Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Behavior of thin lightly reinforced flat slabs under concentric loading T

a,b,⁎ b a b,c
Ala Torabian , Brisid Isufi , Davood Mostofinejad , António Pinho Ramos
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), Isfahan, Iran
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
c
CERIS, Lisbon, Portugal

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The current research aims to study the behavior of thin reinforced concrete (RC) slabs under concentrated loads
Critical shear crack theory as well as to investigate the application of Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT) to such slabs. For this purpose,
Punching four square 100-mm-thick slabs were cast and subjected to concentrated punching monotonic loading. The
Thin flat slab experimental parameters were the flexural reinforcement ratio, 0.38% and 1.00%, and the presence or absence
Flexural reinforcement ratio
of shear headed stud reinforcement. It is shown that the failure criteria of CSCT describe reasonably well the
Shear headed stud
Post-yield
observed failure modes and the ultimate loads of the specimens. However, attention is brought to some pecu-
liarities in the analytical derivation of the load-rotation curve for thin lightly reinforced flat slabs, in which large
deformations are experienced. Results showed that in such slabs, the behavior can be highly influenced by the
post-yield stress-strain curve of the flexural steel reinforcement. As a result, the constitutive law of steel re-
inforcement should be explicitly taken into account in such cases. The versatility of CSCT to adapt to these
conditions is demonstrated.

1. Introduction amount of flexural reinforcement, as follows:

The use of RC flat slabs for buildings has some advantages over – The behavior of lightly reinforced slabs is generally ductile, identi-
other RC structural systems such as beam supported slabs or slabs with fied by an entire spread of rebars yielding through the full yield-line
column capitals or drop-down panels. These advantages include pro- pattern, deep intrusion of tension cracks, and large plastic deflection
viding more clear space for a given story height and reducing the total of slab prior to failure. Despite the general ductile behavior of such
height and weight of the building. On the other hand, thin flat slabs slabs throughout the plastic plateau, the ultimate punching failure
suffer from low punching shear capacity and higher deformability. An remains brittle and leads to a sudden drop in the load carrying ca-
effective solution for improving the punching shear strength is to em- pacity of the slab. This type of punching failure is referred to as
ploy shear reinforcement around the column, for instance, headed shear “flexure-induced punching” [12] and it can lead to an apparent
studs [1–3] or stirrups [4], which enables the design of thinner flat overestimation of the punching shear capacity of lightly reinforced
slabs with higher punching shear capacity, provided that the service- slabs when compared to current code provisions [12]. Yield-line
ability limit states are fulfilled. Using shear reinforcement, however, analysis can be used to estimate the capacity of this type of slabs,
has noticeable effects on the ultimate behavior of flat slabs, which need although the failure loads obtained from the experimental tests are
to be recognized. According to previous researches, ductility of flat usually larger than the theoretical yield-line, attributed to different
slabs can significantly be enhanced by using shear stud reinforcement causes, e.g. membrane forces, boundary restraints, second-order
[1,2]. External shear strengthening of RC slabs using post-installed steel effects which allow the slab to act as a folded plate, and the neglect
bolts or using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rods, fans, or grids was of tensile strength of plain concrete [11,13–15]. While the lightly
proved to have similar effects on the slab behavior [5–8]. reinforced slab experiences considerable rotation, a horizontal
In two-way RC slabs with no shear reinforcement, the general be- asymptote is often observed in its load-rotation curve which re-
havior is highly dependent on the flexural reinforcement ratio. There presents yielding of the entire flexural reinforcement.
are several studies in the literature investigating the behavior of two- – Slabs with medium reinforcement ratio generally fail in a combined
way slabs with different flexural reinforcement ratios [1,9–11]. Ac- flexural-shear failure. Partial yielding of flexural reinforcement oc-
cording to them, three general behaviours can be observed based on the curs in the vicinity of the column and probably along diagonal yield-

⁎
Corresponding author at: Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), Isfahan, Iran.
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Torabian).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.109327
Received 1 March 2019; Received in revised form 19 June 2019; Accepted 20 June 2019
Available online 27 June 2019
0141-0296/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Nomenclature V applied shear force

VACI punching shear strength in accordance with ACI 318
b0 control perimeter, taken at a distance d/2 from the column Vexp experimental load
face Vfibre,y failure load calculated using a fibre section with radius rsy
c slab side length Vfibre,u failure load calculated using a fibre section with radius rsu
d effective depth of the slab Vflex flexural strength of the slab
dg maximum aggregate size Vflex,y flexural capacity of the slab assuming steel yield stress
dg0 reference aggregate size Vflex,u ultimate flexural capacity assuming strain hardening
Es modulus of elasticity of steel Vo,ACI punching shear strength for failure outside the shear-re-
fc compressive strength of concrete inforced zone based on ACI 318
fck characteristic compressive strength of concrete at 28 days Vquadrilinear failure load in case the quadrilinear moment-curvature
fy steel yield stress is used
fu ultimate steel stress considering strain hardening Vsimplified failure load in case the simplified approach is used
k coefficient used in punching provisions of Eurocode 2 Vs,ACI punching shear strength for failure through shear re-
ll distance between the supports inforcement based on ACI 318
ls slab side length αs coefficient used in punching provisions of ACI 318 for
lup length of support facing uplift of slab different columns
rc radius of the column β ratio of long to short sides of the column
rq radius of the load application points γc partial factor for concrete
rs radius of the slab λ multiplier factor used by Ruiz and Muttoni for shear re-
rsy radius of the slab when calculated based on Vflex,y inforcement
rsu radius of the slab when calculated based on Vflex,u ρ flexural steel reinforcement ratio
r0 radius of the critical shear crack location ρy flexural reinforcement ratio related to steel bonded in y-
vc punching shear resistance (stress) of slab without shear direction
reinforcement ρz flexural reinforcement ratio related to steel bonded in z-
vmin minimum punching shear resistance (stress) of slab direction
without shear reinforcement ψ slab rotation

