Basics of Reinforced Concrete Slab Design

 Slabs are generally designed on the assumption that they consists of a

number of beams of breadth ‘one meter’.
Effective Span
The effective span of a simply supported slab shall be taken as the
lesser of the following:
• Distance between the centers of bearings,
• Clear span plus effective depth
Fig. shows slab
Thickness of Slab

The following table gives the maximum values of the ratio of span to
depth.
Type of slab Ratio of span to depth

Simply supported and spanning in one direction 30

Continuous and spanning in one direction 35

Simply supported and spanning in two directions 35

Continuous and spanning in two directions 40

Cantilever slabs 12
Reinforcement
• Minimum reinforcement in either direction shall be 0.15 percent of total
cross-sectional area.
Main reinforcement which is based on the maximum bending moment shall
not be less than 0.15 per cent of the gross sectional area. The pitch of the
main bars shall not exceed the following:
• Three times the effective depth of slab, and
• 45 cm.
Distribution bars are running at right angles to the main reinforcement and
the pitch shall not exceed-;
• Five times the effective depth of slab, and
• 45 cm
The diameter of main bars may be from 8 mm to 14 mm. for distribution
bars, steel 6 mm or 8 mm are generally used.
Cover of Reinforcement:

The minimum cover to outside of main bars shall not be less than the
following:
• 15 mm and
• Diameter of the main bar.
Steps to be followed in the design of slab

1. Assuming suitable bearings (not less than 10cm), find the span of
the slab between the centers of bearings.
2. Assume the thickness of slab (take 4 cm per meter run of the span).
3. Find the effective span which is lesser of-;
(i) distance between centres of bearings, and
(ii) clear span and effective depth.
4. Find the dead load and the live load per square meter of the slab.
5. Determine the maximum bending moment for a one meter wide
strip of the slab.
Bending Moments

The maximum bending moment per meter width of slab=

Where, w = total load intensity per square meter of the slab.

1. Equate the balanced moment of resistance to the maximum bending

moment equation:
Find the effective depth ‘d’ from the above equation.
Calculate the main reinforcement per meter width

For M15 concrete, lever arm = 0.87 d

Spacing of bar =
 HOW ABOUT CONTINUOUS SLAB ?
Suppose a slab is supported at the ends and also at intermediate points
on beams, the maximum sagging and hogging moments to which the
slab is subjected to due to uniformly distributed load, can be computed
as follows:
 Let = intensity of dead load per square meter.
 = intensity of live load per square meter.
Bending moment due to dead load and live load may be taken as
follows (IS: 456 – 2000)
Bending moment due to dead load and live
load may be taken as follows (IS: 456 – 2000)
 Part 1:
Reinforced Concrete Slab Design and Detailing
Guide As Per IS456: 2000
Reinforced concrete slab design and detailing guidelines for depth of
slab, loads on slab, reinforcement guide for one-way and two-way slabs
as per IS 456:2000 have been tried to present here.

Following are the RCC Slab Design and Detailing guidelines-;

a) Effective span of slab:

The Effective span of slab shall be lesser of the followings two options-;
 L = clear span + d (effective depth)
 L = Center to center distance between the support
Reinforced Concrete Slab Design Guidelines
b) Depth of slab:
 The depth of slab depends on bending moment and
deflection criterion. the trail depth can be obtained using:
(a) Effective depth d= Span /((L/d)Basic x modification factor)
 For obtaining modification factor, the percentage of steel for slab can
be assumed from 0.2 to 0.5%.
(b)The effective depth d of two way slabs can also be assumed using
cl.24.1,IS 456 provided short span is <3.5m and loading class is
<3.5KN/m2
 See the table 1.1 below
Table 1.1.Estimation of effective depth of slab
Type of support Fe-250 Fe-415

Simply supported L/35 L/28

Continuous support L/40 L/32

Or, the following thumb rules can be used:
 One way slab d=(L/22) to (L/28).

 Two way simply supported slab d=(L/20) to (L/30)

 Two way restrained slab d=(L/30) to (L/32)

c) Load on slab:

 The load on slab comprises of Dead load, floor finish and live load. The
loads are calculated per unit area (load/m2).

