Modelling of Compressive Membrane Action for Fully-laterally Restrained Two-way R.C Slabs

Abstract

Current design codes do not account for the effect of compressive membrane action (CMA) in reinforced concrete slabs, which can increase their capacities, and hence yields more economical design. This paper studies the influence of CMA for laterally restrained two-way slabs. The main aim is to develop a simple model to reasonably predict the enhancement in load-carrying capacity due to CMA for laterally restraint two-way RC slabs under uniformly distributed loading. In order to meet this aim, a numerical technique was used. The developed model had been validated against relevant experimental studies from literature. The parameters influencing the CMA were identified. These included the reinforcement ratio and span-thickness ratio. It was shown that the CMA decreases by increasing the percentage of reinforcement and span-to-thickness ratio. After that, a numerical model for evaluating the CMA for laterally restrained two-way slabs has been proposed. The model was examined against 43 slab specimens from literature. The correlation achieved was satisfactory, despite the wide range of variables involved in tests. The mean ratio of the experimental to the predicted ultimate load was 1.00, and the coefficient of variance (COV) equal to 25%.