Received on April 2J. 1987: Revised on November 10,. 1987.

Abstract

I he papcr rcviewa h i d p litcraturr pertaining to thc ultlmarc strength. dellcctions and crackmg of reinforced
coocrele rcctang~lnr.skew and circuidr slabs and gives a II\I of 136 pobiiwtiwx oa lhc topic.

Key words: Concrete (remforcedl. sldna ( t w w v a y l . rncmhrdne action. ddlectim, cmckwidth, leinforcrment
iinvout).

Reinforced concrete slab is one of the structural elements which is extensively used in
civil engineering colistruction. Twcl-way structural actiun, post-cracking nun-linear
behaviour and development of membrane action complicate the anaiysis and estimation
ofthe ultimate strength of the slab. Design of rhc slabs baseti on limit htates also rcquires
a knowledge ot their deflections and cracking behnviour. A number of researchers have
investigated the flexural strength, deflection and cracking of two-way slabs and these
aspecls are briefly reviewed here.

2. Methods of slab analysis

The elastic analysis of slabs as thin piate requires the solution of biharmonic equation for
specified boundary conditions. Solutions for diffcrcnt shapes of slabs and boundary
conditions arc found in '1 imoshenko and ~ o i n o w s k ~ - K r i e g e rThis
t . analysis is useful to
the elastic behaviour of thc slab, but the factor of safety against collapse cannot be
assessed. Also it is complicated for slabs of irregular shape, which can however be
arlalyssd more easily using yicltl-line analysis.
 Y? P DESAYl AND K U. MUTNU

2.2 Yield-line theory

In 1921, the Danish engineer Aage 1ngerslev2proposed a method of calculation based

upon the constant bending moments acting along the yield lines. Since 1931, K. W,
~ ~ has donehpioneering~work in this ~ field, in~Denmark.~ His work ~has heen ~ -
translated into ~nglish'in 1962. The yield-line theory assumes that an increase in load
causes concentration of strain in steel and concrete along lines of maximum moment.
These lines are called yield lines and they spread into a pattern which divides the slab into
segments. Near failure, the elastic deformations of each segment are assumed negligible
compared to plastic deformations at the yield lines. Consequently all curvatures in the
slab at failure are assumed to be concentrated at the yield lines. The collapse load based
on assumed mechanism is calculated from the energy equation. As the theory satisfies
mechanism and the equilibrium condition, it provides a theoretical upper-bound solution.
This theory can be effectively used for the analysis of any irregular type of slab having
different type of boundary conditions and loadings. In 1962, European Committee for
Concrete9 published a report that contains formulae for the analysis of slabs of various
shapes subjected to uniformly distributed load, line loads and point loads. Some
investigator^'^-^^ have reported design aids forplabs using yield-line theory. The yield-
line theory is suitable for the ultimate load analysis with uniformly distributed (isotropic
and orthotropic) reinforcement, but it is difficult to handle if non-uniform or curtailed
reinforcement is utilized. Unless the correct mechanism is found the resulting design
may be unsafe and the reinforcement volume is uneconomical. This method does not
indicate the loadings on edge beams. Moreover it does not provide information regar.
ding the distribution of bending and twisting moments in the interior of the slab away
from the yield lines and thus the distribution of reinforcement becomes difficult. How.
ever, this theory is finding acceptance due to the fact that the ultimate loads of slabs as
determined in testd3 are much higher than those predicted by yield-line theory. This
differencebetween yield-line loads and experimental ultimate loads is due to the develop-
ment of membrane stresses, and this effect is considered in detail separately.

2.3 Lower-bound approach

In the lower-bound approach the solution should be determined to satisfy equilibrium

