CHAPTER 5

DESIGN OF RC SLABS
5.1 Introduction.
Slabs may be solid, ribbed, precast or in-situ and if in-situ they may span two-ways. In practice, the choice of slab for a particular structure will
largely depend upon economy, buildability, the loading conditions and the length of the span. Thus, for short spans, generally less than 5 m, the
most economical solution is to provide a solid slab of constant thickness over the complete span (Fig. 5.4).
With medium size spans from 5 to 9 m it is more economical to provide flat slabs since they are generally easier to construct (Fig. 5.2). The ease
of construction chiefly arises from the fact that the floor has a flat soffit. This avoids having to erect complicated shuttering, thereby making
possible speedier and cheaper construction. The use of flat slab construction offers a number of other advantages, absent from other flooring
systems, including reduced storey heights, no restrictions on the positioning of partitions, windows can extend up to the underside of the slab and
ease of installation of horizontal services. The main drawbacks with flat slabs are that they may deflect excessively and are vulnerable to
punching failure. Excessive deflection can be avoided by deepening slabs or by thickening the slab near the columns, using drop panels.
Punching failure arises from the fact that high live loads results in high shear stresses at the supports which may allow the columns to punch
through the slab unless appropriate steps are taken. Using deep slabs with large diameter columns, providing drop panels and/or flaring column
heads (Fig. 5.5), can avoid this problem. However, all these methods have drawbacks, and research effort has therefore been directed at finding
alternative solutions. The use of shear hoops, ACI shear stirrups, shear ladders and stud rails (Fig. 5.6) are just a few of the solutions that have
been proposed over recent years. All are designed to overcome the problem of fixing individual shear links, which is both labour intensive and a
practical difficulty.

Fig. 5.1 Floor slab as a series of beams Fig. 5.2 Flat slab.
connected transversely
Fig. 5.3 Various applications for slabs in Fig. 5.4 Solid slab
Reinforced concrete structures.
Shear hoops are prefabricated cages of shear reinforcement which are attached to the main steel. They are available in a range of diameters and
are suitable for use with internal and edge columns. Although superficially attractive, use of this system has declined significantly over recent
years.
The use of ACI shear stirrups is potentially the simplest and cheapest method of preventing punching shear in flat slabs. The shear stirrups are
arrangements of conventional straight bars and links that form a ‘+’, ‘T’ or ‘L’ shape for an internal, edge or corner column respectively. The
stirrups work in exactly the same way as conventional shear reinforcement but can simply be attached to the main steel via the straight bars.

Fig. 5.5 Methods of reducing shear stresses in flat slab construction: (a) deep slab and large column; (b) slab with flared column head; (c) slab with drop
panel and column head.
Fig. 5.6 Prefabricated punching shear reinforcement for flat slabs: (a) shear hoops (b) ACI shear stirrups (c) shear ladders (d) stud rails. Typical
arrangements for an internal column.
Shear ladders are rows of traditional links that are welded to lacer bars. The links resist the shear stresses and the lacer bars anchor the links to
the main steel. Whilst they are simple to design and use they can cause problems of congestion of reinforcement.
Stud rails are prefabricated high tensile ribbed headed studs, which are held at standard centres
by a welded spacer bar. These rails are arranged in a radial pattern and held in position during the concrete pour by tying to either the top or
bottom reinforcement. The studs work through direct mechanical anchorage provided by their heads. They are easy to install but quite expensive.
With medium to long spans and light to moderate live loads from 3 to 5 kN/m2, it is more economical to provide ribbed slabs constructed using
glass reinforced polyester, polypropylene or encapsulated expanded polystyrene moulds (Fig. 5.7). Such slabs have reduced self-weight
compared to solid slabs since part of the concrete in the tension zone is omitted. However, ribbed slabs have higher formwork costs than the
other slabs systems mentioned above and, generally, they are found to be economic in the range 8 to 12 m.
With the emphasis on speed of erection and economy of construction, the use of precast concrete floor slabs is now also popular with both
clients and designers. Fig. 5.8 shows two types of precast concrete units that can be used to form floors. The hollow core planks are very
common as they are economic over short, medium and long spans. If desired the soffit can be left exposed whereas the top is normally finished
with a levelling screed or appropriate flooring system. Cranage of large precast units, particularly in congested city centre developments, is the
biggest obstacle to this type of floor construction.
The span ranges quoted above generally assume the slab is supported along two opposite edges, i.e. it is one-way spanning (Fig. 5.9). Where
longer in-situ concrete floor spans are required it is usually more economical to support the slab on all four sides. The cost of supporting beams
or walls needs to be considered though. Such slabs are referred to as two-way spanning and are normally designed as two-dimensional plates
provided the ratio of the length of the longer side to the length of the shorter side is equal to 2 or less (Fig. 5.10)

Fig. 5.7 Ribbed slab

Fig. 5.8 Precast concrete floor units: (a) hollow core plank (b) double ‘T’ unit.
Fig. 5.9 One-way spanning solid slab: (a) plan; (b) elevation.

