Beam Design Tips

1. Beam sections should be designed for:

a.
b.
c.
d.

e.
f.
g.
1.
2.

Moment values at the column face (not the value at centre

line as per analysis)
Shear values at distance of 'd' from the column face. (not the
value at centre line as per analysis)
Moment redistribution is allowed for static loads only.
For beams spanning between the columns about the weak
axis, the moments at the end support shall be reduced more and
distributed and the span moments shall be increased accordingly
to account for the above reduction.
Moment distribution shall be done in such a way that 15% of
the support moments shall be added to the span moment without
the support moments getting reduced.
The section within the span shall be designed for the
increased span moment which will account for the concentrated &
isolated loading that may act within one span.
Moment redistribution is not allowed if
moment co-efficient taken from code table
designed for earthquake forces and for lateral loads.

2. At least 1/3 of the +ve moment reinforcement in SIMPLE SUPPORTS &

the +ve moment reinforcement in CONTINUOUS MEMBERS shall extend
along the same face of the member into the support, to a length equal to
Ld/3. (Ld-development length)
3. Use higher grade of concrete if most of the beams are doubly reinforced.
Also when Mu/bd^2 goes above 6.0.
4. Try to design a minimum width for beams so that the all beam
reinforcement passes through the columns. This is for the reason that any
reinforcement outside the column will be ineffective in resisting
compression.
5. Restrict the spacing of stirrups to 8(200mm) or of effective depth
whichever is less.(for static loads)
6. Whenever possible try to use T-beam or L-beam concept so as to avoid
compression reinforcement.
7. Use a min. of 0.2% for compression reinforcement to aid in controlling the
deflection, creep and other long term deflections.
8. Bars of Secondary beam shall rest on the bars of the Primary beam if the
beams are of the same depth. The kinking of bars shall be shown clearly
on the drawing.

9. Length of curtailment shall be checked with the required development

length.
10.
Keep the higher diameter bars away from the N.A(i.e. layer nearest
to the tension face) so that max. lever arm will be available.
11.
Hanger bars shall be provided on the main beam whenever heavy
secondary beam rests on the main beam.(Try to avoid the hanger bar if
secondary beam has less depth than the main beam, as there are enough
cushions available).
12.
The detailing for the secondary beam shall be done so that it does
not induce any TORSION on the main beam.
13.
For cantilever beams reinforcement at the support shall be given a
little more and the development length shall be given 25% more.
14.
As a short cut, bending moment for a beam (partially continuous or
fully continuous) can be assumed as wl^2/10 and the same reinforcement
can be detailed at span and support. This thumb rule should not be
applied for simply supported beams.

SL.NO

MEMBER

SPAN/OVERALL DEPTH RATIO

1.

PLINTH BEAM

15 TO 18

2.

TIE BEAM

18 TO 20

3.

FLOOR BEAMS

12 TO 15

4.

GRID BEAMS

20 TO 30

By: T.Rangarajan

rule of thumb to size the column

Before doing any model on computers a rule of thumb,in my opinion, is size of RCC column will be
about 3 to 5 % of height of building. That is if building is 8 storied of near equal heights of floor 3M
than building is about 24M tall. Probably column size will be between 750mm to 1200mm.
However, spans in both direction will have to be considered[ Column spacing]. If spans in both
direction is say 8M X8M than most probably 750mm X750mm may suffice. But if span is 14M in
one direction and 4.5M in the other direction than you may be able to use 1/12 th of span and
hence column size may be about 1.2M in 14M direction and 300mm to 400mm in that direction.
Same is true for Steel columns but width of column[flange of column shall be 1/30th of height to
keep latral buckling of flanges if you are using rolled sections.
Regards Umesh Rao
Further to my posting I found the following rules from www.eng-tips.com:
David Fanella wrote a series of articles with reinforced concrete design rules of thumb that appear
in the August, October, and November 2001 issues of Structural Engineer.

Concrete beam area of steel required for flexure:

Areq = Mu / a d
Mu [k-ft]
a = use 4.0 for 3000 psi normal weight conc
d [in]
Steel beam deflection with unusual
load condition (without using computer:
Deflection = M L^2 / 161 Ix
M = max moment in kip-ft
L = beam length in ft
Ix = moment of inertia in in^4
Resulting deflection is in inches.