and boundary conditions and provide a statistically admissible moment field without
violating the yield conditions anywhere in the slab. This provides a safe solution because
, the collapse load may be greater than or equal to the calculated value. This solution
provides information on the required distributionof positive and negative reinforcement.
Some lower-bound solution^'^-'^ are available for simply supported, continuous, one
shortedge free, rectangular isotropic and orthotropic slabs and circular slabs with
isotropic and oahotropic reinforcement. Though most of these solutions do not coincide
with upper-bound solutions, they are satisfactory as the differences between the upper-
and lower-bound solutions are small. In 1956, HillerborgZ0developed the strip method
b*d on the lower-bound approach. He proposed to design several types of slabs by
assuming the load to be carried only by bending moments in two perpendicular
 directions. He neglected torsional moments in developing the method. This method is
very much suitable for slabs with free, simple or fixed boundary conditions as the slab can
be divided into some sinlple combinations of cantilever and simple beam strips. This is
a design method and economy is achieved hy varying the reinforcement in
diffcferentportions of the slab. Wood and Arrner" have examined the strip method and
concluded that, it provides an exact solution ii the reinforcement provided is in
accordance wlth the strip moments with an unlimited number of simultaneous modes.
Fernando and em^*' attempted to find whether Wood and Armer's conclusion was true
for a general case. Their examination shows that strip method does not providc unique
solution always, but the exceptions are rare. Harrop2%tudicd the application of strip
method to aimply supported dab-bean1 panels and found that the minimisation of
reinforcement in slabs was counter-balanced by increase in beam rcinforcement.
Subsequently ~ a r r o p ~ % p p l i c dthe strip method to the design of skew slabs. H e
established an a h i t y relationship between skew and reclangula~slabs which enables the
design of skew slabs from rectangular slabs. Thakkar and Sridhar RaoZ5 introduced
modifications on Hillerborg's method and prcscnted moment coefficicnts for rectangular
slabs with different boundary conditions. It was claimed that their meihod could result in
a saving of 15 to 20% of reinforcement over IS 456-1564 method. Test results of
~rrner'" Iyengar et a12' and Rajanna and Chandrasekhara" on rectangular, skew and
square slabs (tested under uniiormly distributed load) confirm that the slabs designed by
strip method hehave in a safe and satisfactory way. However, test results of other shapes
and boundary conditions arc rcquircd to support the above finding. RajuzG3' gave
moment coefficients for rectangular slabs with different boundary conditions. In 1.555,
Hillerb~rg'~ extended the simple strip method to complex slabs which include a column
support in the interior of the slah. The theoretical treatment is complicated and hencc
was ca!led the Advanced Strip Method by Crawford". Alternatively, Kemp35 presented
a generalisation of strip method of design suitable for slabs with patch loads and
concentrated loads using appropriate distribution of the vertical shear forces instead of
applied loads. Mall~ckand Gupta'" gave tentative proposals for the application of the
method. Test results are required to know the behaviour o i slabs designed by the above
method. Fernando and Kcmp" dcvcloped a strip-deflexion method using an elastic
theory approach. They introduce compatibility of deflexion criteria of strips. Choosing a
torsionless elastic moment field, they demonstrated their method lor square and
rectangular slabs. This method provides information about the bending moments of
htcral beams. They indicated that the method could be extended for point and patch
loads. Wilby" has developed computer programmes using the strip deflexion method
which also take into account individual point loads and any support conditions.
Subsequently Wilby'' presented design tables for the slabs carrying uniformly distributed
load for different boondar); conditions including slabs with free edges. Hillerborg" has
reported the advanced strip method which includes supper% like interior, exterior corncr
colmm and reentrant corners. Gurleydl has adopted the inversion technique to
Hillerborg's simple strip method. Instead of assigning the strip loads he has assigned the
moment fields at the critical locations so that the moments are in bimoment equilibrium
with the applied loads. He has introduccd the stress-resultant bimoment and developed
four equilibrium equations. But the extra equation is a material-dependent eqnilibr~um
equation and not as afourth independent rquation. Subsequently GurleyJ2 has presentee
design methods for slabs considering as torsion-free gillages. H e has covered the yiek
lines which are curved in plan also.

2.4 Direcl design method

wood" this method of design based on elastic stress fields. The steel is
determined by using elastic stress distribution at ultimate loads in conjunction with the
yield criterion. Recently Hago and ~ h a t t " reported test results designed by the above
method and it was found that the slabs behaved satisfactorily both at working load and at
ultimate loads. To design by this method, computer facilities are required and also they
haxe assumed uncracked stiffness of slab throughout the analysis.

3. Studies on rectangularlskew slabs

3.1 Memhrane uction in restrained slahs

The above mentioned methods have been fornlulated without considering the effect of
change of geometry o i the slab. The changes in the geometry of the slab and boundary
restraints have considerable influence on the load-carrying capacity of the slab. These
effects are called membrane actions and there exist two types of membrane action. wr.
( I ) compressive and (2) tensile membrvne actions. This is reviewed briefly in tht
following sections.

