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CALCULATION of SLAB PUNCHING RESISTANCE

M. Zafer GEM1 and Hamet Z. SIDDIK2
February 2009

ABSTRACT
In two-way slabs supported directly by columns, punching effect must be
considered. The current study examines the punching resistance of a slab in a
building designed to be built in the Russian Federation. The calculations were
based on preliminary dimensioning of the structural elements and Russian
Standards.

1. Description of the Building

The building complex being designed by Structoris is located in the Russian Federation.
The building is a monolithic reinforced concrete framework structure and has parts with
different elevations separated by structural joints. Each joint separates parts with different
live loads and dead loads. The high rise part of the complex has 17 floors and has a
footprint area of approx. 4500 m and total area of 72000 m. It consists of office floors,
shopping centers, conference rooms, warehouses sections (with 3500 kgf/m design live
loads), garages and technical areas. The low rise part is a 4 storey structure with approx.
20000 m total area and consists of shops, storages, dining halls, garages, warehouses,
meeting halls and service areas.

2. Purpose of the Study

As a project development mentality, Structoris provides its Clients with data and
calculations to prove and ensure that the most economical, safe and practical solutions
are developed. Accordingly, during the selection of the types and sizes of the structural
elements, necessary checks and calculations are made. In this study, the punching
resistance of a preliminarily designed slab is examined. The preliminary dimensioning of
the structural elements had been made and justification of the selected slab and drop

Civil Engineer, M.Sc., Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, Structoris Eng. Cons. Co.
2 Civil Engineer, B.Sc., Gazi Univertsity, Ankara, Turkey, Structoris Eng. Cons. Co.

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panel thicknesses are made by checking for punching resistance. All the calculations are
based on the codes and standards of the Russian Federation.
According to the Russian SNiP codes, the column drop panel thickness is defined to
be between L/4 and L/5, where L is the span length of the slab the column supports. If
the drop panel thickness does not satisfy this rule, then the selection of the dimension
must be supported by the calculation methods described in the codes. Since high values
of drop panel thicknesses, cause problems in mechanical and electrical installation
crossings through suspended ceilings and are economically disadvantageous, the below
calculations were made to justify a more reasonable thickness.

3. Method of Approach
The calculations were based on preliminary modeling done for one storey, which
was provided by a separate conceptual design report. The most critical mid and edge
sections were checked against punching. The column sizes have been taken as 60 x 140
cm. The calculations are carried out in section 4 of this study. A simple drawing the
section of the slab at column joint can be seen in Figure 2.

Following loads are applied to the slab:

- Self Weight: Concrete unit weight = 11,25 kN/m (to be multiplied by load factor 1.1)
- Additional Dead Loads: 1.5 kN/m (to be multiplied by load factor 1.3)
- Live Loads: 29 kN/m (to be multiplied by load factor 1.2)

Following sections are used for the slab:

- Slab thickness: 45 cm
- Column drop panel thickness: 60 cm (45 cm slab + 15 cm drop)
4. Calculations
a. Calculation for a central column:
Sectional properties:

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Slab height = 600 mm

Thickness of cover concrete =30 mm
The effective height of the slab = 570 mm
Type of concrete: B40
Tensional strength 15.8 kgf/cm
Column size is taken as 60 x140 cm

To provide section safety against punching, the following two conditions must be
satisfied:
F

Mx

Wbx

Mx

Wbx

My

Wby

My
Wby

Rbt h0

(1)

F
u

(2)

Effective perimeter = 6.28 m

Punching force (Obtained from preliminary structural analysis):
F := 4700 kN
Wbx := ( a + h0)

( a + h0)

+ b + h0 = 2.761m

3
( b + h0)
Wby := ( b + h0)
+a+
3

2
h0 = 3.599m

According to the preliminary structural analysis, the sum of moments for x and y
directions are obtained as follows:
Mx := 185 kN m

F + Mx + My = 844.433 kN

m
u Wbx Wby

My := 450 kN m

Rbt h0 = 883.187

kN
m

condition (1) satisfied

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Mx
Wbx

My
Wby

= 96.025

kN
F

= 748.408

kN

condition (2) satisfied

b. Calculation for an edge column:

According to the preliminary structural analysis, the sum of the moments for x and y
directions are obtained as follows:
Mx := 135 kN m
My := 1250 kN m

F := 2100 kN

The column center location

Lx := x0 +

Ly :=

I :=

Lx
3

( b + h0)
2

( a + h0)
2

= 1.685m

= 0.585m

2 ( Lx + Ly) 2 + Lx Ly
3
= 1.151 m
u

The eccentricity is calculated as 0.267 m

My := My F e0 = 64.053kN
m
Wby :=

Wbx := ( a + h0)

= 1.604m

( a + h0)

F + My + Mx = 595.364 kN

m
u Wby Wbx

I
y

+ b + h0 = 2.761m

Rbt h0 = 883.187

kN

condition (1) satisfied

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My
Wby

Mx
Wbx

= 64.39

kN
F

= 530.973

kN

condition (2) satisfied

c. Checking for full effective perimeter of the edge column:

Wbx := ( a + h0)

( a + h0)

+ b + h0 = 2.761m

(
b
+
h0
)
2
Wby := ( b + h0)
+ a + h0 = 3.599m
3

According to the preliminary structural analysis, the sum of the moments for x and y
directions are obtained as follows:
Mx := 135 kN m

My := 1250 kN m

Effective perimeter = 6.28 m

F + Mx + My = 532.523 kN

m
u Wbx Wby

Mx
Wbx

My
Wby

= 198.128

Rbt h0 = 883.187

kN

= 334.395

kN
m

condition (1) satisfied

kN
m

condition (2) satisfied

5. Results and Conclusion

The calculation results have shown that the section has sufficient punching
resistance for both mid and side column/slab joints. Please see Table 1 for the results.
The preliminary design concrete section can carry the loads without addition of shear
reinforcement. It should be noted that, as the modeling was done for only one floor,
the effects of upper floors could not be involved.

Table 1: Results of punching strength calculations

Column/slab joint

Punching force,

Punching resistance,

location

F (kN/m)

Fb,ult (kN/m)

Middle

844,4

883,2

Edge

595,4

883,2

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During the working design stage, final structural design and 3D modeling of the
whole structural system will be developed and the dimensioning of the structural
elements will be done according to their results and related SNiPs. After the final design,
if it is seen that the concrete section cannot carry the punching forces, addition of
transverse reinforcement will be considered. A sample of transverse reinforcement
against punching is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Sample of shear reinforcement

Figure 2: Column-slab joint detail

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