lines, depending on the level of flexural reinforcement. The lower or expressions are presented by codes to consider the strength of the
the reinforcement ratio is, the more the propagation of yielding slab corresponding to each of the above-mentioned failure modes, and
approaches the full yield-line pattern. In such slabs, punching can the minimum strength specifies the governing failure mode of the slab.
occur before yielding of the entire reinforcement at a load level One of the most comprehensive approaches to describe the behavior
which is lower than the flexural capacity of slab determined by of flat slabs under concentric loading is the Critical Shear Crack Theory
yield-line analysis. (CSCT). The fundamentals of the theory were first presented by Muttoni
– At high levels of reinforcement, the failure of the slab under con- and Schwartz [19], based on earlier work by Kinnunen and Nylander
centric loading generally occurs by a brittle punching shear mode, [20], according to which- for structural elements without shear
with limited or no yielding of the reinforcement. In this case, the
formation of tension cracking prior to the ultimate failure is minimal
and the rotation of the slab is relatively small. Table 1
ACI 318 and Eurocode 2 expressions for punching shear.
The punching shear failure of two-way RC slabs with or without Code Expressions
shear reinforcement is a relatively well-studied subject. Accordingly,
ACI 318 [16]
intense efforts have been made to predict the punching shear capacity ⎧ 0.33 fc
⎪
of slabs in interior and exterior connections with different character-
istics, including different flexural reinforcement ratios, presence or
⎪
( )
vc = min 0.17 1 + β
⎨
2
fc

⎪
absence of shear reinforcement, and different external strengthening ( ) αs d
⎪ 0.083 b0 + 2 fc
⎩
systems. where
Based on experimental investigations, design codes present expres- fc is the specified compressive strength of concrete
sions for estimating the punching shear strength of RC slabs, mostly β is the ratio of long to short sides of the column
αs is 40, 30, and 20 for an interior, edge, and corner column,
empirical. In most expressions proposed by codes, punching shear
respectively
strength of slabs without shear reinforcement is defined as a function of d is the effective depth of slab
concrete compressive strength, slab thickness, column size, and flexural b0 is the perimeter length of the critical section assumed at a
reinforcement ratio. The expressions proposed by ACI 318 [16] in case distance d/2 from the column edge
of normal-weight concrete and Eurocode 2 [17] are presented in Eurocode 2 vc = (0.18/ γc ) k (100ρfck )1/3 ≥ vmin
[17] where
Table 1. The basic ACI 318 provision for punching capacity has not
k = 1 + 200/ d ≤ 2 0.0
changed since 1963 and is independent of the reinforcement ratio [16].
γc is the partial factor for concrete
On the other hand, the punching shear strength provision of the current fck is the characteristic compressive strength of concrete at
version of Eurocode 2, which is based on Model Code 1990 [18], is 28 days
depended on the flexural reinforcement ratio [17]. Formulations to ρ = ρy ·ρz ≤ 0.02
ρy and ρz are the ratios in two perpendicular y and z directions,
evaluate the punching shear capacity of slabs reinforced with different
respectively. ρy and ρz are calculated as mean values
types of punching shear reinforcement can also be found in codes of considering a slab width equal to the column width plus 3d
practice. Crushing of the concrete struts in the vicinity of the column, each side.
punching within the shear-reinforced slab zone, and punching outside vmin = 0.035k 3/2fck1/2
this zone are the failure modes that are considered in the codes. Criteria

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

reinforcement- “a critical shear crack” propagating through the strut slab, Es is the modulus of elasticity of steel and V is the applied shear
that carries the shear force to the column is responsible for the force.
punching shear failure and that the punching resistance is a function of Based on a semi-empirical formulation, assuming crack width pro-
slab's rotation outside the critical shear crack. In Muttoni [21], the portional to the slab rotation (ψ) and effective depth (d) as well as
theory was completed by including a failure criterion and a code-like taking into account the roughness of the crack, the failure criterion
formulation for the punching shear design of flat slabs (refer to Section (Fig. 1) for slabs without shear reinforcement is expressed as follows
2 for details). The application of CSCT for punching shear-reinforced [21]:
slabs was later extended by Ruiz and Muttoni [22] (refer to Section 2).
V 3/4
Afterwards, the CSCT was extended to different types of flat slabs by = ψd
several researchers. Clément et al. [23,24] proposed its application to b0 d fc 1 + 15 d
g 0 + dg (2)
prestressed slabs. In 2014, Faria et al. [25] extended the application of
CSCT to slabs strengthened with FRP composites, by proposing changes where b0 is the control perimeter, taken at a distance d/2 from the face
to the analytical derivation of the load-rotation curve as well as changes of the column; dg is the maximum aggregate size and dg0 = 16 mm is a
in the failure criterion resulting from the application of FRP. Lapi et al. reference aggregate size.
[26] demonstrated the versatility of CSCT by applying it to flat slabs Ruiz and Muttoni [22] extended the application of CSCT to the
strengthened with a reinforced concrete overlay. A review and sum- design of flat slabs with shear reinforcement. In this case, the load-
mary of the work related to the extension of CSCT to various punching rotation relationship is assumed to be the same as in slabs without shear
shear strengthening techniques are presented in Lapi et al. [27]. reinforcement, because it only depends on the flexural properties of the
In the current study, relatively thin slabs (with depth 100 mm) with slab. For slabs with shear reinforcement, failure can occur through the
and without shear studs are tested under concentric punching shear shear reinforcement, outside the shear-reinforced zone or near the face
load and the experimental results are compared with CSCT predictions. of the column due to the crushing of concrete (Fig. 2). The resistance for
Two different flexural reinforcement ratios are considered, 0.38% and each of these three failure modes is determined at the intersection of the
1.00%. The present study sheds light on the applicability of CSCT in load-rotation curve with the corresponding failure criteria.
extreme cases (thin slabs and low flexural reinforcement) and con- The criterion for failure within the shear-reinforced zone is based on
tributes towards the completeness of the theory. In practice, the low a simple mechanical model consistent with CSCT, which considers the
flexural reinforcement ratio can be found in cases of high corrosion of stress and bonding conditions in each shear reinforcement leg. In con-
steel reinforcement or deficient initial design, for instance. The low trast to the provisions of major design codes [16,17], the contribution
thickness can represent a deficient initial design in an existing structure of shear reinforcement is not considered constant for all levels of slab
or a poorly executed slab with a concrete cover higher than the de- rotation in CSCT [22].
signed one. It should be noted that the main body of work on which the The failure criterion for punching outside the shear reinforcement is
CSCT theory is calibrated refers to interior slab-column connections; calculated as in case of slabs without shear reinforcement, but with an
therefore, this study focuses on such connections to provide additional adapted perimeter (taken at a distance d/2 from the outermost shear
insight on the application of CSCT in the special case of thin and lightly reinforcement units) and with a reduced effective depth. This accounts
reinforced flat slabs. for the geometry of the crack outside the shear-reinforced zone due to
pull-out of shear reinforcement as a block [22].
Equations for the failure due to the crushing of concrete near the
2. Critical shear crack theory
column are also provided in Ruiz and Muttoni [22]. In this case, the
right-hand side of Eq. (2) is multiplied by a factor λ equal to 3.0 for
2.1. Description
headed studs and 2.0 for other types of shear reinforcement. The con-
trol perimeter is taken at a distance d/2 from the edges of the column.
An illustration of the application of CSCT is given in Fig. 1. Ac-
cording to the theory, punching failure occurs at the intersection of the
load-rotation curve with the failure criterion. The load-rotation curve 2.2. Experimental validation of CSCT
can be constructed using a nonlinear finite element analysis or analy-
tically for simple cases. The analytical solution for axisymmetric slabs is CSCT for flat slabs without shear reinforcement was validated in
obtained by dividing the slab into sector elements extended from the Muttoni [21] against 87 experiments of isolated slab-column connec-
critical shear crack (located at a radius r0 = rc + d, where rc is the ra- tions under monotonic concentric loading. The failure criterion was
dius of the column, assumed circular and d is the slab’s effective depth) based on a slightly larger database of 99 specimens. The database of
to a radius equal to the radius of the hogging moment region of the slab.
It is assumed that the slab rotation, ψ, is constant outside the critical
shear crack. Inside the radius r0, the radial and tangential moments are
assumed constant and the radial curvature is assumed to be equal to the
tangential curvature. Internal forces are then calculated assuming a
quadrilinear moment-curvature relationship and the equilibrium con-
ditions of the sector elements are used to calculate the shear force, V,
for a given slab rotation, ψ [21].
For the construction of the load-rotation curve, Muttoni [21] also
proposed a simplified formulation based on the assumption that the
load-rotation curve up to the flexural strength Vflex follows a parabola
with an exponent equal to 3/2:

