Reinforced concrete is a versatile building material to which the present day’s constructions of buildings, bridges and many other infrastructure projects depend on. The course on Reinforced Concrete Design deals with the structural design of reinforced concrete elements. The content of this course includes the elements design such as beams, slabs, columns, foundation, retaining wall, reinforcement detailing and special types of slabs. Here, the word “design” refers to structural design that involves, the sizing of members like columns, slabs, walls, etc., characterization of materials used, provision of number and/or spacing of reinforcing rods at different salient cross sections, based on strength of the members required and the serviceability limits that the members should pass. The recognized code books at the places of design works govern the design philosophy and procedures to be adopted.
The fundamental objective of the course is to comprehend the design principles based on the philosophy that underpins the code of practice and then to independently perform the design of simple structural elements.
This course forms one of the core courses in the curriculum because a civil engineer needs to work with infrastructural project that involves reinforced concrete structural components and need to know about the cause and effect of loads on a structure or structural component, based on which should ascertain whether the member designed can safely withstand the load applied and be serviceable for the intended period.
- Lecturer: Chandrasekar Muthukameswaran