ABSTRACT
Deections of reinforced concrete elements subjected to exure create design challenges mainly in relation to six issues:
1. Damage to partition walls on which they may come to rest 2. Restraint of door mechanisms in contact with exural elements 3. Damage to piping attached near mid-span of exural elements 4. Ponding of water in roof slabs 5. Unevenness 6. Flexibility of oor slabs leading to perceptible vibrations
Deection is primarily a serviceability and seldom a safety concern. For a given static loading, the main factors controlling service load deection are the magnitude of reinforcement stress at service load and the effective depth of the section. To keep deection low for a given bending moment demand and span length, the basic thinking process is simple. The product of the cross-sectional area of the tensile reinforcement and the effective depth (As · d) should be kept as high as possible within economic limits and without surpassing the limits related to constructability and the maximum reinforcement ratio (Chapter 16).
