CHAPTER-2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ON ANALYSIS OF SLAB AND YIELD LINE THEORY

2.1.1 Yield Line Theory

Yield line theory was first proposed by Johansen (1943, L962). From its
inception till now, it has passed several stages. He has solved Many problems
pertaining to the ultimate strength of RC slabs subjected to uniformly distributed or
point loads. The theory was compared with test results also. This wark was closely
followed by Wood.R.H (Jones and Wood 1967; Wood.R.H 1951) where the
fundamentals and the development taken during that period was corraled. Also, the
necessity of the membrane analysis and the serviceability critercn needed for
designing the slab was outlined. In due course of time, there have ben considerable
development in the yield line theory.
Hognestad (1953) emphasized that the design based on the yiedstrength must
be supplemented by a check under serviceability criteria and this may be achieved by
specifying minimum value of percentage of reinforcement and the slab thickness
based on stiffness criterion. He also gave an important conclusion that te influence of
the comer levers has only small effect in case of regular rectangular sbte and is about
9 percentage. However, in triangular slabs the absence of comer lev^r may increase
by
the yield moment.20 to 35 percentage. Publication by Park and Gamble (1980) gave
A
weighty information about the design of RC slabs foe various conditions and the
ultimate strength of slabs with opening at various positions was also derived.
Yield line design of the slabs has been revised by Sidney mi Amin Ghali
(1976) and methods of designing RC slabs of different shapes subjeccd to uniformly
distributed and concentrated load have been given. In the design procedure for slabs,
the major difference between limit design and traditional procedure i- in determining
the distribution of bending moments in the slab corresponding to £ given factored
load. All other steps such as choosing thickness, checking punching shear and
computing required flexural reinforcement follow standard procedures. It has been
shown that reinforced concrete slabs could be designed economically using the yield -

5
line method. It was also pointed out that the slab could be designed far serviceability
condition by providing the required reinforcement.
An analytical approach, based on the experimental data, was msed by Ghalib
(1980) to determine the ultimate moment carrying capacity and the cracking moments
of fiber reinforced concrete slabs subjected to central concentrated lead and were
simply supported at the comers. An equation was given in terms ef the splitting
tensile strength of the fiber reinforced concrete and the thickness of the slab. The
analytical predictions fitted well with the experimental data of both the one way and
two-way slabs of eight numbers. The ultimate moment was found by the equation
7
mu = — asD2, where os is splitting tensile strength of standard cylinder of fiber

reinforced concrete and D is slab thickness.

Based on a parametric study, David (1988) analyzed 344 slabs and
recommended several modifications to the current code of provision. He has
suggested the simple relation hmin = ln / 30 ( where hram is the minimum thickness
required; ln the span of the slab) for the minimum thickness of the slab. For various
cases this equation was modified by a factor and it was given in his paper.
A new experimental technique for testing small-scale ci»c»lar slabs by
applying uniformly distributed loads was described by Chen (1990). Oil pressure was
applied in a controlled closed-loop test set up for giving uniformly distributed load.
This test set up was found to be more effective than applying discrete point loads for
applying uniformly distributed load.
Simple equations were developed to obtain the strength of arthotropic slabs
supported on four or three sides, subjected to uniformly distributed load and for
various boundary conditions using yield line method by Goli.H-B (2000). A
trapezoidal reinforced concrete balcony slab was analyzed and designed by using
yield line method by Sudhakar (2005). Virtual work methods for selected cases were
presented by him. Analysis and design examples were also presented using
tables/charts for various parameters.
Comprehensive design guidance for some common slab elements have been
compiled by Kennedy and Goodchild (2004). In recent years, optimization techniques
such as linear and non-linear programming have ' also been used in tracing the
optimum yield line pattern to get ultimate load carrying capacity of 1C slabs (Islam
1994; Johnson 1996; Thavalingam 1998, 1999;) . Two methods, namely, normal

6
moment and skew moment methods have been demonstrated by Quintas (2003), and
he found that the skew moment method gave accurate solutions in obtakiing ultimate
load when compared to the classical method. Kwan (2004) developed Dip and Strike
angle method for tracing the optimum yield line pattern to get ultimate load carrying
capacity of R.C slabs, even for complex shapes.