 Dead load = h x 25 kN/m2 ( Where h is thickness of slab in m)

 Floor finish (Assumed as)= 1 to 2 kN/m2

 Live load (Assumed as) = 3 to 5 kN/m2 (depending on the occupancy of the

building)
Detailing Requirements of Reinforced Concrete Slab
as per IS456: 2000
a) Nominal Cover:
• For Mild exposure – 20 mm
• For Moderate exposure – 30 mm

However, if the diameter of bar do not exceed 12 mm, or cover may be

reduced by 5 mm. Thus for main reinforcement up to 12 mm diameter
bar and for mild exposure, the nominal cover is 15 mm.
b) Minimum reinforcement:
The reinforcement in either direction in slab shall not be less than-;
0.15% of the total cross sectional area for Fe-250 steel
0.12% of the total cross-sectional area for Fe-415 & Fe-500 steel.
C) Spacing of bars:
The maximum spacing of bars shall not exceed-;
Main Steel – 3d or 300 mm whichever is smaller
Distribution steel –5d or 450 mm whichever is smaller Where, ‘d’ is
the effective depth of slab. Note: The minimum clear spacing of bars
is not kept less than 75 mm (Preferably 100 mm) though code do not
recommend any value.
d) Maximum diameter of bar:
• The maximum diameter of bar in slab, shall not exceed h/8, where h
is the total thickness of slab.

**THANK YOU FOR LISTENING**

 Part 2:
DETAILING OF RCC SLABS
Prepared by: Mligo Clemence
INTRODUCTION
 Reinforcement detailing of a slab is done based on its support conditions. Slab may be
supported on walls or beams or columns. Slab supported directly by columns are called
flat slab.
 Slab supported on two sides and bending takes place predominantly in one direction
only is called One Way Slab.
 On the other hand, when slab is supported on all four sides and bending take place in
two directions are said to be Two Way Slab.
 The slabs having ratio of longer length to its shorter length (Ly/Lx) greater than 2 is called
one way slab otherwise as two way slab. In one way slab main reinforcement is parallel
to shorter direction and the reinforcement parallel to longer direction is called
distribution steel. In two way slab main reinforcement is provided along both direction.
 Slabs could be simply supported, continuous or cantilever. In two way slab the corners
may be held down by restraints or may be allowed to lift up. Additional torsion
reinforcement is required at corners when it is restrained against uplifting as shown in
Fig.1.
Fig 1
SLAB THICKNESS
 Thickness of the slab is decided based on span to depth ratio
specified in IS456-2000. Minimum reinforcement is 0.12% for HYSD
bars and 0.15% for mild steel bars. The diameter of bar generally used
in slabs are: 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 12mm and 16mm.
The maximum diameter of bar In Slabs

 The maximum diameter of bar used in slab should not exceed 1/8 of
the total thickness of slab. Maximum spacing of main bar is restricted
to 3 times effective depth or 300 mm whichever is less. For
distribution bars the maximum spacing is specified as 5 times the
effective depth or 450 mm whichever is less.
Minimum clear cover to reinforcements
 Minimum clear cover to reinforcements in slab depends on the
durability criteria and this is specified in IS 456-200. Generally 15mm
to 20mm cover is provided for the main reinforcements. Alternate
main bars can be cranked near support or could be bent at 1800at the
edge and then extended at the top inside the slab as shown in Fig.1.
Curtailment and cranking of bars and is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
Torsion reinforcement
 Torsion reinforcement shall be provided at any corner where the slab is
simply supported on both edges meeting at that corner and is prevented
from lifting unless the consequences of cracking are negligible. It shall
consist of top and bottom reinforcement, each with layer of bars placed
parallel to the sides of the slab and extending from the edges a minimum
distance of one fifth (1/5Lx) of the shorter span.

 The area of reinforcement per unit width in each of these four layers shall
be three quarters (3/4 or 75%) of the area required for the maximum
midspan moment per unit width in the slab.

 Torsion reinforcement equal to half (1/2 or 50%) that described above

shall be provided at a corner contained by edges over only one of which
the slab is continuous. Torsion reinforcement to be provided is shown in
Fig. 3 below.
Fig. 3
Fig 3.continues
Fig. 4 Typical detailing of Slab spanning in
one direction (One-way slab)
Fig.5: Slab spanning in two-directions (two-
way slab)