• Lapi, Massimo
• Orlando, Maurizio
• Spinelli, Paolo
• Ramos, António Pinho

Abstract

<p>Reinforced concrete flat slabs are widely used thanks to shorter construction time and minimal structural depth. However, under vertical loading the limited thickness could induce the punching failure of the flat slab. This type of failure is very complex since it is affected by several parameters like concrete compressive strength, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, slab effective depth, support size, steel yield stress and slab slenderness. For combined gravity and lateral loading this phenomenon results even more complex. Furthermore, the slab-column joint exhibits a very brittle behaviour against horizontal drift due to premature failure caused by punching. This paper deals with the behaviour of slab-column connections in presence of an opening close to the column, under combined gravity and seismic loading. Despite the presence of openings adjacent to columns is very common in practice, there are only a few experimental investigations about slab-column joints with openings under lateral loading. In a previous work the authors presented the preliminary results of a new experimental campaign of slab-column joints with openings, characterized by different loading conditions. In the present paper such results are discussed and compared with those achieved without opening. The experimental campaign was per- formed at the structural laboratory of NOVA School of Science and Technology in Lisbon. Results confirm the presence of the opening provide a detrimental effect in the response of the slab-column connection under vertical loading, while under combined gravity and horizontal loading the presence of the opening has a less pronounced effect on the flat slab behaviour.</p>

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• laser emission spectroscopy
• strength
• steel