3.1 Conlpressive membrane action

When a slab is surrounded by and is continuous with either stiff heams or additlonai
slabs. compressive membrane action develops within the depth of the slab. This
phenomenon can he explained as follows. After cracking load, thcre occurs a substantial
shift in the position oE neutral axis in the cross-section. This effects in the outward
movenlent of the edges. This movement is prevented by the restraints. Hence
compressive forces develop in the slab. This compressive force acts above the mid-depth
at the centre of the slab and heluw at the edges of the slab and hence causes arching 01
h m actton. It increases the moment of resistance of the slab cross-section which in turn
significainly increases the ultimate flexural resistance of the slab. In 1939. ~ v o z d e v ' ~
conducted tests on restrained slabs and showed that the compressive membrane forces
were due to the different level of neutrnl axis in the positive and negative yield lines.
Much work has been done on membrane action by Soviet researchers. Their
cofltribut% are not available in English. In 1955, Ockleston* conducted load tests on a
three-stow reinforced concrete building at Johannesberg and recorded the collapse
h d dsabout
~ three or four times of Johansen's yield-line load. powell'" tested nine
ma~l-lcalerestrained, isotropic rectangular slabs with different steel ratio. H e noticed
ghat for a slab with 0.25% steel ratio, the ultimate load was 8.2 times higher than
 REVIEW ON RC SLABS 95

johsnsen.sload. HIStest resuits showed that highcr cnhancernent could be achieved with
lower stee] ratio. ~rotchie'" ~hristiansen'". Park'". 4acohsenS'. Kohcrtss', Brotchie and
Hoilevsi, Hopkins and kark", Desayi and K u l k a r n i have prcsentcd methods of
including compressive mcahrcinc actlon for reslraincd recrangular siahs based
,, deformationtheory. Also Desayi and Kulk;rrni have recently critically reviewed the
Some investigators have used the flow thcory iotroduced by Sawczuck in
,964. ~ ~ w c z u c k ~~' n, n : ~ " ,~ o r l e y " ,Hung and N m y i o have reported methods of
for restrained rectangular slabs using flow ihcary. Braestrupf'" has reviewed the
treatments of donie effect of reinforced concrete slabs up to 197s. He made a
clear distinction between the tluw theory and deformatiam theory. He developed
solutionsfor a restrained slab strip by flow theory as we!! a \ deformation theory anti
silo~cd that for a given membrane force, thc dctlection predicted by deformation theory
was twice that predicted by flow theory. Aiso the load-carrying capacity dropped below
the flexural collapse load of unrestrained rl;~h,if deformallon theory was used. H e
pintedout that lhesc predictions are due to thc assuniplion inade in deformation theory,
;e, concrete ic assumed to assert tts ulti~natccompressive stress during unloading. H e
concluded that deformation theory led lo unrealistic predictions. However.
a ~ " o u t that rigid platic approach applied to concrete itself is far
~ h a t t o ~ a d h ~ points
from reality and hence comparison of thc two theories is n o t appnlpriatc. Also tlow
theory should no1 he taken as a suitable method, as it predicts maximum detlcxion of a
slab when total superimposed load ceases to exist. He pointed out that the rigid plastic
analysis through either approach is not useful for slahs of practical interest, as the
one-bay stripa may tail beforc thc concrete compressive stress block at the critical sec'ion
reaches its elastic limit. This leads tu (he possibility of developing deformation theory
ahereas flow theory cannot be developed. While the above cited investigations are on
restrained rectangular slabs, some work has been dOnc on the strength and behavioui of
slab-beam systems. P a ~ k " ~Hayes , and Taylor"', Datta and ~arnesh'"'.", Desayi and
Killkarni" have pmposcd mcthoda for estimating ultimate load of rectangular slab-beam
system. Tong and Batchelor"' reported test results of square two-way bridge slabs
subjected to concentrated loads. They have proposcd a method of estimating the failure
load which includes compressive membrane action. They concluded that if steel of low
Percentage is used, punching failure could be eliminated and flexural failure mode results
in. They recommended a minimum pcrccntagc of 0.25% for two-way bridge slabs to
avoidinstant failure. The study of compressive membrane action has hccn made on other
shapes also. Desayi and Prahhakilra6* presented a method of analysis for restrained skew
slabs including compressive membrane action. The next section deals with tensile
membrane action occurring in restrained slabs.