rs f y ⎛ V ⎞3/2
ψ = 1.5 ⎜ ⎟
dEs ⎝ Vflex ⎠ (1)

where ψ is the slab rotation, rs is the radius of the slab (which, in the
simplified approach can be assumed equal to the radius of the zero Fig. 1. Example of application of CSCT for a slab-column connection without
moments line), fy is the steel yield stress, d is the effective depth of the shear reinforcement.

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

observations on lightly reinforced thin slabs. CSCT predicted reasonably

well the behavior of this specimen.
The extension of CSCT proposed in Ruiz and Muttoni [22] for shear-
reinforced flat slabs was validated against 45 concentric punching tests.
In the database used by the authors [22], 19 of the tests contained studs
(either with smooth or deformed shaft). The effective depths of the
specimens varied from 124 mm to 350 mm.
Further verification of CSCT is presented in Einpaul et al. [29],
where it was shown that CSCT considers the influence of slab slender-
ness in a consistent manner and gives better results compared to
Eurocode 2 [17] and ACI 318 [16] codes. The 13 specimens reported in
Einpaul et al. [29] and 21 additional ones from the literature had an
effective depth from 118 mm to 218 mm. Three of the specimens con-
tained shear reinforcement.

3. Experimental campaign

3.1. Experiment preparation and test scheme

Four RC slabs of 1.85 × 1.85 × 0.1 m were constructed and tested

Fig. 2. Possible punching failure modes for slabs with punching shear re-
as simply supported at their perimeter with corners free to lift, whereas
inforcement.
the effective flexural span was 1.7 m. The tests were carried out in
structural laboratory of Isfahan University of technology (IUT). A
tests used in Muttoni [21] to validate the CSCT contained slabs with an layout of the tested slabs is shown in Fig. 3, which also shows the
effective depth ranging from 96 mm to 464 mm. specimens’ flexural reinforcement details. Two different reinforcement
An experimental campaign addressing specifically the behavior of ratios of 0.38% and 1.00% were used. The clear concrete cover to the
flat slabs with low amounts of flexural reinforcement was presented in flexural rebars was set as 20 mm in all specimens. The specimens were
Guandalini et al. [28]. In total, 11 specimens were tested under con- cast upside-down, meaning that the flexural reinforcement was placed
centric loading, with a longitudinal reinforcement ratio varying from next to the bottom of the mould; therefore, proper control over the
0.22% to 1.50% and effective depth from 96 mm to 456 mm. Two of the effective depth was possible. It should be mentioned that since thin
specimens, named PG-8 and PG-9 in Guandalini et al. [28], were both slabs are sensitive to construction tolerances, the locations of flexural
thin (effective depth equal to only 117 mm) and lightly reinforced (with and shear reinforcement were properly adjusted in the mould; more-
a longitudinal ratio equal to 0.28% and 0.22% respectively). In these over, accurate measurements of the effective depth were taken before
two specimens, punching failure occurred after relatively large plastic casting.
rotation of the slab. The experimental results of the 11 specimens fitted Two of the test specimens were reinforced with a total of 12 shear
well with the failure criterion of CSCT. Guandalini et al. [28] also re- stud rails with 8 layers. The shear stud reinforcement was designed
ported a lightly reinforced thick slab (thickness 500 mm). The thick according to punching shear principles of ACI 318 and Eurocode 2 such
lightly reinforced slab did not exhibit full yielding of the flexural re- that the shear reinforced specimens could reach their flexural capacity
inforcement and prematurely failed in punching in contrast to before they fail in punching. The shear reinforcement arrangement is

Fig. 3. Layout of test specimens and flexural reinforcement details (dimensions are in mm, L1-L3 refer to LVDTs, and D1-D4 refer to dial gauges); (a) specimens with
reinforcement ratio of 0.38%; (b) specimens with reinforcement ratio of 1.00%

