CHAPTER III

SUPERSTRUCTURE-SLAB
III.1. Introduction
- Structural concrete slabs are constructed to provide fat
surfaces, usually horizontal, in building floors, roof,
bridges, and other types of structure.

- The slab may be supported by walls, by reinforced

concrete beams usually cast monolithically with the
slab, by structural steel beams, by columns, or by the
ground

- The depth of a slab is usually very small compared to

its span.
III.2. Type of Slabs
- There are different types of slabs:
• One-way slab with beam
• Flat plate
• Flat slab
• Two-way slab with beam
• Waffle slab
• Bubble slab
o One-way slab with beam
- In general, slabs are classified as being as one way or two way. Slabs that primarily
deflect in one direction are referred to as one-way slab.
- If the slabs are supported on two opposite sides only, they are referred t as one-way
slab.
- If a rectangular slab is support on all four sides, but the long side is two or more
times as long as the short side, the slab will act as one-way slab.
 One-way slab with beam

o Flat Plates
- Flat plates are solid concrete slabs of uniform depth that transfer load directly to the
supporting columns without the aid of beams or capitals or drop panels.
- Flat plated present a possible problem in transferring the shear at the perimeter of the
columns. In other words, there is a danger that the columns may punch through the
slabs.
Flat Plate
o Flat Slabs
- Flat slabs include two-way reinforced concrete slab with capital, drop panels, or
both. These slabs are very satisfactory for heavy loads and long span.
- Flat slabs will require less concrete and reinforcing than would be required for flats
with the same loads and spans.

Flat Slab
o Two-way slab with beams
- This type of floor system is used where its cost is less than the cost of flat plates or
flat slabs. In other words, when the loads or spans or both become quite large, the
slab thickness and column sizes required for flat plates or flat slabs are of such
magnitude that it is more economical to use two way slabs with beams, despite the
higher formwork.

Two-ways slab with beams

o Waffle Slab
- The floor is considered by arranging square fiberglass or metal pans with tapered
sides with spaces. The intervals or gap between the pans form the beam webs.
- These webs are rather deep and provide large moment arms for the reinforcing bars.
With waffle slabs, the weight of the concrete is greatly reduced without significantly
changing the moment resistance of the floors system. Waffle floors are usually made
solid area to increase shear resistance.

Waffle Slab
o Bubble Slab or Deck
- The advantages of bubble slab:
• Reduced weight
• Increased strength
• Larger span
• Fewer columns
• No beams or ribs under the ceiling: pillars have no capital
• etc

Bubble Slab
III.3. Punching Problem
- Punching is a serious problem for flat plate (flat slab).
- As a result, it is frequently necessary to increase column sizes or slab thickness.
Furthermore, some technologies using steel reinforcement are conducted such as
shearhead, bent-bar arrangement, shear bar reinforcing, etc.

Punching-Slab
o Shearhead

- Shearhead consists of steel I or channel shape placed in the slab over the column.

Shearhead Steel
o Bent-Bar Arrangement

Bent-bar arrangement
o Shear Bar Reinforcing

Shear bar reinforcing

o Shear Bar Reinforcing-Beam Arrangement
III.4. Minimum Slab Thickness Controlling Deflection
o Slabs With Interior Beams
- The magnitude of slab’s deflection depends on many variables, including the flexural
stiffness of the slab, which in turn is a function of the slab thickness, h.
1. For 0.2   fm  2
ln  0.8  f y / 1400 
h
36  5  fm  0.2 
f y in MPa 

But not less than 5in (~12.5cm)

2. For  fm  2.0
ln  0.8  f y /1400 
h
36  9
f y in MPa 

But not less than 3.5in (~9cm)

3. For  fm  0.2

h = minimum slab thickness without interior beams, as shown in table below

Where

ln = clear span in long direction measured face to face of columns (or face to face of
beams for slabs with beams)
β = ratio of the long to the short clear spans
αfm = average value of α for all beams on the sides of a panel
αf = ratio of flexural stiffness of a beam section EcbIb to flexural stiffness of the slab
EcsIs, bounded laterally by the centerlines of the panels on each side of the beam
 Ecb I b
f 
Ecs I s
Where
Ecb, Ecs = moduli of elasticity of concrete in beam and slab, respectively
Ib = gross moment of inertia of beam section about centroidal axis (beam section
includes a slab length on each side of beam equal to projection of beam above or
below slab, whichever is greater, but not more than four times slab thickness)
Is = moment of inertia of gross section of slab
o Slabs Without Interior Beams
- If no beams are used, as in the case of flat plates, then αf = 0 and αfm = 0.
- For flat plates and flat slabs, when no interior beams are used, the minimum slab
thickness may be determined directly from table below.
Minimum Thickness of Slabs Without Interior Beams

