Reinforced Concrete Design

Chapter 7
Development length of reinforced concrete elements
By: Eng. Humam Ghazal
 Factors used

• Weight of aggregates (λ =1 for normal weight concrete, λ =0.75 for

lightweight concrete)
• Spacing of bars or side cover dimensions (cb)
• ψt = reinforcement location factor (top or bottom)
• ψe = coating factor
• ψs = reinforcement size factor
• (ψ factors are equal to 1 in most cases)
 Ψt, Ψe and ψs
• Ψt - Reinforcement Location: Determines whether the concrete has at
least 12 in of fresh cast under it (increase development length - Top or
Bottom bars)
• Ψe Coating of bars: using epoxy reduces bond between and concrete
and steel rebars, therefore we need to increase the development length
• ψs Sizes of reinforcing: using smaller bars is better than using larger
bars
• Ψs* Ψe should not be more than 1.7, or else it will be taken as 1.7
Using 16 Φ4 bars is better than using
1Φ16 bar
Because the perimeter (surface area)
of the smaller bars are larger and give
better bonding results
 Ψs - Continued
Rebar Area:
Area for 1Φ16:
𝜋
∗ 162 = 201𝑚𝑚2
4
Area for 4Φ8:
𝜋
4∗ ∗ 82 = 201𝑚𝑚2
4
The area for both rebars is the same, but we prefer to use the
smaller bars because they have a higher surface area

Surface Area Calculations:

Take a 1m (1,000mm) strip for both 16mm bars or
Surface Area = Circumference * Length of rebar
4 ∗ 𝜋 ∗ 8𝑚𝑚 ∗ 1000𝑚𝑚 ≈ 100,530𝑚𝑚2
𝜋 ∗ 16𝑚𝑚 ∗ 1000𝑚𝑚 ≈ 50,265𝑚𝑚2
So, we prefer to choose the 4Φ8 rebars to have a stronger bond 1 Φ 16 4 Φ8
between the rebars and the concrete because of the higher
surface area.
 cb
• Cb is half the spacing between two horizontal bars or the concrete side
cover (Whichever is smaller)
• ψs Sizes of reinforcing: using smaller bars is better than using larger
bars
Example:
 cb
• Cb is half the spacing between two horizontal bars or the concrete side
cover (Whichever is smaller)
𝐶𝑏 +𝐾𝑡𝑟
• shouldn’t be more than 2.5, or else take 2.5
𝑑𝑏
 Transverse reinforcement index
• Development lengths can be decreased due to the existence of
transverse steel (stirrups)

This equation accounts for this reduction.

✓Substituting Ktr=0 means we assume there are no stirrups at the
section (Assuming that stirrups don’t contribute to the development
length, which gives more conservative values by increasing Ld)
 Development length equations
• Lightweight aggregates - Using lightweight aggregates give concrete
with less strength, thus less splitting strengths (splitting between
concrete and rebars happens easier)
• Spacing of bars or cover dimensions: if spacing of bars or concrete
cover are too small, splitting might occur. We use (ACI Equation 12-
1) to account for this issue.
• Development length equation
• US Customary units SI units
Cracks: Side covers and Bottom covers

A side cover that is small or a small bottom cover or small spacings

between bars could causes cracks in concrete and therefore bond failures
 Thank you
• Some photos in this documents were taken from the book: Reinforced
Concrete Design by Jack C. McCormac, this Slideshow is just for the
sake of simplifying the ideas in the book and is meant for personal and
educational uses only and are not meant to have any commercial
purpose.