Experimental study on the effective width of flat slab structures under dynamic seismic loading

• Published in: Engineering structures Vol. 40; pp. 361 - 370
• Main Authors: Benavent-Climent, Amadeo, Zamora-Sánchez, Diego, Gil-Villaverde, José Francisco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building structure; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Construction (buildings and works); Corner slab–column connections; Dynamic tests; Effective width; Exact sciences and technology; External envelopes; Flat slab; Geotechnics; Joints; Reinforced concrete structure; Shaking table; Stresses. Safety; Structural analysis. Stresses; Structure-soil interaction; Corner slab–column connections; Shaking table; Dynamic tests; Flat slab; Effective width; Connection; Experimental study; Forecast model; Corner slab-column connections; Reinforced concrete; Dynamic test; Beam grid slab structure; Experimental result; Concrete construction; Seismic load
• ISSN: 0141-0296; 1873-7323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2012.03.002

This paper investigates the effective width of reinforced concrete flat slab structures subjected to seismic loading on the basis of dynamic shaking table tests. The study is focussed on the behavior of corner slab–column connections with structural steel I- or channel-shaped sections (shearheads) as shear punching reinforcement. To this end, a 1/2 scale test model consisting of a flat slab supported on four box-type steel columns was subjected to several seismic simulations of increasing intensity. It is found from the test results that the effective width tends to increase with the intensity of the seismic simulation, and this increase is limited by the degradation of adherence between reinforcing steel and concrete induced by the strain reversals caused by the earthquake. Also, significant differences are found between the effective width obtained from the tests and the values predicted by formula proposed in the literature. These differences are attributed to the stiffening effect provided by the steel profiles that constitute the punching shear reinforcement.