The intended audience of this book is architectural engineering, undergraduate civil
engineering, building construction, and architecture students. The manuscript complies with the provisions of the ACI Code 318-05. The easy to follow style of the
text makes it valuable to engineering and nonengineering students. Furthermore,
educators and practitioners interested in the analysis and design of concrete structures based on the latest ACI Code provisions may also benefit from it.
Chapter 1 covers the topic of concrete technology. It discusses the most important properties of the main components of reinforced concrete. This technology is
essential for both architecture and engineering students.
Chapter 2 discusses the analysis and design of rectangular beams and one-way
slabs, including a complete treatment of the Unified Design Method as recommended
by the ACI 318-05. Several examples demonstrate the provisions of the latest
changes in the ACI Code. It is written to benefit architecture and engineering students
as well. Depending on the main objectives of the course and class time constraints,
the instructor can select the specific topics and their details to be included for the
intended audience.
Chapter 3 “Special Topics in Flexure” covers T-beams, doubly reinforced
beams, and a discussion of the deflection of reinforced concrete beams and slabs.
These topics are more complex, but indispensable in the design of concrete structures. The detailed technical information presented is essential for engineering
students. We recommend that only a brief discussion of each topic be used in
courses for architecture students.
Chapter 4 “Shear in Reinforced Concrete Beams” covers the design of shear
reinforcements in reinforced concrete beams. We consider this chapter to be
important in both engineering and architecture courses. The depth of coverage
may be left to the discretion of the instructor.
Chapter 5 covers the analysis and design of reinforced concrete columns.
It includes a complete treatment of “short” columns with small and large eccentricities. Because most reinforced concrete columns are short and a complete
treatment of slender columns is usually only covered in advanced engineering
ixcourses, we decided to cover that topic generally. We recommend this chapter be
covered in engineering and architecture courses.
Chapter 6 is a treatise on the different floor systems typically used in reinforced
concrete buildings. A simplified approach appropriate for both architecture and
engineering students is used.
Chapter 7 discusses foundations and earth-retaining walls. The chapter starts
with a background on some aspects of soil mechanics and geotechnical investigations for building design. These topics are not usually covered in reinforced
concrete structures textbooks. However, we are aware that many engineering
students do not take a soil mechanics course as a prerequisite for a reinforced
concrete class. Furthermore, soil mechanics and foundations courses are
unavailable in nearly all architecture curriculums. The treatment of the subjects
of foundations and earth-retaining walls are well-suited for both architecture and
engineering students.
Chapter 8 is an introduction to prestressed concrete for both architecture and
engineering students.
Chapter 9 discusses the use of the SI System in reinforced concrete design and
construction. We decided against the use of the equivalent SI System within the
main body of the book, as is done in many other textbooks. We felt that this resulted
in a clearer text. Several examples on different topics covered in other chapters are
again presented using the equivalent SI System.
Two unique features of this book are the “self-experiments” and an accompanying CD with images of concrete structures. From our experience we know that
some engineering students and nearly all architecture students do not have access to
a testing laboratory. Therefore, we included these simple-to-do sets of experiments
that students can perform to learn about reinforced concrete from their own
experiences. We believe these experiments may also help students gain a better
understanding of concrete as a building material. The accompanying CD has a
number of high-quality images of reinforced concrete structures, so that students
can develop an appreciation of the potential this building material offers.
There are numerous problems at the ends of each chapter to be used as homework assignments. A complete Instructor’s Solutions Manual is available upon
request.
A step-by-step approach was adopted throughout the text. Most of the procedures for design or analysis are summarized in flowcharts, where all steps are
numbered, and the example solutions follow these steps. In our experience this
approach helps students try to follow the numerical solutions of various problems.
We would like to thank Professors Jay Stoeckel, Jack Davis, and Mr. Gerry
Martin from the Ceco Concrete Construction, LLC, for providing some of the
images in the accompanying CD-ROM. The continued educational support by the
Northeast Cement Shippers Association, and in particular Kim Frankin, is greatly
appreciated. We are also grateful to students at the School of Architecture + Design
of Virginia Tech for their help and comments during the development of this book,
in particular Mr. Amir Abu-Jaber for his assistance in typing and editing the
manuscript and the solutions manual.
x Preface to the First EditionFinally, we wish to thank the Pearson Education editorial and production staff
for their support and assistance. Many thanks to Bret Workman, who did a great job
with text editing. In particular, the assistance of Penny Walker from Techbooks is
greatly appreciated