BFC32803

Reinforced Concrete Design II

Staircase Design

Mohammad Soffi Md Noh

Introduction
Lift/ Elevator
Escalator
VS
Staircase

Why we still need staircase?

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Introduction
A stair is a convenient means of
access between the floors of a
building.

It is constructed to provide ready,

easy, comfortable and safe
ascent/descent.

It consists of a flight of steps,

usually with one or more
intermediate landings provided
between the floor levels.

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Introduction
R = Raiser
G = Going
h = Waist
N = Nosing
Ø = Slope
T = Tread

The basic terminology of stairs

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Introduction
Staircase terminology as specified in BS 5395:Part 1: 2010
Key
1. Guarding top-rail
2. Quarter landing
3. Baluster
4. Newel
5. Flier
6. Stair balustrade
7. Winder flight
8. Cut string
9. Landing
10. Kite winder
11. Winder
12. Tread width
13. Going
14. Overlap
15. Pitch
16. Rise
17. Handrail
 Introduction
The dimension of stair should be such as to give the maximum
comfort to the users, which depends on the use of the building.

Basic guideline:
Public buildings:
1) Riser is not more than 180 mm, Going shall not be less
than 255 mm (Uniform Building by Law, UBBL,1984)
2) Riser shall be between 150 – 180 mm, Going shall be
between 300 – 450 mm (BS5395-1 : 2010)

Private buildings:
1) Riser is not more than 200 mm, Going are varies
between 250 mm to 400 mm (BS5395-1 : 2010)
For comfort R and G can be proportioned according to the
following formula; (2 x R) + G = 600mm (BS5395-1 : 2010)
BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
Introduction

UBBL, 1984

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
Introduction

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Classification of Staircase
Two main classifications of staircase related to the design
method:
Transverse span staircase
 Staircases which spans
perpendicular to the stair
flight.
 Design: one unit of step is
taken as a beam.
 Area of reinforcement is
determined like a beam.
Longitudinal span staircase
 It spans parallel to the stair
flight.
 Two supports at upper and
lower of stair flight with no
lateral flight support.
 Design: similar to the design
of one way spanning slab.

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Classification of Staircase
Transverse- and longitudinal-span staircase are further
subdivided to the following:

Transverse span staircase

Staircase span Cantilever staircase
Cantilever staircase
between support on from the middle
from wall on one side
both beam
Transverse Transverse Transverse

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Classification of Staircase
Transverse span staircase – cantilever staircase

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Classification of Staircase
Longitudinal-span staircase are further subdivided to
the following:

Longitudinal span staircase

 Monolithic staircase
 Staircase with landing
supported by beam/wall
 Staircase and landing built
into the wall
 Staircase supported by
landing perpendicular to the
stair flight
 Staircase surrounding
openings
BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Classification of Staircase
Longitudinal span staircase

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Classification of Staircase
Longitudinal span staircase

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Type of Staircase
Depend mainly on the type and function of the building, and on
architectural requirements.
Type of staircase:
- Straight flight (floor to floor, with/out landing, used where
space is limited)
- Quarter turn (rises to landing between floors, turn to 90°,
space saving)
- Half turn/dog-legged (rises to landing between floors, turn to
180°, used in most building)
- Geometrical (spiral, elliptical, extravagant, used in prestigious
building)

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Type of Staircase

a) Straight stair spanning b) Straight stair spanning

longitudinally horizontally

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Type of Staircase

c) Free-standing stair d) Helical stair

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Type of Staircase

e) Spiral stair f) Slabless stair

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
Support Condition

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Support Condition
Landings and flights as
e) Spiral stair cranked slab between
f) Slabless stair
Cast in- beams of structural frame
situ
Structural spine
supports wall
provides
stability
to stairs Stairs
supported
by spine Beam
wall supports
cranked
slab
Cranked
slab
BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
Support Condition

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
Support Condition

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 General Design Consideration
The reinforced concrete stairs should be designed generally similar
to reinforced concrete slabs, except as indicated otherwise.

1. Actions

When considering the permanent load for the flights of stair, care
should be taken to ensure that a sufficient allowance is made to
cater the weight of the steps and finishes as well as the increase
loading on plan occasioned by the inclination of the waist.