In restrained slabs. the load-carrying capacity is enhanccd by compressive niernbrane

action till the ascending !(&-deflection curve reaches a peak point. While in the
descending portion of the load-deflection curve, the membrane force changes from
comPre~sionto tension. The load-deflection curve descends to a secondary resistance
96 P. DESAYI AND K U MUTHU

point at which the membrane action in the central region of the slab changes to tensile,
Beyond this, the tensile membrane action spreads throughout the slab till the fractureof
steel. park3'. KeenanhY,Black7', ~ e r z o g "have presented procedures for calculatingthe
incipient collapse deflection capacity. Iqbal and ~ e r e c h o ~have' reviewed their
contributions in detail.

4. Membrane action in simply supported slabs

In simply supported slabs. membrane forces develop at large deflections. With large
deflections a1 midspan, the central region of the supported edges tend t o move inwards
but are restrained from domg so by adjacent outer regions. This creates the central area
of the tensile membrane stresses within the slab together with a surrounding ring of
compression. This effect enhances the load-carrying capacity of the slab. Park5", Taylor
er ~ 1 ' Hayes7'.
~. Kemp7', Sawczuck and Wlnnicki7', Morleysx, Desayi and Kulkarni",
proposed methods of analysis for rectangular simply supported reinforced concrerte slabs
indiiding membrane actlon. l'rabhakara7%xtended the work of Desayi and Kulkarni"
t o simply supported skew slabs.
The above studies were concerned with the ultimate strength of reinforced concrete
rcctangulariskew slabs. But these should be complimented by investigation on
~ ~ ~ i c e a b i limit
l i t y states namely deflection and crackwidth. In the following sections the
literature a~ailahleon the studies on deflections and crackwidths of reinforced concrete
slabs is reviewed.

5. Deflections of two-way reinforced concrete slabs

Deflection is one of the serviceability limit states t o be satisfied in the limit-state designof
structures. ThereEore the estimation of deflection under working loads is often necessary
in the design of concrete slabs. But an accurate estimation of deflection is complicated
hecause of the influence of factors like cracking of concrete, creep and shrinkage effects
itime-dependent effects) and nonlinear properties of the material. A s a convenient way
of emtrolling deflections, some codes of practice specify limiting span to depth ratio.
This is conservative because the effect of all factors affecting deflections is included in a
single parameter namely depth. Clarke et a17%ave compared the code clauses of 25
countries related to deflections of concrete memhers. In 1974, ACI Committee 435''
reviewed the methods like classical, cross-beam analogy, analogous grid work method.
static ratio, wide beam and equivalent frame methods for the determination of
deflections o i two-wy slabs. The ACI manual of concrete practicex1 recommends the
prwedure developed by Branson based on beam test results for the computation of slab
d~fle&ons. This requires further examination due to difference in the structural
hehaviour of the beam and the slab. Scanlon and Murray8', Bell and ~ l m s ~Wanchoo "
May". Yukio et d", Cope and Vasudeva ~ a o " " , ~ h o n o h r i c h ~ have
~ incorporated
the influence of cracking in developing finite element analysis t o predict the
 REVIEW ON KC SI ABS 97

;oa&deflectioncurve of slabs. Bazant el u!"%asc provided a summary of the work done