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

shown in Fig. 4. The available shear studs, with a shaft diameter of Table 2
19 mm and overall head diameter of 32 mm, were welded to an 8-mm- Summary of specimens’ characteristics and test results.
thick rail with a spacing of 55 mm using a stud welding gun based on Specimen Concrete Flexural Punching Failure Ultimate
ASTM A1044 criteria [30]. Studs with such large shaft diameter were strength reinforcement shear load rotation
employed for economic purposes since they were the only available fc (MPa) ratio (%) reinforcement (kN) (rad)
studs in the local market, and the available stud welding gun only fitted
US-0.38 43.0 0.38 Unreinforced 101.6 0.075
this size of the shaft. The diameter of the bearing surface of the head US-0.38-stud 41.7 0.38 Shear studs 117.1 > 0.189*
was 30 mm. Based on ASTM A1044 [30] and ACI 318 [16], the area of US-1.00 41.9 1.00 Unreinforced 186.3 0.035
the head of headed shear studs is required to be at least 10 times the US-1.00-stud 42.2 1.00 Shear studs 224.0 0.100
area of the shaft. Accordingly, the effective diameter of the shaft was
* Exact ultimate rotation was not measured due to limitations of the in-
calculated as 9.5 mm fulfilling this requirement considering the pro-
struments, but it was only marginally larger than the shown value.
vided head bearing area. It should be noted that the effective diameter
was sufficient for the aim of this study since the purpose of employing
3.2. Experimental results
the shear studs was hindering occurrence of punching failure before
achieving the flexural capacity; and yielding of the studs was not aimed
3.2.1. Deflections and load-rotation behavior
in this study. The stud rails were placed into the mould such that the
Fig. 6 demonstrates the deflected shapes of the test specimens along
distance between the first row of studs and the column face was 30 mm.
their width for varying load levels, which were obtained by measure-
The designation of the specimens along with a summary of their
ments of the installed LVDTs and dial gauges. According to CSCT, the
characteristics is presented in Table 2.
deflected shape of the slab is conical outside the critical shear crack,
The compressive strength of the concrete used for the construction
meaning that the rotation ψ of the slab can be considered constant in
of specimens was measured on average as 42 MPa by carrying out
this region [21]. The experimental results in the current study also
compression tests on 150 × 300 mm cylindrical concrete samples in
confirm this claim, as the deflection profile of each specimen represents
accordance with ASTM C39 [31]. The values for each specimen are
a nearly conical shape of the deflected specimen (Fig. 6).
given in Table 2. The aggregates employed in the concrete included
The load-rotation curves of all the tested specimens are presented in
5–12 mm coarse aggregates and 0–5 mm sand. According to standard
Fig. 7. The slab’s rotation at each load level was computed using the
tensile tests conducted on steel bars, the yield and ultimate strength of
deflection profile outside the critical shear crack, considering as the
the employed rebars were 450 and 700 MPa, respectively. Tensile
angle of the deformed shape of the slab upward from the undeformed
strength and yield strength of shear studs were respectively 450 MPa
shape in this region. After a linear elastic branch, flexural cracking
and 350 MPa, based on the data reported by the manufacturer.
decreases the stiffness of the specimens, which is then remarkably de-
The specimens were tested using a reaction steel frame and the load
pendent on the flexural reinforcement ratio. As it can be observed in
was applied in the center of the slab over an area of 200 × 200 mm2
Fig. 7, the post-cracking stiffness of the specimens with low reinforce-
(Fig. 5). The load was measured by an external load cell. Two linear
ment ratio (0.38%) is much lower than that of the specimens with
variable differential transducers (LVDTs), L1-L2, and three dial gauges,
1.00% flexural reinforcement. In lightly reinforced specimens with re-
D1-D3, were installed along the width of the specimen with the ar-
latively small slab depths, large deflections are experienced due to the
rangement shown in Fig. 3. One LVDT, L3, and one dial gauge, D4, were
spread of steel yielding while a plastic plateau can be observed. In cases
placed along the diagonal direction of the specimen: L3 at a distance of
that the flexural steel reinforcement reaches the strain hardening region
350 mm from the central LVDT and D4 on top of the slab corner (Fig. 3).
of the stress-strain curve, the load capacity is gently increased while
considerable deflection is experienced. The post-cracking behavior of
specimens with large deflections is therefore influenced by the stress-

Fig. 4. Arrangement of shear studs in shear reinforced specimens (dimensions in mm); (a) position of shear studs with respect to the flexural reinforcement; (b) close-
up of shear reinforcement.

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

reinforcement.

3.2.3. Effect of shear reinforcement

The values of the failure load and ultimate rotation of the specimens
are presented in Table 2. Referring to these values and the load-rotation
curves in Fig. 7, it can be concluded that using shear stud reinforcement
leads to an enhancement of the load-bearing capacity of the slab as well
as an increase of its ultimate rotation. In fact, as can be observed in
Fig. 7, the specimen with shear studs behaved similarly to the specimen
with no shear reinforcement up to the maximum load level of the later,
in accordance with the assumption presented by Ruiz and Muttoni [22]
for the extension of CSCT to shear-reinforced flat slabs.
In lightly reinforced specimens (US-0.38 and US-0.38-stud), uti-
lizing shear studs did not change the mode of failure as in both tests full
yield-line pattern and flexural cracks formed and then the slab finally
failed in punching. However, shear reinforcement considerably in-
creased the ultimate rotation from 0.075 rad in specimen US-0.38 to
more than 0.189 rad in specimen US-0.38-stud. The load capacity of
specimen US-0.38-stud was 117.1 kN while the maximum load in spe-
cimen US-0.38 was 101.6 kN. This 15% improvement in load capacity is
due to the effectiveness of shear studs in postponing the punching shear
failure. In specimens with higher reinforcement ratio (US-1.00 and US-
1.00-stud), the employment of studs considerably influenced the gen-
eral behavior of the slabs: specimen US-1.00 failed abruptly in
punching after limited formation of hairline flexural cracks, while
specimen US-1.00-stud failed in a much more ductile manner since
flexural steel bars were allowed to reach higher strains, causing a
plastic plateau in the load-rotation curve after which the ultimate
Fig. 5. Reaction frame and test setup.
punching failure occurred. Accordingly, the failure load in US-1.00 and
US-1.00-stud was measured as 186.3 and 224.0 kN, respectively,
strain curve of the flexural reinforcement. showing an increase of 20%. It should be noted that the increase in
The deflection profiles of the specimens along half of their diagonal failure load due to the application of studs in the present tests was
were obtained using the measurements of the LVDTs L1 and L3 and the relatively small when compared to tests available in the literature be-
dial gauge D4 (see Fig. 3). Fig. 8 shows these profiles at different load cause the maximum load carried by the specimens was limited by their
levels. Accordingly, uplift of the corners was observed and the distance flexural capacity, as discussed in detail in Section 4. Ultimate rotation
between the central point and the zero-deflection point was around also increased from 0.035 rad in specimen US-1.00 to 0.1 rad in spe-
0.9 m. cimen US-1.00-stud as a result of using shear reinforcement.