Where stair with open wells have two intersecting landings at

right-angles to each other, the actions on the areas common to
both spans may be divided equally between the spans.

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 General Design Consideration
gk = Characteristic permanent action (Selfweight of stair flight /
landing, finishing, handrailing & etc.)
qk = Characteristic variable action (Depend on the category of the
building. Refer Table 6.1 & 6.2 EC1)

nd = Ultimate design action = 1.35gk + 1.5qk (kN/m/m width)

Selfweight of stair flight = Average thickness, t x Unit weight of concrete, γc

𝑅
Average thickness, 𝑡 = 𝑦 +
2
2 2
Where ; 𝑦 = ℎ 𝐺 + 𝑅 or 𝑦 = ℎ 𝐺 + 𝑅
2 2
h
𝐺 𝐺2 t R
Unit weight of concrete, γc = 25 kN/m3
y

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 General Design Consideration
2. Bending Moments (MEd) and Shear Forces (VEd)
 Stair slabs and landings should be designed to support
the most unfavorable arrangements of design loads.
 Stairs which are continuous and constructed monolithically
with their supporting slabs or beams can be designed for a
bending moment of MEd = FL/10.
 For simply supported staircase, the designed bending
moment can be calculate as MEd = FL/8 and for cantilever
stairs / landing slab, the design moment can be calculate as
MEd = FL/2.
Where F = total ultimate load (kN) and L = span of staircase / slab (m)
 The design shear force, VEd can be calculated using force
equilibrium method via M  0 and f y  0

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 General Design Consideration
3. Effective Spans

The effective span of stairs spanning between beams or walls is

the distance between centre-line of supporting beams or walls.

The effective span of stairs spanning between landing slabs is

the distance between centre-line of supporting landing slabs, or
the distance between the edges of the supporting slabs plus
1.8 m, whichever is the smaller.

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

14/09/2015
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 General Design Consideration
4. Detailing

The reinforcement arrangement in stair flights follows a

standard pattern. Deviation from this is not recommended
unless a specific need arises. Longitudinal steel is the main
reinforcement and in the transverse direction the minimum
percentage of steel is provided as “distribution steel” to
help prevent cracking (20 % x Area of longitudinal steel).

Strength requirements are not always critical for stair slabs. It is

therefore essential that the other limit states are checked:
a. Min and max of reinforcement area
b. Deflection
c. Cracking
BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 General Design Consideration
5. Bar Arrangement

Reinforcement should also be provided in the tension zone

with distance 0.3L for flight and 0.2L for landing (from support).

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 Procedure of Design
Identify type of staircase Monolithic/separated

Determine R, G, hf, hL Comfort requirement (UBBL / BS5395)

Calculate average thicknesses y and t

Calculate actions Gk, Qk, nd for flight/landing

Calculate moment and shear Simply / Continuous /

Cantilever
Design of reinforcement d , K , z , As , Asmax , Asmin , Assec

Check shear resistance VEd , k , ρ1 , VRd,c , Vmin

Check deflection ρ , ρo , l/d , fmodification , l/dallow , l/dactual

Check cracking h , Smax,slab , max. bar spacing

Detailing main/secondary
BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
Design of reinforcement
Similarly as RC slab design or other flexural element.
1) Determine the reinforcement cover, Cnom
2) Assumed the bar size and calculate the effective depth, d
where; d = h – Cnom – Փ bar/2
3) Calculate K value; K  M Ed KK bal
f ck .b.d 2
4) Calculate lever arm, z

z  d 0.5  
0.25  (K / 1.134)  0.95d

5) Calculate area of tension reinforcement, As

M A s min  A s  A s max
As 
0.87.f yk .z

6) Provide tension reinforcement, Asprov

Actual staircase
width in mm.