on the appltcation of finite clement method to i-cinlorccd concrctc structures up to 1978.
~ h method j ~ cannot bc readily used in design otfices as it requires good computer
f,rLllltleb.
. . ' ' . . ~ ~ e r z o g "proposed
' a trilinear !oad-deflection plot foi two-way slabs lron,
uncracLedstage up to failure of the slab. His theoretical load-deflection plot consisted of
three zones. Zone I is between zero and cracking load, Zone 2 represents the plot from
crackingto yield-linc load and Zone 3 corresponds to plastic deformatron beyond
\ield.line load. Shukla and n/littal"fl reported semi-empirical formulae for determining
;he &flections of reclangular reinlorced co:lcrete slabs based on their test results of nine
rilnplysupported squaw slabs rested under uniformly distributed load. BransonY1gave
dctalls of [he available methods of computing deflections of two-way slabs. Desayi and
~ u l k a r n i " . ~ ~proposed
~" methods for predicting load-deflection cut-ves for restrained,
pitially restrained rind simply supported rectangular reinforced concrete slabs in the
form of piecewise straight lines. Thzy accounted for cracking of concrete and yielding of
stecl by suitably modifying the flexural rigidity of the .;lab and changcs that occur in the
support conditions due to possible yielding after the format~onof yield lines. The
nothors"."' have conlputed shol-t-time deflections of reinforced concrete rectangular
slabs using a deteriorating momcnt of incrtia function. Dcsapi and Prabhakara"'
proposed a method for predlctinfi load-deflection curves of restrained skew slabs.
The studies cited a h o w concern only with the cst~mationof instantaneous deflection . ~ f
reinforced concrete I-ectangulariskew slabs. But the serviceability of slabs depends to a
large degree on their long-term deflection performance. Hcnce methods are needed to
estimate the long-term deflection of slabs. ACI Code'' recommends the use of a
multiplier constanl to short-time deflections to determine long-term deflections. But
Taylor'sy4and Heiman's" investigations showed that ACI Codc mcthod did not predict
the long-term dcflectlons satisfactorily. Rangan"" proposed a method for the computa-
tlon of instantaneous and lorig-term deflections of flat plates and slabs. His results were
within 24% of the lncasured valuec of threc existing floors. Rangan and McMullen '7
presented a rational approach to control both total and incr;mental long-term deflections
uf flat slabs and plates by limitation o f span-depth ratio. They developed the equations
based on a limiting long term total dcflections of L11240 where L I is longer
centre-to-centre suan. They concluded that the use of minimum thickness as per ACI
-318-71 and AS 1480-1974'%ill result in long-term deflections greater than L11240. IS
-1%-1978" specified formulae for estimation of short-term, shrinkage and creep
deflectlam. The authors"" examined these formulae with the use of available 22
rectangular simply supported reinforced concrete slabs (short-term tests only). It was ,
foulld that the load factors obtained by limiting the total deilcction to span1250 were
barge. In some cases this load factor was found to be as high as 5.93 ag-inst the
recommended load factor of 1. 5 for the limit state of collapse. Hence it was concluded
that IS 456-1978'" Codc clauses probably require furthcr examination in respect of the
computatiori of deflection of slabs including those due to shrinkage and creep. Also more
test data on long-term deflections of two-way slabs are lequired. Gilbert"" extended
Rangan's approach for beams to two-way slabs. But thls requlres finite element
simulation. Tam and Scanlan102 proposed a method for computing immediate deflections
98 P. DESAYI AND K. U. MUTHU

including shrinkage effects. They have compared with the field measurements. Graham
and scanlan"" have presented a method for estimating the deflection due to shrinkage
restraint, construction loads. They proposed multiplier constants for estimating the
two-way slab deflections. Limit state of crack~ngis another serviceability criterion to be
satisfied in the limit-state design of structures. The studies pertaining to the predictiona(
maximum crackwidth in rectangularlskew slabs are presented in the next section.

6. Prediction of crackwidth

In reinforced concrete slabs. the crack appears as soon as the tensile stress due to the
bending moment exceeds the tensile strength of concrete. This may impair appearanceof
the slab or increase the risk of corrosion of the reinforcement. In order to avoid rhis, the
crackwidth should be kept below the acceptable limit. ACI Code, CP 110"" and
CEB-FIP re corn mend at ion^'^^' have specified the maximum allowable crackwidths for
structural members under different exposure conditions. A crackwidth study on one-way
s!abs with welded wire fabric by Srinivasa Rao and S ~ b r a h m a n y a m " ' ~indicates that a
steel stress of 2500 kg/cm2 can be allowed without violating the strength and crackwidth
limitations for one-way slabs. In developing their mathematical model, they have
included the force exerted by transverse bars in iongitudinal direction. Nawy and his
associates~!~7-"8 have done a major study on cracking of two-way rectangular siabs. The