Fig. 5.10 Plan of two-way spanning slab. lx length of shorter side, ly length of longer side. Provided ly/lx ≤ 2 slab will span in two directions as indicated.

Fig. 5.11 Effective span of simply supported slab.

(a) the distance between centres of bearings, A, or

(b) the clear distance between supports, D, plus the effective depth, d, of the slab (Fig. 5.11).
The deflection requirements for slabs, which are the same as those for beams, will often control the depth of slab needed.
5.2 Design of one-way solid slabs
5.2.1 Depth, Bending, shear
To calculate the depth of the slab, the designer must first estimate the percentage of steel required in the slab for bending. Generally, most slabs
will be lightly reinforced, i.e. ρ < 0.5%. The percentage of reinforcement can be used, together with the support conditions, to calculate an
appropriate span/ depth ratio using equations 31 and 32 The effective depth of the slab is obtained by multiplying this ratio by the span (see
Example 16). The actual area of steel required in the slab for bending is calculated using the equations developed in sections 3.3.3 and 3.3.4.
Provided this agrees with the assumed value, the calculated depth of the slab is acceptable.
The designer will also need to check that the slab will not fail in shear. The shear resistance of the slab can be calculated as for beams. where the
design shear force (VEd) is less than the design shear resistance of the concrete alone (VRd,c) no shear reinforcement is necessary.
Where VEd > VRd,c, all the shear force must be resisted by the shear reinforcement. The actual area of shear reinforcement in slabs can be
calculated as for beams. This should not be less than the minimum value, ρw,min, given by

𝜌𝑤,𝑚𝑖𝑛 = (0.08√𝑓𝑐𝑘 )/𝑓𝑦𝑘 (59)

Moreover, the maximum transverse spacing of link reinforcement should not exceed 1.5d. also note that shear reinforcement should not be
provided in slabs less than 200 mm deep.

5.2.2 Reinforcement details for solid slabs

This section outlines requirements regarding the detailing of slabs with respect to:
1. reinforcement percentages
2. spacing of reinforcement
3. anchorage and curtailment of reinforcement
4. crack control
1. Reinforcement areas
The maximum and minimum percentages of longitudinal steel permitted in beams and slabs are the same, namely:
 𝑓𝑐𝑡𝑚
𝐴𝑠1 ≥ 0.26 𝑏 𝑑 ≥ 0.0013𝑏𝑡 𝑑
𝑓𝑦𝑘 𝑡
𝐴𝑠1 , 𝐴𝑠2 ≤ 0.04𝐴𝑐
Where
b breadth of section
d effective depth
Ac cross-sectional area of concrete (bh)
fyk characteristic yield stress of reinforcement
The area of transverse or secondary reinforcement should not generally be less than 20 per cent of the principal reinforcement, i.e.:
𝐴𝑠 (𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠) ≥ 0.2 × 𝐴𝑠 (𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛)
2. Spacing of reinforcement
The clear distance between reinforcing bar should not be less than the following:
(a) maximum bar diameter
(b) 20 mm
(c) dg + 5 mm where dg is the maximum aggregate size.
The maximum bar spacing in slabs, smax, for the main reinforcement should not exceed the following:
smax = 3h ≤ 400 mm generally and 2h ≤ 250 mm in areas of maximum moment
where h denotes the overall depth of the slab.
The maximum bar spacing in slabs, smax, for the secondary reinforcement should not exceed the following:
smax = 3.5h ≤ 450 mm generally and 3h ≤ 400 mm in areas of maximum moment
3. Anchorage and curtailment
For detailing the main reinforcement in slabs, similar provisions to those outlined earlier for beams apply.
Where end supports are simply supported, 50 per cent of the calculated span reinforcement should continue up to the support and be anchored to
resist a force, FE, given by
𝑎1
𝐹𝐸 =∣ 𝑉𝐸𝑑 ∣. + 𝑁𝐸𝑑 ( 60)
𝑧
𝑧
where |VEd|, z and NEd are as defined earlier and a1 is equal to d if the slab is not reinforced for shear or is given by 𝑎1 = 2 (𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 − 𝑐𝑜𝑡900 ) =
𝑧
𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 if shear reinforcement is provided.
2

If partial fixity exists along an edge of a slab top reinforcement should be provided capable of resisting at least 25 per cent of the maximum
moment in the adjacent span. This reinforcement should extend at least 0.2 times the length of the adjacent span as shown in Fig. 5.12 and be
anchored. At an end support the moment to be resisted may be reduced to 15 per cent of the maximum moment in the adjacent span.

Fig. 5.12 Fig. 5.13 Simplified curtailment rules for slabs (a) simple
support (b) continuous member.

4. Crack widths
According to EC 2, where the overall depth of the slab does not exceed 200 mm and the code provisions with regard to reinforcement areas,
spacing of reinforcement, anchorage and curtailment of bars, etc., discussed above have been applied, no further measures specifically to control
cracking are necessary.
Furthermore, where at least the minimum reinforcement area has been provided, the limitation of crack width to less than 0.3 mm for reinforced
concrete may generally be achieved by either limiting the maximum bar spacing or maximum bar diameter in accordance with the values given
in Table 3.10.