b = 1000 mm
Shear resistance (Cl. 6.2.2)
1) Calculate design shear force, VEd
2) Calculate shear resistance of concrete, VRd,c
VRd ,c  [0.12k (100 1 f ck )1/ 3 ]bw d
k  [1  (200 / d )1/ 2 ]  2.0 d in mm
1  ( As1 / bwd )  0.02
VRd ,c  Vmin  [0.035k 3/ 2 1/ 2
f ck ]bw d
As1 = the area of tensile reinforcement that extends ≥ (lbd + d) beyond the
section considered.
bw = the smallest width of the section in tensile area (mm)

3) For adequate shear resistance, VEd should less than VRd,c or Vmin
Deflection (Cl. 7.4.2)
1) Calculate ρ As,req

bd
2) Calculate ρo o  f ck  10 3

3) Calculate basic span-effective depth ratio, l/d basic

If ρ < ρo

l    
3/ 2

 K 11  1.5 f ck o  3.2 f ck  o  1 
d      
K = factor to take into account the different in structural system Table 7.4N EC2
4) Calculate l/d allowable = l/d basic x Modification factor
a) Modification factor for span that > or < 7 m ( 7 / Span)
b) Modification factor for steel area provided (As,prov/As,req) < 1.5
5) To control the deflection, l / d
actual  l/d allowable
Cracking (Cl. 7.3)
1) Check the limiting crack width, wmax = 0.3 mm or 0.4 mm

2) For h ≤ 200 mm ; Provided bar spacing should < Svmax

Svmax = 3h or 400 mm (lesser) for main reinforcement
Svmax = 3.5h or 450 mm (lesser) for distribution / secondary
reinforcement

3) For h > 200 mm

Calculate steel stress under quasi permanent load, fs

f yk Gk  0.3Qk As ,req 1
fs    
s 1.35Gk  1.5Qk As , prov 
Check the maximum bar size and spacing given in Table 7.2N and
7.3N
 Continuous over support
Upper floor slab
Stair flight

Lower floor slab

Supporting beam
 Continuous over support

Upper floor slab

Stair flight

Supporting beam
Simply supported staircase

Stair flight

Supporting beam
 Simply supported staircase

Stair flight

Landing

Supporting beam
Cantilever staircase
Stair flight

Supporting beam
Continuous staircase,
landing supported by beam.
Continuous staircase,
landing supported by load
bearing wall.
Upper & lower staircase
Continuous staircase,
landing supported by beam.
Upper & lower staircase
Continuous staircase,
landing supported by load
bearing wall.
Upper & lower staircase
Continuous staircase and
stair flight supported by
perpendicular landing.
Landing supported by beam at
both ends.
Upper & lower staircase
Continuous staircase with
cantilever landing
Continuous staircase with
cantilever landing
Continuous staircase with
sharing landing of upper and
lower stair flights.
Load at landing part should
be taken as half for each
staircase.
Upper staircase
Continuous staircase
supported by landing of
lower staircase.

Lower staircase
Continuous staircase
supported by beam and
carry additional load from
upper staircase.
Upper staircase
Continuous staircase
supported by beam and
carry additional load from
lower staircase.

Lower staircase
Continuous staircase
supported by landing of
upper staircase.
Continuous staircase
supported by beam.
Continuous staircase with
intermediate beam support.
 Example
1) Example 1
- Stair Spanning Longitudinally Continuous Over Supports
2) Example 2
- Stair Spanning Longitudinally with Landing and Continuous
at One End
3) Example 3
- Staircase Spanning Parallel to Flight with Landings
4) Example 4
- Stair Supported by Landing Spanning Perpendicular to Stair
Flight (Half Turn)
.

5) Example 5
- Stair Supported by Landing Spanning Perpendicular to Stair Flight
(Quarter Turn)
BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II
(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)
 References
1) M. S. Yassin. Reinforced Concrete Design To Eurocode 2.
Johor: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2012.
2) B. Mosley, J. Bungey and R. Hulse. Reinforced Concrete
Design To Eurocode 2. 7th Ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan,
2012.
3) A. J. Bond, O. Brooker, A. J. Harris, T. Harisson, R. M. Moss,
R. S. Narayanan and R. Webster. How To Design Concrete
Structures Using Eurocode 2. Surrey: The Concrete Centre,
2006.

BFC32803 Reinforced Concrete Design II

(by Mohammad Soffi Md Noh)