3.2.2. Cracking and failure modes 4. Comparison of experimental results with CSCT
Fig. 9 demonstrates the tension and compression faces of the tested
specimens after failure. The final failure mode for all specimens was 4.1. Peculiarities of thin lightly reinforced flat slabs
punching shear. The behavior of each specimen before ultimate failure
was strongly influenced by the flexural reinforcement ratio as well as The specimens described in Section 3 are relatively thin. They are
the presence of shear reinforcement. In specimens US-0.38 and US- thinner than the specimens described in Section 2.2 in publications with
0.38-stud, radial flexural cracks propagated in the tension face of the which CSCT was validated. Nevertheless, these experimental results
slab. By increasing the applied load, the propagation and width of the serve to check the applicability of the CSCT failure criterion and of the
cracks increased, yielding of the flexural reinforcement approached the load-rotation curve based on the CSCT assumptions for such extreme
full yield-line pattern, and consequently, the slab experienced large conditions.
plastic deflections. Afterward, punching shear failure as the ultimate When the slab is thin and lightly reinforced, it can deflect con-
failure mode led to an abrupt load drop. In specimen US-0.38, punching siderably before punching failure, as it was observed in Section 3 for
failure happened with a clearly delimited punching cone (Fig. 9a), and specimen US-0.38-studs. Due to the large slab rotation, ψ, the strains in
specimen US-0.38-stud experienced punching failure outside the shear the longitudinal steel bars can become very large. The strain hardening
stud reinforcement. In the specimens with a reinforcement ratio of region of the stress-strain curve of the longitudinal reinforcement steel
1.00%, the behavior of the slab was dependent on the existence of shear is therefore expected to significantly influence the load-rotation curve
studs. In specimen US-1.00, hairline flexural cracks with limited pro- of such specimens. The effect of the post-yielding curve of the long-
pagation formed, and then abrupt punching shear failure occurred. In itudinal reinforcement steel is further accentuated for the specimens
specimen US-1.00-stud, however, a significant spread of flexural cracks described in this paper by the fact that the longitudinal steel bars ex-
in the radial direction was observed, and then the ultimate punching hibited a relatively short yielding plateau, as shown in Fig. 10. The
failure occurred outside the shear studs after large deformation of the influence of the post-yield behavior of the longitudinal reinforcement
slab (Fig. 9d). The general behavior and mode of failure of shear stud steel in the flexural capacity as determined by a yield-line analysis is
reinforced specimens show that the employed studs reinforcement demonstrated in Table 3.
worked properly although the provided anchorage was less than the Fig. 11 illustrates the conditions of support and loading as well as
anchorage required by ACI 318 [16]. Indeed, as mentioned before, the the yield-line pattern in the current study. In this figure, ls, ll, and c are
provided anchorage for the studs is sufficient for shaft diameter of the slab side length, the distance between the supports and the column
9.5 mm according to ACI 318 [16], which satisfies the required area of size, respectively. As shown in Fig. 11, the slab corners are permitted to
shear reinforcement to resist punching shear failure inside the shear lift by rotation about axes at 45 degrees. These conditions cause the

6
A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Fig. 6. Deflection profiles; (a) specimens with reinforcement ratio of 0.38%; (b) specimens with reinforcement ratio of 1.00%.

shown in Fig. 8. Further verification of the yield-line pattern is provided

in Section 5.2.
In Table 3, the yield stress is denoted as fy. The ultimate steel stress,
i.e., considering strain hardening is denoted as fu. The flexural capacity
Vflex,y is calculated assuming steel stress fy, whereas the ultimate flex-
ural capacity, Vflex,u is calculated assuming a compressive strain equal
to 0.38% for concrete and a nonlinear stress-strain curve for steel in
accordance with Fig. 10. The table shows that the ratio between Vflex,u
and Vflex,y in the specimen with flexural reinforcement ratio of 0.38%
and 1.00% is 1.44 and 1.18, respectively. Table 3 reveals that the in-
fluence of the post-yield behavior of steel in the flexural capacity is
significant for both cases but it is more significant for the specimens
with low reinforcement ratio.

Fig. 7. Load-rotation curves of specimens. 4.2. Moment-curvature relationships

formation of circumferential yield lines around the column and diag- For simple cases, Muttoni [21] proposes the use of a quadrilinear
onal yield lines intersecting the support lines at a distance lup shown in moment-curvature relationship for the slab section (Fig. 12, using
Fig. 11 [11,32,33]. Based on Elstner and Hognestad [11], lup can be symbols from Muttoni [21]), to be used in the formulation of equili-
approximately estimated as (1 − √2/2)(ll − c). Accordingly, the value brium equations for the construction of the load-rotation curve in ac-
of lup would be approximately 440 mm for the conditions in this study. cordance with the assumptions of CSCT. For the reasons described in
Considering the slabs’ geometry, this value is compatible with the de- Section 4.1, the slab load-rotation curve is expected to deviate sig-
flection of the slab along its diagonal described in Section 3.2.1 and nificantly from the experimental one if the post-yield stress-strain

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Fig. 8. Deflection profiles along diagonal direction of specimens; (a) specimens US-0.38 and US-0.38-stud; (b) specimens US-1.00 and US-1.00-stud.

relationship of the longitudinal reinforcement steel is not taken into section was constructed considering the actual stress-strain relationship
account. of steel from Fig. 10, simplified into a series of linear segments closely
To account for the post-yield behavior of the longitudinal re- matching the original curve. The stress-strain relationship of concrete in
inforcement steel, the moment-curvature relationship of the slab compression was assumed to be in accordance with the modified

Fig. 9. Specimens after failure; (a) specimen US-0.38; (b) specimen US-0.38-stud; (c) specimen US-1.00; (d) specimen US-1.00-stud.

