:

(i) To evaluate and compare the effect of Grade 500 steel in different structural members with
respect to different structural properties and for different concrete strength over Grade 60 steel.
(ii) To find out the effect of using Grade 500 steel in seismic design by performance based design
method for different performance level.
(iii) To develop different design charts for RC design.

Possible outcome: It is expected that this study will provide knowledge concerning advantage and
disadvantage of Grade 500 steel.
10. Outline of Methodology/ Experimental Design:
The major effort in this research study may be focused on the various properties of RC member using
Grade 500 steel according to ACI 318-05 Code. Different design chart like column interaction
diagram, moment capacity of rectangular section will be constructed according to ACI 318-05 Code.
The design methodology will be ultimate strength design method (USD).
A model structure may be designed with Grade 420 and Grade 500 steel respectively to meet specific
seismic performance level. Capacity spectrum method (ATC-40) will be used to determine the
displacement demand. In this method at first develop the pushover curve of the structure and convert
the pushover curve to a capacity diagram. Then convert the elastic response (or design) spectrum
from the standard pseudo-acceleration, A, versus natural period, Tn, format to the D Aformat, where
D is the deformation spectrum ordinate. After that plot the demand diagram and capacity diagram
together and determine the displacement demand. At last convert the displacement demand to global
(roof) displacement and individual component deformation and compare them to the limiting values
for the specified performance goals.
Comparative assessments may also be done between Grade 500 and Grade 420 steel with respect to
column and beam strength, ductility of RC section, beam deflection etc based on ACI 318-05 Code.
To determine bond strength between Grade 500 steel and concrete, Pullout Strength Test will be
performed according to ASTM (ASTM C900) specified method. This test method covers
determination of the pullout strength of hardened concrete by measuring the force required to pull an
embedded metal insert and the attached concrete fragment from a concrete test specimen or structure.

11. References:
ACI Committee 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-05) and
Commentary (ACI 318R-05). American Concrete Institute, Framington Hills, MI, 2005
Applied Technology Council (1996), Seismic evaluation and retrofit of concrete buildings. Report
ATC 40. November.
ASTM A615 / A615M 08, Standard Specification for Deformed and Plain Carbon-Steel Bars for
Concrete Reinforcement, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, www.astm.org.
ASTM A706 / A706M - 06a, Standard Specification for Low-Alloy Steel Deformed and Plain Bars
for Concrete Reinforcement, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, www.astm.org.
ASTM A1035/A1035M-06, Standard Specification for Deformed and Plain, Low-carbon,
Chromium, Steel Bars for Concrete Reinforcement, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA,
www.astm.org.
ASTM C900-06, Standard Test Method for Pullout Strength of Hardened Concrete, ASTM
International, West Conshohocken, PA, www.astm.org.
Bull D., Allington C.(2002), L, N and E Grade 500 Reinforcing Steel.
Department of Building and Housing, New Zealand, Report on Grade 500E Steel Renforcement.
Fajfar, P. (1999). Capacity spectrum method based on inelastic spectra. Earthquake Engineering
and Structural Dynamics (forthcoming).
FEMA (1997). NEHRP guidelines for the seismic rehabilitation of buildings, FEMA 273; and
NEHRP commentary on the guidelines for the seismic rehabilitation of buildings, FEMA 274.
October. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Chopra A. K. Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering (2 nd
Edition). Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 2001.
Nilson A. H., Darwin D., Dolan C.W. Design of Concrete Structures (Thirteenth
Edition). McGraw-Hill, 2006
SEAOC (1995). "Vision 2000 - A Framework for Performance Based Earthquake Engineering." Vol.
1, January, 1995.

12. List of courses so far taken with course no, name of the courses, credit hours, Grade, Grade
points and G.P.A (To be verified and signed by the Tabulator)

Course No

Course Name

Credits Grade Grade

CE-6117

Structural Dynamics and Seismic Design

3.00

Points
3.50

CE-6107

Wave Motion And Soil Structure

3.00

A+

4.00

CE-6114

Interaction
Analysis and Design of Tall Buildings

3.00

B+

3.00

CE-6111

Advanced Design of Concrete Structure

3.00

3.50

CE-6109

Finite Element Methods-I

3.00

B+

3.00

CE-6115

Bridge Engineering

3.00

2.50

G.P.A

3.25

Signature of the Tabulator: ..

13. Cost Estimate:

(Invoice / quotation must provided for each and every items which cost Tk.

10, 000/-and more)

Item
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Material
Cement 10 bags @ 410.00
Sand (various category) including carrying, 6 cft @ 50.00
Stone cheeps (various category) including carrying, 8 cft @ 100.00
Deformed steel bar (Grade 500), 150 kg. @ 80.00
Labor cost, 2 persons X 15 days @ 300.00
Copying Reference, publications (pages 2000 @ 1.50 tk. per page)
Typing, Drafting and Binding (Thesis copies total 5 @ 700.00)

Amount (Tk.)
4,100.00
300.00
800.00
12,000.00
9,000.00
3,000.00

Total cost

3,500.00
32,700.00

In word: Taka Thirty Two Thousand and Seven Hundred only

14. Approximate time (in hour) for BUET workshop facilities (if required): N/A
15. Justification of having Co-Supervisor: N/A
16. Doctoral Committee/ BPGS/RAC reference:
Meeting no Resolution No. Date:
17. Number of Post-Graduate Student(s) working with the Supervisor at Present: 05 (Five)

Names and signatures of the members of the

Signature of Student

Doctoral Committee (if applicable)

1.

Signature of the Supervisor

..
Signature of the Head of the Department

2.