2.1.2 Membrane Analysis

Membrane analysis has been carried out by many researches and it has been
found that during the initial stage of the loading, the compressive mendbrane action is
predominant. Once the slab snaps through, the membrane force changes from
compressive to tensile. Significant work on the membrane analysis was carried out by
Park.R. He (1964b) developed a theory for the load carried at large defections by the
tensile membrane action of uniformly loaded rectangular slabs with edged restrained
against all translations. It assumed that the reinforcement acted as a plastic membrane.
The load carried by the tensile membrane action was found to be considerable and for
heavily reinforced slabs it exceeded the flexural ultimate strength. Based on tests on
35 slabs with various long span to short span ratios, span to dearth ratios, and
reinforcement contents, with edges restrained, Park showed that Johansens yield line
theory under estimated the ultimate strength. Tests on interior panels of conventional
slab and beam floors showed that the edge restrained provided by the stiffness of the
surrounding panels was sufficient to enforce considerable compressive membrane
action (1964b). If this enhanced load carrying capacity of the interior panels of slab
and beam floor is available, it would seem that the design of such panels by yield line
theory neglecting the membrane action induced by the stiffness of the surrounding
panels is very conservative. It was found that the compressive membrane action was
significant, especially in the case of thin RC slab with its edges laterally restrained.
However, even with the reduced compressive membrane action, the ultimate load may
still be considerably greater than that given by Johansen’s yield line theory.
Park (1964c) suggested an empirical value for the ultimate deflection to be 0.5
times the slab thickness. Tests conducted by Leslie (1989) revealed that this estimate
was somewhat large for the thicker slabs used in protective construction. Therefore, a
better estimate of the peak capacity deflection is needed for an accurate analysis
of the compressive membrane behaviour of slabs. Tests on twenty smal-scale mortar
models (Park 1965) of idealized nine panel slab-and-beam floors with the interior

7
panel uniformly loaded showed that lateral stiffness and strength of surrounding
panels and beams had to be examined very closely while designing the imterior panels.
It was shown that tie reinforcement may be required in the supporting beams to carry
the membrane forces. The tests illustrated the modes of failure of exterior panels with
insufficient reinforcement to resist the reactive forces due to the membrane action of
the interior panel. The ultimate loads of interior panels of the slabs with adequately
reinforced panels showed good agreement with the theory he developed.
Another important observation that was made by Park (l*54b) was that
cracking of the unloaded surface did not become visible until at least 32% of the
ultimate load had been applied in the ease of slabs with one end restrained against
movement and all the other three edges simply supported, and this was 42% in the
ease of slabs with all the edge restrained. The deflection curve showed that at one-
third of the ultimate load, the central deflection was never greater tlmn 1/500 of the
short span.
A rigid perfectly plastic analysis of a simply supported square slab carrying
uniformly distributed load leads to a relatively simple expression for tie yield load
corresponding to any central deflection of the slab (Kemp 1967). Kemp assumed to
have rigid, perfectly plastic properties and to yield under the action of bending
moment M and a compressive axial force N, taken to act at the mid dqah of the slab.
Kemp predicted that savings of reinforcement of 20% in lightly reinforced and 10% in
heavily reinforced slabs would be possible in design when the membrane action was
taken into account.
Apart from the membrane action there could be some other reason that could
increase the ultimate flexural moment carrying capacity of the slab (Gene Alan 1965).
They are: a) Small variation in placing of the reinforcement will have a large effect on
the yield moment for; b) The concrete is assumed to take no tension, but actually may
not be true; c) There may be increase in strength of the reinforcement beyond the
yield point; d) There is always possible that some other yield line patterns exist
which is more dangerous than the assumed one.