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Fig. 9. (continued)

Hognestad’s model [34], as demonstrated in Fig. 13. For concrete in

tension, the stress-strain curve was assumed linear up to the tensile
strength (equal to 4.1 MPa). For larger tensile strains, cracking occurs
and a linear softening branch intersecting the strains axis at a strain
equal to 0.001 is employed to reflect in an approximate manner the
tension-stiffening effect in cracked concrete.
The moment-curvature curve was constructed following a numerical
approach based on force equilibrium of a layered cross-section and
strain compatibility, assuming that plane sections remain plane after
deformations (a linear strain profile). Since the material and geome-
trical properties for slab specimens with the same longitudinal re-
inforcement ratio varied insignificantly, the moment-curvature re-
lationships are presented in Fig. 14 for only two slabs (differing by the
reinforcement ratio). The quadrilinear moment-curvature is plotted for
comparison.
As previously demonstrated in Table 3, Fig. 14 confirms that there is
Fig. 10. Stress-strain relationship for the longitudinal steel bars used in the a significant increase of the resisting bending moment of the slab be-
experimental campaign. yond the yielding bending moment. The moment-curvature

Table 3
Effect of strain hardening on the flexural capacity.
Flexural reinforcement ratio (%) fy (MPa) fu (MPa) Vflex,y (kN) Vflex,u (kN) Vflex,u/Vflex,y

0.38 450 700 73.7 106.3 1.44

1.00 450 700 190.4 224.7 1.18

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Fig. 11. Support and loading conditions and yield-line pattern.

Fig. 14. Moment-curvature relationships considering the real nonlinear stress-

Fig. 12. Simplified quadrilinear moment-curvature relationship. strain curve of steel and simplified quadrilinear moment-curvatures; (a) spe-
cimens with ρ = 0.38%; (b) specimens with ρ = 1.00%.

flexural resistance Vflex as the experimentally tested square slab [35].

However, since the flexural capacity of the slab is determined by the
equilibrium of slab sector elements and since the stress-strain re-
lationships for concrete and steel are realistically modelled (see Section
4.2), fixing the value of rs to have the same Vflex as the real slab spe-
cimen becomes challenging. For this reason, several alternatives are
tested, resulting in different approaches for the consideration of the
radius rs, as described below:

– full implementation of the analytical model, with the moment-cur-

vature relationships shown in Fig. 14 for fibre cross sections with
steel and concrete in accordance with Fig. 10 and Fig. 13, respec-
tively.
– full implementation of the analytical model but with simplified
quadrilinear moment-curvature relationships as shown in Fig. 14, in
Fig. 13. Adopted stress-strain relationship for concrete in compression ac- accordance with Muttoni [21], using steel yield stress fy in ac-
cording to modified Hognestad’s model. cordance with Fig. 10.
– simplified load-rotation relationship in accordance with Eq. (1),
relationships corresponding to the fibre cross-section approach are using Vflex = Vflex,u from Table 3.
implemented into the CSCT in the analyses that follow.
In the cases above, the radius is denoted as rsy when its calculation is
based on Vflex,y and rsu when calculated based on Vflex,u. To calculate the
4.3. Radius of the slab for the purpose of implementing CSCT radius rs, the corresponding value of Vflex presented in Table 3 is
equated with the Vflex calculated assuming a fan yield line mechanism
For the implementation of CSCT based on Muttoni [21], it is ne- of a circular slab with radius rs supported on a circular column [35].
cessary to determine the radius rs of a circular slab that has the same

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

The radius of the column is taken equal to half the side dimension of the lays above the range of plotted values of the shear force.
column’s cross section. For the calculation of rs,u, the same approach is The failure loads predicted by four versions of the load-rotation
followed in a first tentative, but then a correction factor is applied to the curve considered as well as the experimental loads, Vexp, are summar-
radius in order to obtain matching values of Vflex. This correction is ized in Table 4. The failure loads calculated using a fibre section with
necessary because the value of the tangential moments varies along the radius rsy and rsu are denoted as Vfibre,y and Vfibre,u, respectively. The
radius of the slab sector elements when the moment-curvatures from failure load in case the quadrilinear moment-curvature is used is de-
Fig. 14 with stress-strain curves from Fig. 10 and Fig. 13 are used. noted as Vquadrilinear. When the simplified approach is used, the failure
Considering a quadrilinear moment-curvature (Fig. 12), the radius load is denoted as Vsimplified.
resulted in rsy = 1013 mm for the specimens with longitudinal re-
inforcement ratio equal to 0.38%, whereas for the specimens with 4.4.1. Failure modes and failure criteria
1.00% longitudinal reinforcement ratio the radius was rsy = 1029 mm. Referring to the load-rotation curves determined experimentally
Calculating the moment capacity using the stress-strain curve of steel as (Figs. 15 and 16), it is concluded that failure occurs reasonably close to
described in Fig. 10 and concrete in accordance with Fig. 13, the radii the corresponding failure criteria of CSCT. This means that, regardless
resulted in rsu = 1194 mm and rsu = 1182 mm for specimens with of the approach used to construct the load-rotation curve, the validity of
longitudinal reinforcement ratio equal to 0.38% and 1.00%, respec- the CSCT criteria is confirmed for the specimens under consideration.
tively. CSCT was able to predict not only the ultimate loads but also the failure
Also, it is necessary to know the radius rq of the load application modes. According to Fig. 16, the specimens with shear reinforcement
points. Using a similar test setup, Gosav et al. [36] showed that the are predicted to fail outside the shear reinforced zone. This is the failure
radius rq can be approximated by the radius of the inscribed circle to mode actually observed for these specimens (Section 3).
the square formed by the support lines. For the test setup of Fig. 5, the There is a slight underestimation by CSCT of the deformation ca-
radius is rq = 1700/2 = 850 mm. pacity of the specimens with shear reinforcement (Fig. 16). This is al-
For the simplified version of CSCT represented by Eq. (1), it is ne- ready acknowledged in Ruiz and Muttoni [22], where it is argued that
cessary to determine only rs, which is assumed equal to the radius of the the failure criterion for failure outside the shear-reinforced zone adopts
zero moment line (equal to rq = 850 mm in this case). In Eq. (1), the the conservative assumption of slab rotation concentrated in the region
value of Vflex is entered manually (i.e., it is not derived by the equili- outside the critical shear crack (in this case, outside the shear-re-
brium of sector elements) based on Table 3. inforced zone). The exact ultimate rotation of the specimen US-0.38-
stud was not measured during the experiment, but this does not affect
4.4. Results the discussion above. The ultimate rotation of this specimen was only
marginally larger than the last measured value.
The experimental results for specimens without shear reinforcement The fact that the experimental load-rotation curve intersects the
(US-0.38 and US-1.00) are compared with the predictions of CSCT in corresponding failure criteria near the actual failure, means that, re-
Fig. 15. Fig. 16 shows the results of the comparison between CSCT and gardless of the discussions in the following section regarding the ana-
the experiments for specimens with shear reinforcement (US-0.38-stud lytical construction of the load-rotation curve, a detailed nonlinear fi-
and US-1.00-stud). As discussed in Section 4.3, the load-rotation curve nite element analysis to construct the load-rotation curve of the slab can
is constructed for several cases, considering different approaches for always be used in the framework of CSCT, as permitted in fib Model
estimating the moment-curvature and different values of the radius of Code 2010 [37] for Level IV of Approximation. The following sections,
the equivalent circular slab. however, shed light on limitations of the analytical approach described
Due to the relatively high amount of punching shear reinforcement in [21] when used to construct the load-rotation curve.
used in the experimental campaign (Section 3), it was noticed that
failure through the shear reinforcement is not relevant for the speci- 4.4.2. Load-rotation curves for slab radius rsy
mens under consideration. The same is true even if the diameter of the Table 4 as well as Figs. 15 and 16 show that the predicted load-
studs is reduced to account for the insufficient area of anchorage of- rotation curves for slab radius rs,y for the specimens with 1.00% long-
fered by the heads to develop full yield of the studs. The failure cri- itudinal reinforcement ratio are closer to the experiment compared to
terion for this failure mode (constructed in accordance with Ruiz and those of the specimens with 0.38% reinforcement ratio. Comparing the
Muttoni [22]) is not shown in Fig. 16, for clarity of the figure, because it load-rotation curves constructed based on different approaches in