Steel beam supporting concrete filled deck:

(assumes normal situation with standard floor live)
Span in feet divide by two = approx. WF depth in inches
Steel girder supporting approx 30 bay beams from each side:
Span in feet = approx WF girder depth in inches
High CMU fence wall footing width:
First trial use height divide two and decrease as needed. Final result depends on soil condition
but half height is good guess to start even at bad soil conditions.
Rule of thumb to design a foundation for vibrating machines:
Weight of footing = 3 to 5 times weight of the machine
1. Divide the steel beam weight per foot by 3.4 to obtain the cross sectional area
2. When converting cubic feet to cubic inches, multiply by 1728 (12^3)
3. To quickly obtain weld shear capacity, 1/16 weld, one inch long is good for 925 pound (so, 3/16
fillet weld, i inch long is good for 3*925=2775 pounds)
4. To do a preliminary beam depth, I use 0.5 inches per foot of span. I think some else stated
same earlier.
1. Instead of calculating beam deflection after selecting the beam, invert the deflection equation
and calculate the required minimum I value for l/360 (or l/240 or absolute value) deflection limit.
Then you can look up both properties and quickly select a beam from the handbook such that Mr
and I tabulated are greater than your computed values. For UDL load:
For l/360 deflection limit
Min I reqd = 0.0233 * wl^3
(in^4)
(klf & ft.)
Remember though when designing with LRFD (US) or LSD (Canada) to use the specified liveload
'w' for the deflection calculation. A time saver though can be to use the factored total load 'w', and
then if the section selected for Mr does not need to be upsized for the computed I reqd you have
done a conservative deflection serviceability check which does not impact section selection, and
have saved a little time. If the required section has to be upsized based on this quick and dirty
number, then you can go and calculate the correct value.
2. Another time saver for deflection checks is to take the moment computed from loading that may

be a combination of uniform load, point load, several point loads, or even a triangular load, and
divide this by length squared and multiply by 8 (i.e. invert wl^2/ , then compute your deflection
for this 'equivalent' uniform load. The inaccuracy of this method is roughly as follows:
(a) Point Load @ centre - 25% overestimation of deflection contribution from this load
(b) Equal Point Loads @ 1/4, 1/2 & 3/4 - 5% overestimation of deflection contribution from these
loads
(c) Point loads at 1/3 points only - 3% underestimation of deflection contribution from these loads
(d) Point loads at 1/4 and 3/4 points only - 10% underestimation of deflection contribution from
these loads
(e) Triangular Load Peaked at mid beam - 4% overestimation of deflection contribution from this
load
(f) Triangular Load Peaked at one end of beam - max 2.5% overestimation of deflection
contribution from this load (depends on where you compute: at mid span or at point of maximum
deflection for this loading)
For the most part this should give a reasonable, approximation of deflection (or reqd I), which if it
doesn't govern means that deflection serviceability has been checked quickly and easily.
Example - take a 20 ft. long beam with 2 klf UDL, Triangular Load W = 15 kips, and three point
loads of 8 kips each at 1/4, 1/2 & 3/4 points.
Mmax = 100+50+80 = 230 ft.k
--> w eq = 4.6 klf --> Defl. = 1.656E7/EI
Deflections from individual loads:
7.2E6/EI + 3.456E6/EI + 2.304E6/EI + 3.168E6/EI = 1.6128E7/EI
A 2.6% overestimated by eq. UDL method - but you only had to use one deflection equation. Now
if you used total loads or factored total loads you still have the conservatism of using these
numbers instead of the specified live load, but since most short to medium span beams are sized
based on flexural strength, you have done a quick deflection check. This method obviously is not
accurate if you require precise deflection estimates.
There are a couple of books that are filled with rule-of-thumb types of formulas.
The first is called "Standard Handbook of Architectural Engineering" by Robert Brown Butler and is
filled with short formulas that the author has compiled for all aspects of architectural engineering
applications (Structures, HVAC, Elec., etc) It also contains a lot of concise exerpts from various
codes, standard beam sizes, weights of materials, construction details.
The second called "Building Construction Illustrated" by Francis Ching, and it includes a lot of
descriptions of various building methods with illustrations (as the name suggests) as well as rules
of thumb.
For a complete canon of rules-of-thumb (not just engineering, but applicable to almost all
areas)get Tom Parker's books: Rules of Thumb, Rules of Thumb 2, and Never Trust a Calm Dog More Rules of Thumb."
Hope they are useful
Best wishes
Subramanian
[quote="drnsmani"]Dear Er Umesh,

Very nice thumb rule. Ioannides and Ruddy have compiled rules of thumb for steel design and are
available in the February 2000 issue of Modern Steel Construction. I am unable to attach the file
due to restrictions of SEFI site.
I think we may collect the rules of Thumb in one thread, so that it may be useful to all.
With best regards,
Subramanian