2.1.3 Lower Bound Solution

Since the yield line theory is an upper bound solution, there were researches on lower
bound solution also. The lower bound theory was proposed by Kemp (1962) where a
distribution of bending and twisting moment in the slab could be found which

8
satisfies equilibrium and the boundary condition and which does not exceed the yield
line criterion at any point. This distribution constitutes a valid lower bond solution to
the collapse load. This is essentially a safe solution since true collapse load may be
greater or equal to the calculated value. This usefulness of the lower kaund solution,
however, is not restricted to providing a lower limit to the true collapse load of the
slab. A lower bound solutions to the collapse load of a uniformly loaded isotropically
reinforced rectangular slab with two opposite sides continuous and the other sides
simply supported was developed by Holmes (1964). This solution was cnmpared with
the upper bound values over a wide range of values for the ratio of is sides of the
slab, and the agreement was shown to be within 8%. This solution cai be used to
determine the distribution of moments in the slab and the loads traismitted to the
perimeter beams.
Tests on ten two-way spanning, simply supported, reinforced concrete slabs
done by Taylor (1966) revealed that the variation in the arrangement <rf bars had no
effect on the moment carrying capacity of the slabs. These slabs were designed to
have similar ultimate loads, but different arrangements of the reinforcements were
adopted. It was expected that slabs with variable reinforcement (and so with a
concentration of bars in the region undergoing maximum deflection) would have
higher enhancement of load than the corresponding slab with uniform ceinforcement.
This was not so, perhaps because the low percentage of reinforcement in the comers
permitted greater rotation about the yield lines in this region and so a greater tendency
for the concrete to crush in the compression zone. Certainly, the cashing of the
concrete along the diagonals in these slabs tended to be heavier and to spread more
rapidly than in the uniformly reinforced slabs.

2.1.4 Strip Method

Strip method of designing the slabs is another important philosophy of design

proposed by Hillerborg. It is a powerful design method giving excellent result for the
designer. This method was critically examined and modifications were proposed by
Wood (1968). Hillerborgs simple strip method provides an exact sokition for the
collapse load of a slab carrying distributed load if the reinforcement were made to fit
ideally. Points load may be treated as local concentration of distributed load.
Wood and Armer (1968) had proposed a very simple solution to the problem
of point loads by suggesting use of strong bands which distribute the loads. This

9
approach undoubtedly avoids complexity but there are at least two important
objections to it. The choice of the width of the strong bands is difficult to make. If the
bands chosen are too wide, the redistribution of load required in the slab may be more
than what the slab is capable of withstanding without undesirable local damage at
working loads. If too narrow, then the reinforcement is heavily concentrated.
Secondly, the region of the slab outside the strong band is unloaded and effectively
ignored. Only nominal reinforcement would be provided in this region which in some
slabs would form a significant proportion of the total area. This difficulty was sorted
out by allowing the designer to choose a distribution pattern for the vertical shear
forces rather than the applied loads (Kemp 1971). Although it involve more work
than the strong band approach, the method is simple in concept and appears to be
versatile. It should also give more realistic bending moment fields, and therefore
reinforcement layout with consequently less chance of local damage under working
loads.
A new method called direct design method was proposed by Abdel Wahid
(1986). At the ultimate load, it is necessary that the stress distribution in the slab be in
equilibrium with the external loads. In the direct design procedure, the factored
stresses at elastic state were used for design. This was a computer aided design
without the intervention of the designer. This assumption leads to the following
equation for the calculation of the steel area Ast to resist the given moment M*

1- 1.0

i l feud ,

Where Ast = area of steel per unit width to resist M*

d = effective depth of the salb
fcu = cube strength of concrete
fy = yield strength of the steel
M* = design moment per unit width
The slab designed on this basis behaved satisfactorily both at the working load and at
the limit load levels. His tests showed that the behaviour of slabs was found to be
satisfactory both at working and at ultimate loads.