Fig. 15. Comparison of experimental results with CSCT for specimens without shear reinforcement.

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Fig. 16. Comparison of experimental results with CSCT for specimens with shear reinforcement.

Table 4
Failure loads based on CSCT for different approaches of constructing the load-rotation curve.
Specimen Vexp (kN) Vfibre,y (kN) Vfibre,u (kN) Vquadrilinear (kN) Vsimplified (kN)

US-0.38 101.6 84.0 95.3 73.7 106.3

US-0.38-stud 117.1 Flexure* Flexure* 73.7 106.3
US-1.00 186.3 170.9 178.1 160.8 177.1
US-1.00-stud 224.0 198.1 226.9 190.4 224.7

* Flexural failure detected prior to punching. Punching prediction is therefore not reliable.

Figs. 15 and 16, it is noticed that modelling assumptions are more and 12% underestimation of the ultimate load respectively) when the
critical in the case of specimens US-0.38 and US-0.38-stud. In these actual stress-strain curve of steel is used (refer to Table 4).
specimens (specimens with low flexural reinforcement), the load-rota- The initial branch of the load-rotation curve is predicted reasonably
tion curve constructed neglecting the post-yield behavior of the steel is well when the experimental stress-strain relationship of steel is used
relatively far from the experimental result. In specimen US-0.38, the (Fig. 10). However, the analytical curves and the experimental ones
ultimate load is severely underestimated (by nearly 27%) when the diverge for larger slab rotations when the radius is maintained equal to
quadrilinear moment-curvature is used. Even with the moment-curva- rs,y.
ture constructed using a fibre section, there is an underestimation of the For both levels of longitudinal reinforcement ratio, the curve cor-
ultimate load by approximately 17% when the radius is taken equal to responding to a simplified quadrilinear moment-curvature relationship
rsy. yields lower forces than the curve corresponding to the exact moment-
Referring to the lightly reinforced specimen with studs (US-0.38- curvature relationship. This difference is expected to be smaller in
stud), the ultimate load remains underestimated (by nearly 37%) in normally reinforced specimens when steel with a more pronounced
case of a quadrilinear moment-curvature without a strain hardening yielding plateau is used (unlike the steel shown in Fig. 10). Two spe-
region of the steel reinforcement. More importantly, Fig. 16 shows that cimens reported in Guandalini et al. [28] had a longitudinal re-
the load-rotation curve is not captured well by the analytical models inforcement ratio of 0.33% and thickness 250 mm, but one of the spe-
with the radius of the slab equal to rsy. A flexural failure, resulting in a cimens had steel without a clear yielding plateau. No significant
softening of the load-rotation curve, is detected for a slab rotation difference was observed in the behavior of the two specimens, in-
considerably lower than the rotation corresponding to the intersection dicating that the effect of the longitudinal reinforcement steel post-
with the failure criteria. Since the behavior after this failure point is yield behavior is more pronounced in thin lightly reinforced slabs.
sensitive to the number of layers in which the section is divided and the
deformed shape of the slab may change after such a failure, the as-
sumption of a conical deflected shape of the slab outside the critical 4.4.3. Load-rotation curves for slab radius rsu
shear crack is no longer valid, and the results are therefore not reliable This section presents the analysis results assuming a hypothetical
after this point. It is important to notice that such a failure was not slab radius equal to rsu, calculated on the basis of Vflex,u. Figs. 15 and 16
detected during the experimental campaign. indicate that this approach is suitable for the specimens under con-
Looking at the predictions for specimens US-1.00 and US-1.00-stud sideration. Using rsu leads to a load-rotation curve that is able to track
in Figs. 15 and 16, it is noticed that the situation is different from that the entire experimental curve. However, the approach worked better
described for the specimens with lower longitudinal reinforcement ratio for specimens with 1.00% longitudinal reinforcement ratio.
(equal to 0.38%). The load-rotation curves corresponding to different Table 4 shows that the predictions of the model considering a fibre
approaches (but with radius rs,y) are relatively close to each other and section and slab radius rsu result in ultimate loads that are closer to Vexp
the behavior is less depended on the assumptions related to steel’s compared to alternatives assuming a radius rsy. The failure load pre-
stress-strain relationship. Neglecting the post-yield behavior of steel diction was underestimated by 6% in specimen US-0.38, by only 4% in
while using the quadrilinear moment-curvature leads to an under- specimen US-1.00 and it was slightly overestimated by nearly 1% in US-
estimation of the ultimate load of about 14% in specimen US-1.00 and 1.00-stud. In specimen US-0.38-studs, a flexural failure before punching
of about 15% in specimen US-1.00-stud. The predictions are better (8% is predicted, the same as in case of radius rs,y. Nonetheless, the pre-
dicted flexural failure is relatively close to the failure criterion for

