Poinçonnement des planchers-dalles avec colonnes superposées fortement sollicitées

Flat slabs are commonly used in buildings due to their easiness of construction and economy. In order to keep these advantages, columns are usually not continuous through the slabs in multi-storey buildings. In these cases, the slabs are subjected to large compressive stresses at the support area of the columns, which can exceed the uniaxial compressive strength of the concrete of the slab. This critical zone is in addition subjected to large shear forces and bending moments due to the loads applied on the slab. This leads to a series of potential failure modes: crushing of the concrete of the slab between columns, flexural failures or punching shear failures. Most research has previously focused on the influence of bending of the slab on the column strength. However, no works have provided in-depth investigation of the strength of the slab when large column loads are applied. In this research, an extensive experimental program has shown that the stresses applied at the support area of the columns can be significantly larger than the uniaxial compressive strength of concrete. The test results have clearly shown that no special confinement or load transfer devices are required between columns for most cases (moderate column loads). In addition, two phenomena have been observed. The first one is a reduction on the flexural strength as column loads are applied. The second corresponds to a significant increase on the punching shear strength and deformation capacity with column loading. Existing theoretical approaches for flat slab behaviour and strength are shown not to be directly applicable for slabs subjected to large column loading. In this research, the principles of two general theories (the theory of plasticity and the critical shear crack theory) are thus used to investigate such cases. The theory of plasticity allows calculating a plastic failure envelope accounting for bending and column loading, whereas the critical shear crack theory, which in this work as been further investigated theoretically, is used to derive a failure criterion accounting for punching shear failure in presence of column loading. The results for both theories are finally presented in terms of a single interaction diagram between column loading and slab loading (bending and shear of the slab). The theoretical approaches require however the help of rather refined numerical tools for estimating the strength of a flat slab. In order to use the theoretical approaches for design, a simplified approach has been developed, allowing to calculate the strength as well as the deformation capacity of flat slabs. These tools were implemented in a design method for slab-column joints in multi-storey building. This design approach allows to derive simplified interaction diagrams that can be compared with the loading history of the structural element analysed.

Structural implications of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete in bridge design

Ana Spasojevic

The present research represents a theoretical and experimental contribution to the understanding of the structural behaviour of elements made of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). UHPFRC is investigated as an advanced cementitious material offering particular potential in innovative bridge design. The optimised material composition results in high compressive strength and non-negligible tensile strength and ductility, provided by multi-microcracking. This allows significant tensile forces to be sustained by elements in bending even without the use of ordinary reinforcement. Thanks also to the material's resistance to environmental degradation, very thin structural elements can be constructed. This research focuses primarily on the bending behaviour and design of thin UHPFRC beams and slabs. Punching-shear is also investigated as a possible failure mode of thin UHPFRC slabs. One of the main differences between other concretes and UHPFRC is that the latter requires mechanical models capable of taking tensile behaviour into account for rational structural application. Analytical and numerical models are developed in this study to simulate the non-linear bending response of UHPFRC beams and slabs. This permits the assessment of element behaviour at service states and prediction of failure loads. Theoretical research on both bending and punching-shear failure is supported by experimental research on beams and slabs made of BSI® UHPFRC with 2.5 % volume of 20-mm long steel fibres. The analytical model for beams in bending takes both material multi-microcracking and macrocrack propagation with tensile softening into consideration. Multi-microcracking is modelled as a pseudo-plastic tensile behaviour, while the macrocrack is simulated based on the assumptions of the fictitious crack model. The results are in good agreement with experimental data and simulations obtained from a developed finite element model. Using theoretical results and experimental data it is demonstrated that pre-peak behaviour and bending strength are mainly governed by multi-microcracking. The propagation of the macrocrack provides only a minor additional contribution to bending strength, but, in the case of thin beams, plays an important role in providing ductility in bending. Theoretical results demonstrate that, due to the presence of pronounced pseudo-plastic deformations, size effect on bending strength is much less significant for UHPFRC than for other quasi-brittle materials, which corresponds to experimental observations. It is however shown that, even if the pseudo-plastic phase is less pronounced, thin elements develop behaviour similar to that of elements with high pseudo-plastic tensile deformations, owing to the low stress decrease in tensile softening. Nonetheless, in the absence of pseudo-plastic tensile deformations, the behaviour of thick elements approaches that of typical quasi-brittle materials, with a more pronounced size effect. In the case of thin statically indeterminate beams and slabs, it is shown that a high level of tensile ductility can allow sufficient internal force redistribution to occur, leading to a significant increase in load-bearing capacity. Moreover, high rotations can be sustained after cracking while almost constant bending strength is maintained, resulting in a plastic-like behaviour. It is demonstrated that the theory of plasticity can thus be applied: a formulation is proposed to predict the resistant plastic moment, enabling easy estimation of the bending failure load for thin elements. The analysis results show good agreement with test results for slabs of different thicknesses. However, due to the remarkable size effect on ductility in bending, the rotation capacity of UHPFRC elements thicker than approximately 100 mm is limited, and the theory of plasticity does not apply. Experimental and theoretical research on the punching-shear failure of thin UHPFRC slabs demonstrates the influence of structural parameters on achieved shear resistance. A proposal is made for considering fibre contribution in shear resistance as a structure-dependent parameter, relating the critical shear crack opening to slab rotation. This approach results in more accurate predictions for thin elements with larger deformations as compared to current code predictions that overestimate resistances for such elements. With a view to the structural application of UHPFRC in bridge design, the concept of ribbed deck slab is studied. Based on the theoretical and experimental results it is demonstrated that thin UHPFRC slabs (40-60 mm) without ordinary reinforcement can be effectively used in this concept: sufficient bending and punching-shear resistances to locally applied traffic loads can be ensured. With prestressed ribs, UHPFRC ribbed slabs attain high load-bearing capacity, while structural dead weight is significantly decreased. This concept could open up new vistas in the design of new structures and offers effective possibilities for the structural repair or widening of existing bridges.