proposed equations were based on the fracture hypothesis on the stress concentration at
the intersection of orthogonal bars. The limitations of the proposed equations are in
choosing the appropriate multiplying constant for the particular type of loading and
specified boundary conditions. and the experimental results being those of rectangular
.;lab reinforced with welded wire fabric. Desayi and Kulkarni"" extended the method
propsed by Desayi"' for the determination of maximum crackwidth of partially
prestressed concrete beams to two-way rectangular reinforced concrete slabs. Two-way
action was included by considering the bearing exerted by transverse bars. A uniform
distribution of bond stress over the length of the bar and tensile stress in the stretched
concrete area was assumed in their analysis. This was further extended to skew and
rectangular slabs by Deszyi and Prabhakara'". It was found from their investigation that
the assumption of parabolic distribution for bond stress and uniform distribution of
karing stress resulted in a better agreement with the test data of 348 crackwidth
measurements on rectangular and skew slabs. In recent times. considerable work has
been in progress to study the cracking behaviour of concrete using fracture mechanics
conceprs. These have yet to find application in the design of slabs.

7. Studies on circular slabs

7.1 Membrana action in restrainedlsimplj supported slabs

WOO^'" analysed the membrane action in isotropic circular slabs using the basic
equations of ::lrg:-defiection plate theory. He assumed the material to b e rigid plastic
 REVIEW O N RC SLABS 99

andcomputedload-deflection plots for simply supported and restrained isotropic circular

slabs.D~~ to the above assumption, the maximum load-carrying capacity was obtained at
zero deflection for restrained circular slabs. Also, the theoretical load-deflection plots
gartfromJohansen's load at zero deflection for simply supported circnlar slabs. As such,
his theoreticalcurve does not predict the elasto-plastic behaviour of simply supported
and restraiced circular slabs tested under uniformly distributed load. However his
is useful to estimate ultimate strength of slabs, i i a suitable value of deflection at
,,,rimate lozd is assumed. Desayi and Kulkarnii1%xtended Wood's approach to
oflhotropicrestraiI12dcircular slabs. Two case5 of ortbotropy. namely, (1) M I> M , and
p) MI iM2 were considered in their analysis. where M , and M,are the plastic moment
capacitiesin circumferential and radial directions respectively. While the above
inyestigations of the section of the slab in circumferential and radial directions were
based on deformation theory. some investigators have applied flow theory to circular
sisbs. ~ a n a $gave
~ rigid plastic flow theory soiution not only for restrained circular slabs
but also to square slabs and slab strips. The comparison between theoretical and
eyerimental deflection curve was not reported. ~ o r l e y 'used ~ the rlou, theory for
predicting the load-deflzction plots for rigid plastic slabs with and without edge
restraints. The essential difference in the above two approaches is that, Janas used the
dissipation method whereas Morley used equilibrium method. Calladine"' applied flow
!heory to circular slabs and showed that the upper-bound calculations on the strength of
circular plates and slabs turn out to be simpler using a three-dimensional theory instead
of two-dimensional slab theory. H e illustrated his method on metal plates, sandwich
plates and reinforced concrete slabs, simply supported or restrained, under point or
uniformly distributed loading. The theoretical load-deflection plots for restrained
circular slabs under point loading and simply supported circular slabs under uniformly
distributed loading were given,in his paper. But theoretical treatment on restrained
reinforced concrete slabs under uniform distributed loading was not available in it.
Morley"* tested circular slabs with ring beams and reported a method of analysis at the
Euromech Conference in 1974. Moondra and SharmaUb reported the behaviour of
simply supported circular slabs without and with square, rectangular and triangular
openings. They compared the experimental resultc of seven slabs with the Johansen's
load and observed that the ultimate load to be 1.37-1.70 times the yield lines load. They
concluded that the ultimate load capacity is independent of the shape of the opening if
the area of the opening of different shapes is kept constant. A I - ~ a s s a n i "used ~ the
deformation theory for the ascending part of the load-deflection curve and flow theory
for the descending portion of the curve. H e treated elasto-plastic strips using the above
procedure. Braestrup and M o r ~ e y "proposed
~ a modified rigid plastic theory for circular
slabs with ring beams. They assumed that the membrane action starts at an initial elastic
deflection. This deflection was assumed empirically as 0.03 times the thickness of slab.
An alternative procedure also was suggested by them to obtain the deflection at which
membrane forces started developing. From their load-deflection plots, it is observed that
the empirical elastic deflection corresponds to that at the Johansen's load of Simply
Supported circular slabs. Hence they assumed a linear load-deflection plot Up to
Johansen's load of corresponding simply supported circular slab. Their experimental
resultsalso showed considerable linear hehaviour whereas available literature on orher
100
P. DESAYI AND K. U MUTHV

