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Double Corbel

Double Corbel

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Design per ACI 318-02 Appendix A, US Customary Unit

Deep Beam (1) | Deep Beam (2) | Dapped-Beam End | Single Corbel | Double Corbel

A double corbel projecting from a 14 in.

Summary of
ACI 318-02 Appendix A
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14 in. column is to be designed to support precast

beam reaction forces at 6 in. from the face of the column. The factored vertical load to be
carried is 61.8 kips. Due to restraint of beam creep and shrinkage deformations, a factored
horizontal force of 14.3 kips is assumed to develop. The upper column carries a factored axial
load of 275 kips.
The concrete strength is 4 ksi (normal density), and the yield strength of reinforcement is taken
as 60 ksi.
Determine the Bearing Plate Dimensions:
Choose a 12 in. 6 in. 1/2 in. bearing pad. The bearing plate area is 12(6) = 72 in.2 and the
bearing stress is 61.8(1000)/72 = 858 psi. Since this is less than the bearing stress limit, i.e.
the bearing size is adequate.
Choose the Corbel Dimensions:
Choose a depth at the column face of 18 in. The ACI Code requires that the depth at the
outside of the bearing area is at least one-half of the column face depth. Therefore, select a
depth of 10 in. at the free end of the corbel. The selected dimensions for the corbel are
summarized in Figure 1.

Figure 1
(Click here to view a larger image)
Establish the Strut-and-Tie Model:
To allow for load eccentricities and erection tolerances, consider the vertical load to be placed
1 in. toward the edge of the corbel from center of bearing plate. Thus, the position of vertical
load is 1 + 6 = 7 in. from the face of column.

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The geometry of the assumed truss is given in Figure 2. The center of the tie is assumed to be
located 2 in. from the top of the corbel. Thus, d = 18 2 = 16 in. The horizontal strut BB is
assumed to lie on the horizontal line passing through the sloping end of the corbel.
The location of strut CB centerline can be found by calculating the required compressive force
in strut CB, NCB, and the strut stress limit to obtain the strut width a. The strut CB force is
and the limit stress on the nodal zone B (also strut CB) is
Thus, we have

This fixes the geometry of the truss and means that member AB has a horizontal projection of
0.46 + 7 + 5.58/2 = 10.25 in.

Figure 2
(Click here to view a larger image)
Determine the Required Truss Forces by Statics:
The required forces in all the members of the truss are given in the following table. Note that
positive indicates tension, negative compression.
Member
Force (kips)

AA'
+54.1

AB
-73.5

BB'
-39.8

CB
-199.3

BD
-137.5

Design the Tie:

The area of reinforcement required for tie AA is

and the

minimum area of reinforcement is

Choose 6 No. 4 bars,

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Check the Struts:

The struts will be checked by computing the strut widths and checked whether they will fit in
the space available.
The stress of the diagonal strut AB is limited to
Hence, the required width for strut
AB is

Select a width of 3.00 in. for strut AB.

The stress of the vertical struts BD and CB and horizontal strut BB is limited to
Hence, the required widths for strut
BD and BB are
and
respectively. Choose 4 in. width for strut BD and 2 in. width for strut BB. The required width
for strut CB is equal to a, i.e. 5.58 in.
As shown in Figure 3, all the strut widths fit into the outline of the corbel region. Thus, this
solution is accepted. Note that Figure 3 also shows a summary of the stress in each strut and its
corresponding stress limit (in brackets).

Figure 3
(Click here to view a larger image)
Calculate the Minimum Reinforcement Required for Crack Control:
According Appendix A, the minimum reinforcement provided must satisfy
to be able to take
as 0.75 for the diagonal struts, and the minimum
spacing for the vertical reinforcement is the smallest of 12 in. or d/2.
In addition, the code requires closed stirrups or ties parallel to the reinforcement required for
tie AA to be uniformly distributed with 2/3 of the effective depth adjacent to tie AA, i.e. 2/3
(16) = 10.67 in. Use 11 in. The area of these ties must exceed
, where
is the
area of reinforcement resisting the tensile force

. Hence the minimum area required is

Try 3 No. 3 closed stirrups with average spacing of 11/3 = 3.67 in.

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Since this amount of reinforcement satisfies both requirements, provide 3 No. 3 closed stirrups
distributed over a depth of 11 in. from tie AA with a concrete cover of 1 in.
Design the Nodal Zones and Check the Anchorages:
The width a of nodal zone A was chosen to satisfy the stress limits on the nodal zone.
To anchor tie AA, the horizontal loop is used. The detail is shown in Figure 4. To satisfy the
nodal zone stress limit, the tie reinforcement must engage an effective depth of concrete at
least equal to

This limit is easily satisfied since the nodal zone available is 4 in.
The required anchorage length for tie AA is

Since

this is less than the available length, i.e. 3 + 6 (1 + 3/8) = 7.63 in., the anchorage length is
adequate.
Summary of the Design:
The reinforcement details for the corbel designed using the strut-and-tie model according to
Appendix A are shown in Figure 4.

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Figure 4
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This page was created and is maintained by Tjen Tjhin
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Last update: June 01, 2002

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