Section 17-5 Nodes and Nodal Zones • 895

Resolution of Forces Acting on a Nodal Zone

If more than three forces act on a nodal zone in a planar strut-and-tie model, it is usually ad-
vantageous to subdivide the nodal zone so that only three forces remain on any part of the
node. Figure 17-14a shows a hydrostatic nodal zone that is in equilibrium with four strut forces
meeting at point D. The nodal zone for point D can be subdivided as shown in Fig. 17-14b. For
subnode E-F-G, the two forces acting on faces E-F and E-G can be resolved into a single in-
clined force (50.6 kips) acting between the two sub-nodes. That inter-nodal force must also be
in equilibrium with the forces acting on faces A-B and B-C of sub-node A-B-C. The overall
force equilibrium for node D is demonstrated in Fig. 17-14c.
Another example is shown in Fig. 17-11b, which shows two subnodes. It is necessary to
ensure that the stresses in the members entering the node, the stress over the bearing plate, and
the stress on any vertical line between the two subnodes are within the limits in Table 17-1.

Anchorage of Ties in Nodal Zones

A challenge in design using strut-and-tie models is the anchorage of the tie forces at the
nodal zones at the edges or ends of a strut-and-tie model. This problem is independent of
the type of analysis used in design. It occurs equally in structures designed by elastic
analyses or strut-and-tie models. In fact, one of the advantages of strut-and-tie models
comes from the attention that the strut-and-tie model places on the anchorage of ties as
described in ACI Code Section A.4.3. For nodal zones anchoring one tie, the tie must be
developed by bond, by hooks, or by mechanical anchorage between the free end of the bar and

27 kips

27 kips
37.8 F
23.1 E C
s
kip

30 kips 30 kips
.6
50

40 kips
11.9 D 40 kips D
G
A B

31 kips
31 kips (b) Nodal zone consisting of two hydrostatic subnodes and
(a) Four-strut node with equally stressed struts. internal strut (all equally stressed).

30 kips

50 27 kips
31 kips .6
kip
s
40 kips
(c) Force polygon for Node D.

Fig. 17-14
Resolution of forces acting on a nodal zone.
896 • Chapter 17 Discontinuity Regions and Strut-and-Tie Models

the point at which the centroid of the tie reinforcement leaves the compressed extended
portion of the nodal zone. This corresponds to point A in Fig. 17-11a. If the bars are an-
chored by hooks, the hooks should be confined within reinforcement extending into the
member from the supporting column, if applicable.
European practice [17-18] sometimes uses lap splices between the tie bars and U bars
lying horizontally. Typically two layers of U bars are used to anchor one layer of tie bars.
Each layer of U bars is designed to anchor one-third of the total bar force, leaving one-third
to be anchored by bond stresses on the tie bars.

Nodal Zone Anchored by a Bent Bar

Sometimes the two tension ties in a C–T–T node are both provided by a bar bent through 90°
as shown in Fig. 17-15. The compressive force in the strut can be anchored by bearing and
shear stresses transferred from the strut to the bent bar. Such a detail must satisfy the laws of
statics and limits on the bearing stresses on the concrete inside the bent bar. A design proce-
dure is given in a recent article by Klein [17-21].

Strut Anchored by Reinforcement

Sometimes, diagonal struts in the web of a truss model of a flexural member are anchored
by longitudinal reinforcement that, in turn, is supported by a stirrup, as shown in Fig. 17-16.
Reference [17-13] recommends that the length of longitudinal bar able to support the strut
be limited to six bar diameters each way from the center of the strut.

The Use of a Strut-and-Tie Model in Design

Example 17-1 considers the design of a wall loaded and supported by columns. The purpose
of the example is to illustrate the choice and use of a strut-and-tie model, to demonstrate the
choice of D-regions, and to discuss reasons for making certain assumptions.

C
T2  As fs 2

R 

Fig. 17-15
T1  As fs1
C–T–T node anchored by a
bent bar.
 Section 17-5 Nodes and Nodal Zones • 897

Avfy
Avfy Avfy

fc ws b fc ws b

fc fc

s/2  6 db
db

Fig. 17-16
Struts anchored by stirrups and longitudinal bars.

EXAMPLE 17-1 Design of D-Regions in a Wall

The 14-in. thick wall shown in Fig. 17-17 supports a 14 in. by 20 in. column carrying unfac-
tored loads of 100 kips dead load and 165 kips live load. The wall in Fig. 17-17a supports this
column and is supported on two other columns which are 14 by 14 in. The floor slabs (not
shown) provide stiffness against out-of-plane buckling. Design the wall reinforcement. Use
fcœ = 3000 psi and fy = 60,000 psi. The primary design equation is fFn Ú Fu where Fn
is the nominal capacity of the element, and Fu is the force on the element due to the factored
loads.
1. Isolate the D-Regions. The loading discontinuities due to the column load on the
wall dissipate in a distance of approximately one member dimension from the location of
the discontinuity. Based on this, the wall will be divided into two D-regions separated by
a B-region as shown in Fig. 17-17a. The wall has two statical discontinuities:
(i) Under the column load at the top
(ii) Over the two columns supporting the bottom of the wall
Using St. Venant’s principle, the D-regions are assumed to extend a distance equal to the
width of the wall (8 ft) down from the top and the same distance up from the tops of the two
columns that support the wall. There are three more D-regions at the ends of the columns,
which have little effect on the wall and will not be considered in this example.
The self-weight of the wall is 124 ft * 8 ft * 14/12 ft * 0.150 kips/ft32 = 33.6 kips.
We shall assume that this acts as a uniformly distributed load acting on the structure at
midheight of the wall as shown in Fig. 17-17b and c.
2. Compute the Factored Loads. Using the load factors in ACI Code Section 9.2,
the factored load on the upper column is the larger of:

U = 1.4 * 100 kips = 140 kips (ACI Eq. 9-1)

U = 1.2 * 100 kips + 1.6 * 165 kips = 384 kips (ACI Eq. 9-2)
898 • Chapter 17 Discontinuity Regions and Strut-and-Tie Models

D D

Fig. 17-17
D-regions in a wall—Example 17-1.

By inspection, the rest of the ACI Load Combinations (ACI Eq. 9-3 to 9-7) do not govern
the vertical loads on the wall. The factored weight of the wall is 1.2 * 33.6 = 40.3 kip.
3. Subdivide the Boundaries of the D-Regions and Compute the Force Resul-
tants on the Boundaries of the D-Region. For D2, we can represent the load on the top
boundary by a single force of 384 kips at the center of the column, or as two forces of
384 kips/2 = 192 kips acting at the quarter points of the width of the column at the inter-
face with the wall. We shall draw the strut-and-tie model using one force. The bottom
boundary of D-region D2 will be divided into two segments of equal lengths, b/2 each with
its resultant force of 192 kips acting along the middle of the struts loaded by the column
above. This gives uniform stress on the bottom of D2.
4. Lay Out the Strut-and-Tie Models. Two strut-and-tie models are needed, one
in each of D2 and D3. The function of the upper strut-and-tie model of D2 is to transfer the
column load from the center of the top of D2 to the bottom of D2, where the load is essen-
tially uniformly distributed. Figure 17-21a (discussed later) shows the stress trajectories
from an elastic analysis of a vertical plate loaded with in-plane loads. The dashed lines in
Fig. 17-21a represent the flow of compression stresses, and the solid lines show the direc-
tions of the tensile stresses. Struts A–B and B–C in Fig. 17-17c replace the stress trajectories