shapes of slabs showed non-linear behaviour up t o Johansen's load. Also the assumption
of the same initial deflection irrespective of size of the ring beam is also not clear,
H~~~~~~the effect of ring beam on membrane action was considered in their analyslsby
adding the inplane slab flexibility and ring beam flexibility in the form of a
boundary spring. The agreement between the theoretical and experimental curves is
good. But complete details of the experimental work were not presented by them,
gave some steps to obtain the initial value of deflection according tothe
theory presented in the paper.
Recently, the authors have developed methods of estimating the ultimate load of
simply supported and restrained, isotropic and orthotropic circular slabs sub~ectedto
distributed loading taking into account the membrane action, load-deflection behavia"!
and estimation of widths of cracks that form in these ~labs""-'~".

8. Study on slabs with different layouts of reinforcement

~ e d ~ e y 'conducted
~ ~ " ~ experiments on simply supported square slabs with different
arrangements of reinforcement. He kept the total amount of reinforcement to be the
same for all slabs. H e noticed a reduction of 15% of collapse loads for square slabs with
diagonal reinforcement compared with uniform reinforcement parallel to the edges.
Taylor et a17%ested ten two-way simply supported square slabs to investigate the effect
of arrangement of the reinforcement. The slabs were designed to have same flexuralresi-
stance under uniformly distributed load. They concluded that slabs with variable rein.
forcement were stiffer than uniformly reinforced slabs up to Johansen's load. However.
the use of variable reinforcement did not enhance the load-carrying capacity. They
observed that the use of variable reinforcement reduces crackwidth in the central portion
of the slabs. bur increases the crack width in the corner regions. Reddy et allz6 tested
12 simply supported square reinforced concrete slabs under cental concentrated load
to study the effect of direction of reinforcement, effect of banded reinforcement
and the effect of circular and spiral reinforcement layout in square slabs. The investiga-
tion showed that the best arrangemen: of reinforcement for strength and stiffness wasby
having the bars parallel to the sides at a uniform spacing. Ultimate loads of all slabs
reported were higher than Johansen's load. Clark12' studied the effect of arrangement of
relnfomment for reinforced concrete skew bridge slabs. H e suggested that saving in
steel could be achieved by placing the steel parallel and ~ e r ~ e n d i c u l to
a r the abutments
in the central region and changing to the arrangement wh'ich'has steel parallel to the free
edge near the edges.
Slabs with different layouts of reinforcement based on optimisation theory have been
&=tigated by R~nany'~-'~',~elchers~~~, Sharpe and ~ l ~ d e Thakkar
' ~ ~ , and Sridhar
~ a o ' " . The principal canclusions were: load enhancement in optimised slabs was not
much more than conventional slabs; at a particular load, optimised slabs exhibited
smaller defiecti~nswhen compared to conventional slabs; although the reinforcement 1
u n h e was saved in optimised slabs, the optimal layout was quite complicated. While :
 REVIEW O N RC SLABS 101

muchtheoretical advancement has been done in optimisation of slabs, reported test

resultson the same appear to be very few. M~spratt''~.'" has reported tests on opti-
&lv designed slabs He suggested that Monte Carlo technique could be used for
of slabs as the properties of the slab are random variables.

9. Conclusions

1. Many investigations are come aCiOSS on the determination of ultimate strength of

rectangularslabs. Studies on the ultimal? strength of skew and circular slabs are com-
paratively few. While the studies recognize the enhancement in the strength beyond
Johansen's load, attempts to include this enhancement in design of slabs are yet to be
made.
1. Studies on the determination of deflections and crackwidth in slabs are comparatively
less. More experimental work on these aspects including the influence of creep under
sustained loading is required in the examination of serviceability limit states of slabs.

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 REVIEW ON R C SLABS 105

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 REVIEW ON RC SLABS 107

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 P. DESAYI AND K. U MUTHU

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