48353 Concrete Design

All engineers who wish to practise as civil engineers in Australia must have knowledge of structural design, including the behaviour and design of reinforced concrete (RC) and, to a lesser extent, of prestressed concrete (PSC) elements as parts of overall structures. This subject builds on the knowledge of statics, solid mechanics and structural analysis of indeterminate structures that the students have learnt in the previous structural strand subjects.

Students learn about the behaviour and design of RC beams, slabs and columns and PSC beams, for both serviceability and strength. Initially, the students are introduced to the Limit State Design philosophy of Australian Standards for structural design and to the material properties of concrete, reinforcement and prestressing steel used for design.

RC topics include uncracked section analysis of beams, cracked section analysis of beams (linear-elastic, Desayi-Krishnan, ultimate) for strength and design for strength to AS3600, serviceability design of beams, ductility of singly and doubly reinforced sections, design for shear, T-beams, approximate analysis and design of one-way, two-way slabs and flat slabs/plates, columns (interaction diagrams and slenderness effects), pad footings, cantilever retaining walls and reinforcement detailing.

PSC beam topics include history, uncracked section analysis, equivalent loads, load-balancing, cracked section analysis (linear-elastic and ultimate), design for bending, shear, transfer, anchorage.

Assessment: This subject is usually assessed by a series of assignments, quizzes and a final exam.