Experimental study on the collapse response of flat slab structures with drop panels under gravity loading condition

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the collapse behavior of two reinforced concrete flat slab assemblies with drop panel connections subjected to uniformly distributed loads applied through 24 loading points. The two tests, named MC and PC, simulated local failures at mid-span columns and penultimate columns, respectively. Both assemblies exhibited elastic behavior until cracking values were reached, followed by degradation of stiffness due to crack development beyond the elastic zone and a long plateau near collapse. The main differences between the assemblies were the higher collapse load of the MC assembly, attributed to slab additional slab extension surrounding two test panels, and the load redistribution pattern. Both assemblies showed ductile behavior in the inelastic region, with large deformation capacity allowing tensile membrane action to mobilize. The collapse modes observed were the failure of the outer compressive ring and the tearing out of tension slab reinforcement from the concrete. The traditional yield-line method may not be suitable for quantifying the collapse resistance of this type of structure, and numerical simulations are suggested for this purpose. The experimental data from these tests, as well as previous tests, could be valuable for validating simulation models.