You are currently reviewing an older revision of this page.
The code controlling provision can be displayed on screen for all cross sections on any reinforcement plan on the Design Status or Rule Set Design Layer. To view the controlling criteria:
In some cases, "Det" will display before the code provision. This means that the reinforcement is not explicitly required at that cross section but is extended into the section to satisfy another code rule. Typically, this is associated with span detailing requirements.
See Chapter 25 “Drawing Reinforcement Bars” in the RAM Concept Manual for more information. There are two main types of user reinforcement: concentrated reinforcement and distributed reinforcement. Concentrated reinforcement is a fixed number of bars over a parallelogram area. This type of reinforcement is convenient for modeling beam reinforcement. Distributed reinforcement is a bar spacing applied over a polygon area. This type of reinforcement is convenient for modeling layers of reinforcement over a portion or the entire slab area.
There are six tool buttons that can be used to model the reinforcement:
The “Cross” tools are convenient for defining the reinforcement in both directions. The “Distributed Reinf. in Perimeter” tools are convenient for modeling reinforcement over the entire slab area. The Distributed Reinf. (Click along Region Boundary) tool on the other hand is best when you want the area part to be limited to one region of the model.
The bar elevation is referenced from the center of the reinforcement segment. When defining reinforcement over an area with slab and beams or slabs with drop panels, make sure that this point is in the correct area. For example, if the reinforcement shown in the screenshot below is referenced to the drop panel and not the typical slab as was intended. If the point is located in a slab opening, then no reinforcement will be recognized by the program.
Only top reinforcement is visible on Layers - Reinforcement - Top Reinforcement Plan. Only bottom reinforcement is visible on Layers - Reinforcement - Bottom Reinforcement Plan. If bottom reinforcement is modeled on the Top Reinforcement Plan or top reinforcement is modeled on the Bottom Reinforcement Plan, the following error will be displayed:
To view the selected reinforcement that is not visible, use the Visible Objects to display both top and bottom reinforcement or view the reinforcement on Layers - Reinforcement - Standard Plan, which displays both top and bottom reinforcement by default instead.
Go to Criteria – Calc Options and check the box for “Check capacity of user reinforcement without designing additional program reinforcement.”
When this is done, program reinforcement will not be added, and cross sections that do not satisfy the code requirements are shown as failing. Some users like to plot the bending moment demand and capacity diagrams at this point to see how badly the failure it, though of course there are other possible failures besides bending.
If user reinforcement has been provided and you are confident that it satisfies the code minimum requirements, you can also turn off the Code Minimum design rule completely under Criteria - Design Rules, though we do not generally recommend this practice.
Slab face controls on what plan the reinforcement is displayed. By default, reinforcement defined as “Top” and “Both” are displayed on the top reinforcement plans; reinforcement defined as “Bottom” and “Both” are displayed on the bottom reinforcement plans.
The Slab Face also affects the way the reinforcement is used in the Code Minimum Check and Span Detailing. Options for the “Code Minimum Reinforcement Location” include Elevated Slab, Mat Foundation, Top, and Bottom. Each of these options is based on where the reinforcement is placed (top of slab versus bottom of slab). Span detailing extends top and bottom reinforcement to a certain percentage of the span length (see ACI 318-08 Fig 13.3.8 for an example of a span detailing rule). If "Both" is selected for the Slab Face, then the reinforcement will be extended to meet both top and bottom reinforcing requirements.
The "Both" option was added into the program to facilitate designing slab with one layer of reinforcement. See the frequently asked question below for details. Some engineers have also used Slab Face = "Both" to force the program to split the minimum flexural reinforcement required in ACI 318-11 10.5.4 between the top and bottom faces. Note that the requirement in 10.5.4 is a minimum flexural requirement that specifies a required area of steel that matches the requirement for temperature and shrinkage. It is not a temperature and shrinkage requirement. While temperature and shrinkage reinforcement can be split between the top and bottom faces, flexural reinforcement should be placed on the tension face. This is clarified in ACI 318-14 (see R8.6.1.1). Based on the clarification in ACI 318-14, we do not recommend using Slab Face = "Both" to prevent the program from requiring the entire required minimum reinforcement (0.0018*b*h) on a single face.
Program reinforcement is always detailed in two layers: top and bottom. Slabs with one layer of reinforcement can be modeled and designed using user reinforcement as follows:
By default, program reinforcement is displayed showing bar quantity, bar size, length, and bar face. The format can be modified to include other information, like bar spacing, by doing the following:
$Q - Bar quantity
$F - Bar face
$B - Bar name
$L - Bar length
$U - Bar length units
$u - Bar spacing units
$S - Bar spacing
\n - Start new line