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2.1.5 Serviceability Problems and Deflections

Use of the ultimate strength method of design for R.C slabs poses
serviceability problems. Excessive cracking and deflection under working loads may
occur in slabs designed by the methods such as yield line and strip melkod, since the
percentage of the reinforcement in such slabs is comparatively low. The codes do
permit some values of crack width which are tolerable. However, an exact theoretical
value of defection in a cracked slab is difficult to calculate. A method for predicting
the deflections of reinforced concrete slabs from zero load to failure, taking account
of the effect of the membrane forces produced by the slab flexure wag reported by
Moy (1972). An empirical formula for deflection in slabs which have necked, based
on the experimental values obtained in a series of tested slabs, was pressed in terms
of the flexural rigidity and the cracked moment of inertia of the section ( Shukla
1976).
Immediate deflection of uncracked two-way slab systems can he determined
using plate-bending theory for elastic thin plates (ACI committee 1991). Load
deflection response is governed by the plate equation:

d4a d4a d4a w

—t + 2-—;—r + —r=—
dx4 dx2dy dy D

_ awl4 _ awl4
D ~Eh2/\2(l-v2)

Where a = coefficient depending on the boundary conditions and aspectratio

u = poison ratio
a = deflection of the plate
h = depth of the slab
1 = longer span length
w = uniform transverse load
x,y = orthogonal co-ordinate axes of the middle surface

Solutions of the plate equation for various geometries and support conditions have
been given by Timoshenko and Woinowsky-Krieger (1959). Sirnee closed-form
solutions of the plate equation are available for only a limited number of cases,
alternative solution procedures are required for more practical situations. Park (1964c)
suggested an empirical value for the ultimate deflection to be 0.5 times the slab
thickness. Test results by Hung and Nawy (1971) have shown that the deflection at
ultimate load can vary between 0.4 and 1.0 times the slab thickness.

11
 Rangan (1976, 1986) described an approximate method of fortfce calculation
of the deflection of flat plates and flat slabs in which the column and middle strips
were treated as continuous beams, with the middle strip considered to be supported by
adjacent column strips running perpendicular to the middle strip. For the purpose of
computing long- term deflections, the column-beam strip was consida-ed to be fully
cracked and the middle-beam strip was only partially cracked. Once the end moments
and mid span moments have been obtained for a column or middle strip, the
deflection for the strip could be calculated using the elastic beam deflection equation.
Desai et al( 1992a, 1992b) proposed a method to determine the deflection based on the
span to effective depth ratios of simply supported as well as contimwiB rectangular
slabs. They computed the total deflection of the slab as the sum of the sfcort-term and
long-term deflection. The calculation of short term deflection proposed by him
depends on the value of co-efficient (a) given by Timoshenko (1959). Shivakumar
(2005) reported that, for the deflection calculation for slabs resting »n the beams ,
Gilbert’s (1985) method was found to be easy among the other methods he compared.
The finite element method can be used to analyze plates with irregular support
and loading conditions. Effects of beams and columns can be included, and a number
of general purpose computer programs are available for elastic analysis of plate
systems. Although the method is becoming increasiagly popular in engineering
practice, some skill is required to select an appropriate finite element rsdel, develop
an appropriate mesh, prepare computer input data, and interpret the respite.
However, an experiment of long term testing of large scale reinforced flat slab
structures subjected to sustained service loads for periods of up to 750 days revealed
that measured long time deflection was found to be many times the initial short time
deflection (Gilbert 2005). This was due primarily to the loss of stiffiies associated
with the time-depended cracking under the combined influence of trars verse load and
drying shrinkage. This effect is not accounted adequately in the current code of
practices for deflection calculation and control.
When the slabs were reinforced with welded wire fabric, it was found that the
concrete cover to the main reinforcement had no influence on crack spacings(Lee
1989). However, the surface crack width increased as the concrete cover was
increased. These cracks were completely independent of bond between steel and
concrete (Beeby 1971).