MPa
275
420
III.5. Shear Resistance of Slabs
- For two-way slabs supported by beams or walls, shears are calculated at a distance
d from the faces of the walls or beams.

- The value is :
1
Vc   f c' bd
6
- Shear is not usually a problem for these types of slabs.
- For flat slabs and flat plates supported directly by columns, shear may be the
critical factor in design.
- Two kinds of shear must be considered in the design of flat slabs and flat plates.
These are the same two that were considered in column footings: one-way and two-
way shear (beam shear and punching shear).
- For beam shear analysis, the slab is considered to act as a wide beam running
between the support. The critical sections are taken at a distance d from the face of
the column or capital.

- For punching shear, the critical section is taken at a distance d/2 from the face of
the column, capital, or drop panel and the shear strength, as usually used in footings
is

1
Vc   f c' b0 d
3
III.5. Slab Reinforcing Bar Arrangement
- There are type of reinforcing bar arrangement for slab. These include normal
arrangement (straight bar) and bending bar arrangement.

o Normal Arrangement
o Bending Bar Arrangement
Example 3.1
A flat-plate floor system is supported on 0.5x0.5m column. Using the equation above,
determine the minimum slab thickness required for the interior (3)and corner (1)
panels shown in figure below.. Use fc’= 28MPa and fy’= 420MPa.
Solution
- For panel (1), the minimum thickness is ln/30 with fy=420MPa.

ln  6  0.5  5.5m (long direction)

ln 5.5
hmin    0.185m
30 30

- For panel (3), the minimum thickness is ln/33 with fy=420MPa.

ln 5.5
hmin    0.17 m
33 33

So, the minimum thickness of slab is 0.185m or 0.2m for approximate value.
Example 3.2

Design an interior flat plate. This plate is shown in figure below. Assumed
that live load equals to 2.5kN/m2, dead load equals to 4kN/m2 (including
slab weight), fy = 420MPa, fc=25MPa, normal-weight concrete, and column
heights of 3.5m.
- Determine minimum thickness of interior flat plate
According to flat plate condition :
ln  7  0.5 
hmin    0.197m  0.2m
33 33
- Checking of shear capacity
• One-way shear
d  h  c  0.2  0.03  0.17m
qu  1.2 D  1.6 L  1.2  4   1.6  2.5   8.8kN / m 2
 l1 c1   7 0.5 
Vu1     d  bqu     0.17  1 8.8  27.104kN
2 2  2 2 
1 1
Vc   f c bw d   0.75  25  1 0.17  106.25 kN  Vu1 OK
'

6 6
 • Two-way shear
b0  2  c1  d   2  c2  d   2  0.5  0.17   2  0.5  0.17   2.68m

Vu 2   A   c1  d  c2  d   qu    5  7    0.5  0.17  0.5  0.17    8.8  304.05kN

1 1
Vc   f c' bw d   0.75  25  2.68  0.17  569.5kN  Vu 2 OK
3 3
So, the minimum thickness of flat plate is h = 0.2m
Example 3.3
Determine the minimum permissible total thickness required for the slabs in panel 3 and
2 for the floor system, as shown in Fig. Edge beams are used around the building
perimeter, and they are 0.3m wide and extend vertically for 0.2m below the slab. They
also extend 0.2m out into the slab as required by ACI. No drop panels are used, and the
concrete in the slab is the same as that used in the edge beam f’c=28MPa and f’y=
420MPa.
Example 3.4
The two-way slab shown in the figure has been assumed to have thickness of 18cm.
Section A-A in the figure shows the beam cross section. Check the ACI equation to
determine if the slab thickness is satisfactory for an interior panel. Concrete and steel
strength is f’c=28MPa, f’y=420MPa.
END