Table 5.1 Cross-sectional area per metre width for various bar spacing (mm2)

Example 16. Design of a one-way spanning floor

Design the floor shown in Fig. 8.27 for an imposed load of 4 kN mm −2, assuming the following material strengths: fck = 30 Nmm−2, fyk = 500
Nmm −2. The environmental conditions fall within exposure class XC1.

Fig. 5.14
Example 17. Analysis of one-way spanning floor
Calculate the maximum uniformly distributed variable load that the floor shown below can carry.
 Fig. 5.15
5.3 Continuous one-way spanning solid slab design
The design of continuous one-way spanning slabs is similar to that outlined above for single-span slabs. The main differences are that (a) several
loading arrangements may need to be considered and (b) such slabs are not statically determinate. Methods such as moment distribution can be
used to determine the design moments and shear forces in the slab. However, where the following conditions are met, the moments and shear
forces can be calculated using the coefficients in Table 5.2 below.
1. There are three or more spans of approximately equal length.
2. The area of each bay exceeds 30 m2 (Fig. 5.16).
3. The ratio of the characteristic imposed load to the characteristic dead load does not exceed 1.25.
4. The characteristic imposed load does not exceed 5 kN/m2 excluding partitions.

Fig. 5.16 Definition of panels and bays (Fig. 3.7, BS 8110).

Table 5.2 Ultimate bending moments and shear forces in one-way spanning slabs with simple end supports (Table 3.12, BS 8110)
Example 18 Continuous one-way spanning slab design
A typical floor plan of a small building structure is shown in Fig. 3.41. Design the continuous one-way spanning slab assuming the slab supports
an imposed load of 4 kNm−2 and finishes of 1.5 kNm−2. The overall sizes of the beams and slab are indicated on the drawing. The columns are
400 × 400 mm. The characteristic strength of the concrete is 35 Nmm−2 and of the steel reinforcement is 500 Nmm−2. The cover to all
reinforcement may be assumed to be 25 mm.

Fig. 5.17
5.4 Two-way spanning restrained solid slab design
The design of two-way spanning restrained slabs (Fig. 5.18) supporting uniformly distributed loads is generally similar to that outlined above for
oneway spanning slabs. The extra complication arises from the fact that it is rather difficult to determine the design bending moments and shear
forces in these plate-like structures. Fortunately, tables of coefficients (βsx, βsy, βvx, βvy) originally developped in BS 8110 may assist in this task
(Tables 5.3 and 5.4). Thus, the maximum design moments per unit width of rectangular slabs of shorter side lx and longer side ly are given by
𝑚𝑠𝑥 = 𝛽𝑠𝑥 𝑛𝑙𝑥2 (61)
2
𝑚𝑠𝑦 = 𝛽𝑠𝑦 𝑛𝑙𝑦 (62)
where
msx maximum design ultimate moments either over supports or at mid-span on strips of unit width and span βx (Fig. 5.19)
msy maximum design ultimate moments either over supports or at mid-span on strips of unit width and span βy
n total design ultimate load per unit area = 1.4gk + 1.6qk

Fig. 5.18 Bending of two-way spanning slabs. Fig. 5.19 Location of moments.

Similarly, the design shear forces at supports in the long span direction, υsy, and short span direction, υsx, may be obtained from the following
expressions
𝜈𝑠𝑦 = 𝛽𝑣𝑦 𝑛𝑙𝑦 (63)
𝜈𝑠𝑥 = 𝛽𝑣𝑥 𝑛𝑙𝑥 (64)
These moments and shears are considered to act over the middle three quarters of the panel width. The remaining edge strips, of width equal to
one eight of the panel width, may be provided with minimum tension reinforcement. In some cases, where there is a significant difference in the
support moments calculated for adjacent panels, it may be necessary to modify the mid-span moments.
Table 5.3 Bending moment coefficients, βsx and βsy, for restrained slabs (based on Table 3.14, BS 8110)
Table 5.4 Shear force coefficients, βvx and βvy, for restrained slabs (based on Table 3.15, BS 8110)

Example 19 Design of a two-way spanning restrained slab

Fig. 5.20 shows a part plan of an office floor supported by monolithic concrete beams (not detailed), with individual slab panels continuous over two or more
supports. The floor is to be designed to support an imposed load of 4 kNm−2 and finishes plus ceiling loads of 1.25 kNm−2. The characteristic strength of the
concrete is 30 Nmm−2 and the steel reinforcement is 500 Nmm−2. The cover to steel reinforcement is 25 mm.
(a) Calculate the mid-span moments for panels AB2/3 and BC1/2 assuming the thickness of the floor is 180 mm.
(b) Design the steel reinforcement for panel BC2/3 (shown hatched) and check the adequacy of the slab in terms of shear resistance and deflection.
Illustrate the reinforcement details on plan and elevation views of the panel.

Fig. 5.20
CHAPTER