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2.1.6. Slabs Subjected to Punching Shear/ Concentrated Load

Most current design methods for reinforced concrete slabs subjected to

concentrated loading require that tension reinforcement be provided t« resist flexural
actions based either on elastic thin plate theory or yield line theory. Experimental
work on full-scale structures and laboratory specimens has shown thd the flexural
performance of slabs, generally, is considerably better than that predicted by these
analyses (Richard 1989). The membrane compressive forces under a central
concentrated load were found to be concentrated in a slab strip widii of 5/8 of the
clear span on each side of the load. Seventeen reinforced concrete sides were tested
by Marzouk (1991) to investigate the deformation and strength characteristics of
punching shear failure of high-strength concrete slabs. The tested specimens had
different slab thickness and reinforcement ratio varying between 0.49 to 2.33
percentage. Marzouk’s test results revealed that high strength concrete slabs exhibited
a more brittle failure than normal strength concrete. Experimental results indicated
that as the level of reinforcement increased, the punching strength ®f the slab also
increased. The deformation of high strength concrete slabs that failed ±ie to flexural
punching were larger than those that failed due to punching failure.
Experimental investigation on the behaviour of partially restrained slabs with
isotropic reinforcement subjected to concentrated load (I-Kunag 1994) had revealed
that the load carrying capacity of the thick slab depended on concrete sbength and the
thickness. The amount of steel did not significantly affect the load capacity. But, for
thin slabs the load carrying capacity was primarily dominated by flexurd capacity. At
failure, the membrane action of all slabs was tensile. Slabs having lower
reinforcement content exhibited greater intensity and longer existence »f the state of
compressive membrane action if they had the same span-to-depth ratio and thickness.
Test results involving 30 reinforced concrete slabs with and without shear
reinforcement, subjected to concentrated load in the middle (Papanikdaou 2005) has
revealed that bent-up bars were found to be more effective compared to the closed
stirrups in increasing the punching shear strength of the flat slabs.
Magnitude of the flexural strength had in itself no direct physical relation to
the punching failure mechanism (Philippe 1998). It reflects, rather, several other
important influences such as distribution of cracking amount or elongation of the
tensile reinforcement, magnitude of compressive stress, and depth of the neutral axis

13
at failure. The difference between these two failures is established as follows
(Philippe 1998) : 1) A flexural failure is due to the formation of a yield-line
mechanism, and on the contrary, a punching failure is due to formatio* rf a punching
cone; and 2) The load carrying capacity is progressively reduced after flexural failure,
and is suddenly decreased after punching failure.
Concrete plates designed for structures such as bridge decks or the hulls of
concrete barges and pontoons, may be subjected to combination of in-plane and
transverse loading. A method given by Aghayere (1990, 1991) may be used for
designing such structures.

2.1.7 Slabs with Opening

For slabs with opening, Lash and Baneijee(1967) produced ultimate load
equations for uniformly loaded square slabs with central square opening. Assuming
isotropic reinforcement, and that the comers of the opening he on the sfab diagonals,
simple design equations for the determination of the correct collapse mechanism and
the required ultimate moment was given by Zaslavsky (1967). He has shown that, in
the usual practical cases of openings (k < 0.3; where k is the ratio of the dimension of
the opening to the dimension of the slab), the carrying capacity is reduced by not
more than 12% compared with a solid slab. The same condision should
approximately apply to cases where the comers of the opening are somewhat off the
diagonals.
Islam and Park’s (1971) extensive work brought out the solution for ultimate
flexural strength for rectangular slabs with an opening at various positions, viz., at the
centre, at a comer, and at the middle of either a longer or shorter edgp. The ratios of
the length/breadth of the slab and the corresponding dimensions of the opening were
kept the same and the size of the opening of up to 0.6 of the length of tie sides was
analyzed. The edges of the slabs were assumed to be either fixed or all simply
supported. It was found, that, for slabs with central opening, the largest reduction in
the theoretical ultimate load per unit area was about 13 percentage when k = 0 to 0.2.
For slabs with opening that existed at comer and simply supported, i»e maximum
reduction in the theoretical ultimate load was up to 21% when k = 0.3 to 0.5. This was
11 percentage, if the opening is placed at the centre of a short side of tm slab for k =
0.3 to 0.4. When the opening was at the centre of a long side and simply supported,
the maximum reduction in the ultimate load per unit area was about 22 percent when

