Slabs

Reinforced concrete slabs are large flat plates that are supported by reinforced concrete
beams, walls, or columns; by masonry walls; by structural steel beams or columns; or by
the ground.
If they are supported on two opposite sides only, they are referred to as one-way slabs
because the bending is in one direction only—that is, perpendicular to the supported edges.
Should the slab be supported by beams on all four edges, it is referred to as a two-way slab
because the bending is in both directions. Actually, if a rectangular slab is supported on all
four sides, but the long side is two or more times as long as the short side, the slab will, for
all practical purposes, act as a one-way slab, with bending primarily occurring in the short
direction. Such slabs are designed as one-way slabs. You can easily verify these bending
moment ideas by supporting a sheet of paper on two opposite sides or on four sides.

Flat plate without edge

beams
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Two-way slabs bend under load into dish-shaped surfaces, so there is bending in both
principal directions. As a result, they must be reinforced in both directions by layers of bars
that are perpendicular to each other.
The design of two-way slabs is generally based on empirical moment coefficients, which,
although they might not accurately predict stress variations, result in slabs with satisfactory
overall safety factors. In other words, if too much reinforcing is placed in one part of a slab
and too little somewhere else, the resulting slab behavior will probably still be satisfactory.
The total amount of reinforcement in a slab seems more important than its exact placement.
Designers may design slabs on the basis of numerical solutions, yield-line analysis, or other
theoretical methods, provided that it can be clearly demonstrated that they have met all the
necessary safety and service ability criteria required.
Reinforced concrete slabs are used in floors, roofs and walls of buildings and as decks of
bridges. Slabs may span in one direction or in two directions and they may be supported
on monolithic concrete beams, steel beams, walls or directly by the structure’s columns.
Continuous slabs should be designed to withstand the most unfavourable arrangements of
loads, in the same manner as beams. As for beams, bending moment coefficients, as given
in table 12, may be used for one-way spanning slabs. In addition, table 12 should be used
when there are at least three spans but do not differ in length by more than 15 percent.
The moments in slabs spanning in two directions can also be determined using coefficients
in table 26 and table 27. Slabs which are not rectangular in plan or which support an
irregular loading arrangement may be analysed by techniques such as the yield line.
Concrete slabs behave primarily as flexural members and the design is similar to that for
beams, although in general it is somewhat simpler because
1. The breadth of the slab is already fixed and a unit breadth of 1 m is used in the
calculations
2. The shear stresses are usually low in a slab except when there are heavy
concentrated loads, and
3. Compression reinforcement is seldom required.

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Structural action of one-way and two-way slabs

One-way slabs transfer the imposed loads in one direction only. They may be supported on
two opposite sides only [Fig. 1.1(a)], in which the structural action is essentially one-way,
the loads being carried in direction perpendicular to the supporting beams or walls.
But rectangular slabs often have such proportions and supports (e.g., relatively deep, stiff
monolithic concrete beams) that result in two-way action [Fig. 1.1(b)]. At any point, such
slabs are curved in both directions resulting in biaxial bending moments. It is convenient
to think of such slabs as consisting of two sets of parallel strips, in each direction and
intersecting each other. So part of the load is carried by one set and the remainder by the
other.

Note:
If the ratio of longer to shorter dimension of a slab is either equal to or less than 2, the
slab behaves as a two way. If the ratio of longer to shorter dimension of a slab is greater
than 2, the slab behaves a one way.
BEHAVIOR OF SLABS LOADED TO FAILURE IN FLEXURE

For a two-way slab loaded to failure in flexure, there are different stages of behavior to be
discussed:
1. Before cracking, the slab acts as an elastic plate, and for short-time loads, the
deformations, stresses, and strains can be predicted from an elastic analysis.
2. After cracking and before yielding of the reinforcement, the slab no longer has a constant
stiffness because the cracked regions have a lower flexural stiffness, EI, than the uncracked
regions; and the slab is no longer isotropic because the crack pattern may differ in the two
directions. Although these conditions violate the assumptions in the elastic theory, tests

