Flexural behavior of Two-Way voided slab

Abstract

Slab is an essential part of a structure that consumes large quantity of concrete among all structural elements. Large self-weight of slab contrebutes to the larger dimensions of beams, columns & foundations which causes the increase in overall dead load and cost of structure. Voided slabs can be used as an economical and ecofriendly alternative to existing RCC slab systems. In voided slab concrete from the tension zone of the slab is removed partially; where concrete doesn’t have any structural benefit by creating voids using recycled plastic void formers. Therefore, self-weight of slab is decreased without changing the depth of slab, which in turns reduces the number of columns and offers more floor space for utilization. As it transfers lesser load on beams, columns & foundations, it reduces the overall sizes of all structural components and overall cost can be saved. In this study, finite element analysis is carried out using ANSYS Workbench 18.1. Five specimens are analyzed in this study out of which one of the slabs is a solid slab and the other four are voided slabs. Dice (cube) shaped voids are used as a void former in the biaxial voided slabs with variation in sizes and spacing between each other. The two-way flexural strength has been evaluated by applying sixteen point loading over full area of a slab. Load vs. deflection curves are plotted for each voided slab and compared it with solid slab. The flexural strength is evaluated using Rankine-Grashoff Theory and results are compared with the software results. The primary objective of the work is to study elastic behavior of voided slab and to compare it with solid slab. The present study proved that flexural behavior of voided slab with dice shaped void former shows good correlation with the solid slab system.