14
k = 0.5. Veerendra kumar ( 2001, 2004a, 2004b) extended the w«rk to find the
ultimate load carrying capacity of slabs with central and comer opening for different
boundary conditions. The ratios of the corresponding length of the sides of the
opening and the slab were kept the same.

2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ON STRENGTHENING OF SLABS

In recent years, due to invention of new materials, significant aesearch works

have taken place in strengthening and rehabilitation of the concrete structures.
Strengthening and rehabilitation of the work pertaining to slabs taken in the near past
are reported in this section.
Strengthening technique of two-way slabs using steel plates and steel bolts
was suggested (Ebead 2001). Steel bolts were inserted in the concrete mass around the
column, while steel plates were bonded to the concrete surface at the upper and lower
sides of the slab using epoxy resin and with the aid of the tightened steel bolts and
nuts. The integration of steel plates, steel bolts and the confining pressure on the slab
make up this strengthening technique successful. The strengthened slats showed an
increase in stiffness and energy absorption. In addition, the ductility slightly
improved. Strengthening of slabs externally by epoxy bonded FRP composite strips
around the cutouts showed that the externally bonded FRP strips regained the flexural
capacity of the slab (Alvaro 2003). Also, FRP strips reduces strain levels in the steel
and results in the development of a more desirable cracking pattern. Placing the sheets
diagonally to the comers of the opening was found to be ineffective.
Experimental results from six prototype one way RC slabs with opening
strengthened with externally bonded fiber reinforcement polymer systems and
subjected to concentrated line loads (Kiang 2004) showed that opening width had
more prominent effect on the load-carrying capacity than does the opening length.
The results were compared with those of a solid slab without opening and a slab with
an un-strengthened opening. An analytical model based on the yield line method was
also presented and found to give values close to the experimental load values. The
strengthening with Glass/ Carbon FRP was also effective for slabs that were subjected
to concentrated load (Sherif 2005). It was observed that the maximum load carrying
capacity was more than three times the design factored load. Also, maximum crack
width and defections at service load were below the allowable code limite.

15
 Thin bonded overlays are often considered as an economical approach for
repairing several types of concrete degradation (Martin 2005). This technique
involves removing only the deteriorated concrete and replacing it with a thin bonded
concrete layer. This study involves mechanical response of overbid reinforced
concrete slab panels under cyclic loading. The behaviour of bonded overlays used to
repair reinforced concrete slabs was found to be strongly influenced by repair
location. If the overlay was located in a zone subjected to compressive flexural
stresses, the risk of interlayer delamination was low. Under these conditions, it was
found that the substrate/overlay composite preserved a monolithic response, and the
structural capacity was maintained until the end of the cyclic loading. M" the repair was
situated in a zone subjected to tensile flexural stresses, the normal stores generated
at the interface can result in an interlayer delamination at the interface under cyclic
loading. This intensity of damage depends on overlay configuration (Type of
concrete, overlay thickness, and presence of reinforcing bars in the ovalay)

2.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ON FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF SLABS

