Dependency of punching shear resistance and membrane action on boundary conditions of reinforced concrete continuous slabs

The design of reinforced concrete flat slabs can be governed at failure by punching shear close to concentrated loads or columns. Geometrical features, reinforcement layouts and in-plane forces provided by external vertical elements, such as shear walls, can affect the membrane action and, consequently, the punching shear resistance. This paper presents a study on reinforced concrete continuous flat slab whose lateral expansion is restrained by the presence of vertical elements considering also shrinkage effects.