The following paragraphs give a suggested set of topics and chapters to be covered in the first and second reinforced concrete design courses, normally given at the undergraduate and graduate levels, respectively. lt is assumed that these are semester courses.
First Design Course
Chapters 1 through 3 should be assigned, but the detailed information on loading in Chapter 2 can be covered in a second course. The information on concrete material properties in Chapter 3 could be covered with more depth in a separate undergraduate materials course. Chapters 4 and 5 are extremely important for all students and should form the foundation of the first undergraduate course. The information in Chapter 4 on moment vs. curvature behavior of beam sections is important for all designers, but this topic could be significantly expanded in a graduate course. Chapter 5 presents a variety of design procedures for developing efficient flexural designs of either singly-reinforced or doubly reinforced sections. The discussion of structural analysis for continuous floor systems in Section 52 could be skipped if either time is limited or students are not yet prepared to handle this topic. The first undergraduate course should cover Chapter 6 information on member behavior in shear and the shear design requirements given in the ACI Code. Discussions of other methods for determining the shear strength of concrete members can be saved for a second design course. Design for torsion, as covered in Chapter 7, could be covered in a first design course, but more often is left for a second design course. The reinforcement anchorage provisions of Chapter 8 are important material for the first undergraduate design course. Students should develop a basic understanding of development (continued below)
16 • Preface
length requirements for straight and hooked bars, as well as the procedure to determine bar cutoff points and reinforcement details required at those cutoff points. The serviceability requirements in Chapter 9 for control of deflections and cracking are also important topics for the first undergraduate course. In particular, the ability to do an elastic section analysis and find moments of inertia for cracked and uncracked sections is an important skill for designers of concrete structures. Chapter 10 serves to tie together all of the requirements for continuous floor systems introduced in Chapters 5 through 9. The examples include details for flexural and shear design, as well as full span detailing of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement. This chapter could either be skipped for the first undergraduate course or be used as a source for a more extensive class design project. Chapter 11 concentrates on the analysis and design of columns sections and should be included in the first undergraduate course. The portion of Chapter 11 that covers column sections subjected to biaxial bending may either be included in a first undergraduate course or saved for a graduate course. Chapter 12 considers slenderness effects in columns, and the more detailed analysis required for this topic is commonly presented in a graduate course. If time permits, the basic information in Chapter 15 on the design of typical concrete footings may be included in a first undergraduate course. This material may also be covered in a foundation design course taught at either the undergraduate or graduate level.