×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Curved Concrete Stairs

Curved Concrete Stairs

Curved Concrete Stairs

(OP)
Hi,

Has anyone any experiance in designing curved concrete stairs (without using finite element analysis software). A point in the right direction would be appreciated especially UK codes.

Thanks.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

compare to a straight line and design for the eccentricity taken out as torsion.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Something like this... done without the use of a computer and took me about two weeks before I was happy with it... It's still standing without cracks after 30 years...  The contractor did not want to remove the formwork... didn't think it would work...

Dik

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Nice looking stairs dik! I assume that the building is framed concrete. Did you cantilever off the 2nd floor and off the ground floor and just connect the 2 cantilevers with the curved landing? Or some other way?

I always like making stairs look like they have no visible means of support!

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Mostly steel... The upper floor is 3" composite steel deck on steel purlins and girders and the lower floor is a structural concrete slab.  It was analysed assuming it acted like a 'y' tilted 90 degrees with a horizontal cross member at the junction of the y and the guard rail beams framing into the ends of this horizontal cross member.  Some torsion and non-linear, non-homogeneous differential equations... There is limited vertical load but a significant horizontal tensile force at the upper floor.  The base is supported by a single pile.  Horizontal force at the base is taken by the structured slab.

One of the two toughest things I've ever designed...

Dik

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Forgot to add... it's about 18' from main floor to upper floor if memory serves... Large shopping centre in Regina, Canada.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

dik,
Good stuff. Did you re-analyse the stair with the help of computer program, and see how close your calculation was?

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

very nice work csd72.  I like to look at how staircases are supported and sometimes its quite a challenging task.

Very good engineering.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

sorry that was  meant for dik.

Again well done.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Vinny7

Did you look at Reynolds & Steedman Handbook? Also the published another book on BS 8110 Code
These two books would give you a solution to your prblem.

HTS

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

what computer program is best to analyze concrete (for limit states, i.e. canada)

Our firm is looking for some software for 2-way slabs and other more complicated concrete design.

Any suggestions?

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Okay, I'll bite... What was the other of the two toughest things you've ever designed Dik?

Quite curious after these magnificent stairs!

(I've walked down them, and admired them, prior to seeing them here... Would give almost anything to see a scan of the structural details!)

Cheers,

YS

B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

No disrespect to the fine work of dik and jike, but in my opinion building stairs like that is a poor use of valuable engineering time and resources.  They are "cutesy" architecture, but I am waiting to be heckled for being an old fuddy.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

Yup... but, I hate boxes!

Dik

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

I do too, but IMHO a little post under the landing would not have detracted.  The stair with no apparent support which I do admire is the timber one in a church somewhere in SW USA.  Somebody will probably have a reference.  I have seen pictures of it, and it is amazing, but then it has a greater power to assist in supporting it.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

I saw a few spiral stairs in montreal - they were steel stairs with nothing but 1/4 inch stringers. They worked though.

RE: Curved Concrete Stairs

JKStruct,
That link didn't work for me, but I have it on my list to see if I ever get through Santa Fe.  Thanks.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources