Punching of RC slabs without transverse reinforcement supported on elongated columns

Abstract

The paper investigates the influence of support elongation on punching resistance at internal slab column connections without shear reinforcement. Nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) with 3-D solid elements is used to study the influence of column elongation on stress and strain in the slab around the column. Punching failure is shown to be triggered by localised peaks in shear stress around the corners of the support. Significantly, one-way shear is shown to increase the shear resistance of slabs supported on columns with cross sectional dimensions greater than around six times the slab effective depth (d). The common laboratory practice of supporting slabs in punching tests on elongated plates rather than columns is investigated numerically and is found to be reasonable despite uplift occurring in the central region of elongated plates. NLFEA with solid elements gives useful insights into punching failure but nonlinear shell elements are better suited to the practical assessment of slabs in building structures. The disadvantage of conventional nonlinear shell elements is that shear failure can only be detected through post processing of results. To circumvent this, the authors have previously developed a novel modelling approach in which 3-D joint elements are used to connect shell elements located to either side of a punching control perimeter positioned at 0.5d from the column face. The joint shear resistance is calculated using the Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT) in which punching resistance is related to slab rotation. Based on insights gained using the solid element modelling, this paper extends the use of the joint model to the modelling of punching failure at elongated supports by including one-way joints to model linear shear.