ACI Committee recommends (ACI Committee 1991) FE analysis to predict

the behaviour of RC slabs. Although the method is popular in engineaing practice,
some skill is required to select an appropriate finite element model, develop an
appropriate mesh, prepare computer input data, and interpret the Ksults. Many
researches have been carried out in the recent past which includes predicting the
ultimate strength of slabs for different boundary conditions and loading patterns.
The layered finite element method is capable of giving very gaed predictions
of the ultimate behaviors (material states, failure load, deflection at failure, crack
pattern, and propagation) of reinforced concrete slabs under soft mpulsive loads
(Ayaho 1991). The calculations gave results that were in good agreeme»t with actual
phenomena of soft impulsive loadings. The failure mechanism at the ultimate states
was also predicted and found to be in good agreement with the actual phenomenon.
The model developed based on layered, degenerate shell elements found to be
suitable for the analysis of slabs for shear and flexure behaviour (IVfarb 1998). The
most significant conclusion that comes from that research is that it is passible to use
layered plate and shell elements for modeling structures where transveise shear can be
responsible for the failure mechanism. The higher order elements (fuadratic) make
the formulation practical for global analyses of structures.

16
 A series of numerical predictions of over 850 “computer mofeT slabs were
undertaken, varying the geometric and material properties, as well as the
reinforcement ratios (Famlyesin.0.0 1998). Various combinations of geometric and
strength properties such as width to depth ratio, aspect ratio, steel yield strength,
concrete compressive strength and reinforcement ratio, were used for the predictions.
The result was used for developing charts that were used for the strength and
displacement determination of arbitrary fully restrained slabs. Such values have been
found to be close with the experimental results. The finite element program used for
the analysis, in his paper, was based on a 3D degenerated layered shell element
formulation, each element having 8 or 9 nodes, and each node having five degrees of
freedom, three translational and two rotational degrees of freedom. Tke program had
facilities for full, selective, and reduced numerical integration, and a layered approach
was used to represent the steel reinforcement and discretize the concrete slab through
the thickness. The reinforcing steel was represented as a smeared layer of equivalent
thickness with uniaxial strength and rigidity properties. The slabs were idealized with
3D generated, 8-noded shell element. Limit load equations for partially restrained
slabs through FE analysis were also given by Olufumi (2002).
Discrete modeling of RC slabs provides more realistic representation of steel
than the layered approach. However, it is more expensive in terms of time for
analysis, since large number of degrees of freedom is required. This is of particular
concern in nonlinear analysis. Layered model of RC slab is simple, provided a
realistic representation of the reinforcing steel could be made. Since reinforcement is
discrete, only highly reinforced slab can be appropriately modeled by the layered
approach. In this approach the incorporation of bond slip can be achieved only
artificially. A new finite element for the non-linear analysis of reinforced concrete
slabs was proposed by Kitjapat (2005). The element consisted of four made Kirchhoff
shell element for concrete and with two node Euler beam element for the slab
reinforcement. The connectivity between beam element and concrete shell element
was achieved by means of rigid link. It was found that this model agreed well with the
experimental results, especially in the case of lightly reinforced slabs.
Desai and Abel (1972) reported that the exact type of tw«-dimensional
analysis can be used for modeling three-dimensional configurations ia low Poisson’s
ratio materials like concrete.

17
2.4 CONCLUSION

The following conclusions could be derived from the literature review mlated to the
behaviour and ultimate strength of R.C slabs with opening.

1. Generalized analytical or numerical procedures for predicting the ultimate strength

of the slabs with opening and different boundary conditions are still lacking. Hence,
here, an attempt is made to produce a method to predict the ultimate bad carrying
capacity of square and rectangular slabs (four edge supported) with opening at various
locations, viz., non-central opening, opening at a comer, opening tangential to either
longer or shorter edge. The model proposed is fit for all boundary conditions and any
size and location of the opening which was not so in the earlier research^.
2. There has been a scarcity in the experimental work in studying the behaviour and
the ultimate strength of slabs with opening at various positions. This p»int was also
raised by Kiang (2004).
3. More theories and analyses have been carried out by the Finite Element Method in
the recent past, but most of them are yet to be inducted in the commeicklly available
FE packages.

18