EPFL2008

Combining finite element analyses and mechanical models for the assessment of reinforced concrete slabs

Raffaele Cantone, Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Aurelio Muttoni

The influence of the level of deformation of the flexural reinforcement on the punching strength is well-established and mechanically founded since the pioneer works of Kinnunen and Nylander in the 1960’s. In code provisions, this influence is sometimes reflected by means of indirect parameters such as the flexural reinforcement ratio (as in many empirical formulae) or by means of mechanical approaches accounting for the ratio between the applied load and the flexural resistance of the specimen (as in fib’s MC2010). An accurate estimate of this parameter (level of deformation of the flexural reinforcement) is nevertheless complex in many situations, due to the determination of the moment field and the po-tential redistributions of bending moments. In order to provide a consistent approach to determine the punching strength, it has been recently proposed to couple refined finite element (FE) models describing accurately the flexural behavior of slabs (accounting for the influence of cracking, yielding and moment redistributions) with a robust strain-based failure criterion in shear. In this framework, the goal of this paper is to review specific case studies in which redistributions after cracking in bending and shear may be governing on the overall behavior of reinforced concrete slabs. Load–displacement responses of the investigated case studies are evaluated by means of FE analyses using a multi-layered shell formulation. Eventually, the numerical global response is combined with the failure criterion of the Critical Shear Crack Theory, that can directly consider the influence of the flexural response on the punching or shear capacity.

2018

Crushing and Flexural Strength of Slab-Column Joints

Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Roberto Guidotti, Aurelio Muttoni

In multi-storey buildings, columns are usually not continuous through the slabs to enhance ease of construction. Consequently, in slab–column joints, slabs have to carry column loads in addition to the shear and bending moments due to loads applied to the slab. In most cases, when high strength concrete is used for the columns and normal strength concrete for the slabs, compression stresses at the support areas of the inner columns exceed the uniaxial compressive strength of the concrete of the slab. Due to this reason, most current details for such regions reinforce the concrete of the slab between columns to ensure load transfer. Typically, this is achieved by linking top and bottom columns with reinforcement. Sometimes, it is also needed to incorporate special load transfer devices. This latter solution is however relatively complicated and expensive. In this paper, the crushing and flexural strength of slab–column joints is investigated accounting for an increase of the compressive strength of the failure region (concrete between columns) due to confinement stresses provided by the flexural reinforcement of the slab. The results of an experimental programme on 6 full-scale slabs (250 mm thick) are presented showing that flexural reinforcement of a slab significantly increases the crushing strength of slab–column joints. This allows ensuring load transfer without incorporating special devices or even without linking top and bottom column reinforcement for a wide range of cases leading potentially to more economic designs. An analytical approach, grounded on the theory of plasticity, is also presented allowing one to determine a failure criterion for such regions. This approach, which can also be used for design purposes, leads to an excellent correlation with test results.

Engineering structures2011

Structural implications of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete in bridge design

Ana Spasojevic

EPFL2008