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indicate that the elastic theory still predicts the moments adequately. Generally, normal
building slabs are partially cracked under service loads.
Due to shear force, inclined tension is developed in concrete in the support regions. The
inclined tension so developed is called diagonal tension. The diagonal tension can cause
inclined cracks in concrete in the support regions. Thus, alternate main bars in a slab are
cranked in the support regions to resist diagonal tension.
Note: In a slab, only main bars are cranked whereas distribution bars are not cranked. Thus,
in a two-way reinforced slab both set of main bars are cranked.
In a slab there is no need for shear reinforcement. Further in a slab it is not necessary to
determine minimum area of tensile reinforcement.
Check for deflection and development length can be made in the same manner as in the
case of singly reinforced section. Lastly, when it is required to design a slab for a given
span then, we have no other choice but to design a one-way reinforced slab.

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Column and Middle Strips

Two-way slabs take various forms. For relatively light loads, as experienced in apartments
or similar buildings, flat plates are used. As shown in Fig., such a plate is simply a slab of
uniform thickness supported on columns. In an apartment building, the top of the slab
would be carpeted, and the bottom of the slab would be finished as the ceiling for the story
below. Flat plates are most economical for spans from 15 to 20 ft.

For longer spans, the thickness required for the shear transfer of vertical loads to the
columns exceeds that required for flexural strength. As a result, the concrete at the middle
of the panel is not used efficiently. To lighten the slab, reduce the slab moments, and save
material, the slab at midspan can be replaced by intersecting ribs, as shown in Fig. Note
that, near the columns, the full depth is retained for shear transfer of loads from the slab to
the columns. This type of slab is known as a waffle slab (or a two-way joist system) and is
formed with fiberglass or metal “dome” forms. Waffle slabs are used for spans from 25 to
40 ft.

For heavy industrial loads, the flat slab system shown in Fig. may be used. Here, the shear
transfer to the column is accomplished by thickening the slab near the column with drop
panels or by flaring the top of the column to form a column capital. Drop panels commonly

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extend about one-sixth of the span in each direction away from the column, giving extra
strength and stiffness in the column region while minimizing the amount of concrete at
midspan.

Slab systems may incorporate beams between some or all of the columns.

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General Design Considerations

1. L/d ratio CL 24.1

Since slabs are provided with less pt (0.3%), higher values are assumed, kt = 1.25
One way
Simply supported Slabs = 20 x1.25 = 25
Cantilever = 7 x1.25 =8
Continuous = 26 x 1.25 =32
Two Way (Short span to be considered)
Simply Supported = 35
Continuous (Restrained) = 40
2. Minimum Slab Thickness = 100mm. (practical)
3. Clear Cover=20 mm (Table 16A)
4. Rebar Dia: #8, #10, #12
5. Maximum Rebar Dia = (1/8) xD CL 26.5.2.2
6. Minimum Ast CL 26.5.2.1
0.12% of Total C/S area – HYSD
0.15% of Total C/S area – MS
7. Maximum Spacing CL 26.3.3 (b)
Main Reinforcement:
< Min (3d or 300 mm)
Temperature and shrinkage reinforcement (Distribution)
< Min (5d or 450 mm)
Placed perpendicular to main bars
above main bars for sagging moments
below main bars for Hogging moments
Bar Marks
8. Rebar Shapes

Straight Bars at Bottom for Sagging Moments (CONTINUOUS EDGE)

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Straight Bars at Top for Hogging moments (Continuous Edge)

Straight bars with Hooks (Discontinuous Edge)

Bent-up bars used to resist both sagging and Hogging moments. (Not much preferred)

U -bars used for corner reinforcement in two way restrained slabs

9. Bar marks
Bar marks are short lines drawn at 450 at the ends of rebars
They are used to distinguish rebar lines from other lines in drawing.
Also the directions indicate the positioning of rebars in slabs - whether to be placed at
bottom or at top.
10. Shear Reinforcement
Not provided
Shear strength = k τc; k as per CL 40.2.1.1 and τc from Table 19
if τv > k τc Increase depth
11. Design basis
Slabs are designed as beams, considering 1M width of slab as representative design strip.

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