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

punching outside the shear-reinforced zone. presents a comparison of the analytically derived load-rotation curves
Looking at the load-rotation curve corresponding to the simplified based on the approach described in Section 4 for specimens PG-8 and
version of CSCT with radius rs,u, it is noticed that it deviates sig- PG-9. The strain at the onset of strain hardening and strain at steel
nificantly for specimens with low longitudinal reinforcement ratio. On rupture was not found for specimens PG-8 and PG-9, but the informa-
the other hand, it is reasonably close to the experimental curve in tion provided in [38] for other specimens tested in the same experi-
specimens with 1.00% longitudinal reinforcement ratio. It should be mental campaign was assumed to apply for these two specimens as
noted that the effect of post-yield stress-strain relationship of steel is well.
already included in an approximate manner in the simplified load-ro- Fig. 17 confirms that the stress-strain curve of steel does play a role
tation curve through the use of Vflex,u in Eq. (1). in the analytical derivation of the load-rotation curve for the specimens
Although the failure loads predicted using the simplified approach of Guandalini et al. [28], although small and with a negligible effect on
are close to the experimental loads (Table 4), this approach should be the load capacity prediction in this case. For the reasons stated above,
considered with caution in thin lightly reinforced flat slabs because it the behavior is not affected as much as in the case of specimens pre-
does not follow the experimental curve closely for each value of the sented in this paper in Section 3. The range of values in the axes in
slab’s rotation. Fig. 17 was intentionally kept the same as in Figs. 15 and 16. A com-
parison of Fig. 17 with Figs. 15 and 16 shows that specimens US-0.38
and US-0.38-stud failed for larger slab rotations compared to PG-8 and
5. Further verifications and discussion PG-9. This observation further indicates that the thinner the slab and
the shorter the yielding plateau of the steel, the more pronounced is the
5.1. Re-examination of tests from the literature effect of the post-yield stress-strain curve of steel.

In Section 4 it was shown that the approach to analytically construct

the load-rotation curve that is closer to the experimental results of the 5.2. Finite element analysis
specimens presented in Section 3 is to consider a radius of the slab
equal to rs,u and to explicitly take into account the nonlinear behavior A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was conducted to further analyze
of concrete and steel. Further verification of the assumptions employed the role of the stress-strain curve of steel in thin lightly reinforced flat
in Section 4 with specimens from the literature is not straightforward, slabs. The analysis was conducted using the commercial software
because the information required is seldom provided in the literature ABAQUS [39]. A quarter of the specimen US-0.38 was modelled, as
(i.e., the complete stress-strain curve of steel, slab rotations as a func- demonstrated in Fig. 18, to benefit from the symmetrical conditions.
tion of the load, etc.). Two versions of the model were analyzed, with the only difference
Tests on thin and lightly reinforced flat slabs presented in between them being the stress-strain curve of steel used for the re-
Guandalini et al. [28] are re-examined in this Section. For these spe- inforcing bars.
cimens, it was possible to find relevant additional information in [38]. The recommendations from Genikomsou and Polak [40] were fol-
Although a numerical model considering strain hardening was used in lowed closely since they directly refer to the problem of punching shear
[38] for the derivation of the analytical load-rotation curves, a direct in flat slabs. To model concrete, the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP)
comparison with a model that neglects strain hardening was not found. model was used, with a dilation angle equal to 40 degrees, eccentricity
As already mentioned in Section 2.2, the thin lightly reinforced speci- 0.1, the ratio between biaxial and uniaxial concrete strength equal to
mens of Guandalini et al. [28] are named PG-8 and PG-9. The speci- 1.16 and a shape factor of the yield surface equal to 0.667 [40]. The
mens of Guandalini et al. [28] had a ratio fu/fy equal to 1.12 and a clear analysis was conducted under static loading, with a viscosity parameter
yielding plateau in the stress-strain curve of steel. In contrast, the equal to 5 × 10−5. This parameter was chosen sufficiently large to
specimens tested in the current study, presented in Section 3, had a ensure convergence of the analysis when localized cracking occurs. This
higher ratio fu/fy equal to 1.56 and a short yielding plateau of steel viscosity regularization is at the expense of the accuracy of the de-
(Fig. 10). Furthermore, the greater thickness in the specimens of termination of the punching shear failure point, as indicated in [41].
Guandalini et al. [28] means a less ductile behavior and less excursion For the purposes of this study, however, the main interest is on the
into the post-yield region of the stress-strain curve of steel. For all these effect of steel’s stress-strain curve on the load-displacement curve, and
reasons, the influence of the stress-strain relationship of steel is ex- the discussion is valid regardless of the load level in which punching
pected to be milder in specimens of Guandalini et al. [28]. Fig. 17 shear failure occurs. Tension and compression damages were neglected

Fig. 17. Role of steel stress-strain curve in specimens of Guandalini et al. [28].

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Fig. 18. Numerical model of the specimen US-0.38.

because these factors are most relevant in cases of cyclic loading The loading plate and the supports were modelled using steel ele-
[40,41]. ments with dimensions as in the experimental test. Symmetry boundary
The uniaxial concrete and steel properties already described in conditions were imposed along the axes of symmetry of the model
Section 4 were used, with the difference that the tensile behavior of (Fig. 18). A contact interaction was defined to accurately model the
concrete was modelled as described in [40], with the fracture energy support conditions of the slab, allowing uplift of the corners. The cy-
calculated in accordance with Model Code 2010 [37] and a tensile lindrical supports were substituted with prismatic supports with a small
strength reduced to 50% of the theoretical value to account for early enough contact area to avoid large concentration of stresses and no
cracking that occurred in the specimen. This reduction of the tensile friction. The slab was modelled with brick elements (5 elements along
strength does not affect the post-yield load-rotation curve. In one the depth of the slab, resulting in finite elements with the size the same
model, a hypothetical bilinear elastic-perfectly plastic stress-strain as in [40]). The reinforcement bars were modelled as embedded truss
curve of steel with yield stress equal to fy was used, while maintaining elements with perfect bond. The choices above (e.g., regarding mesh
all the other model parameters unchanged. size and energy of fracture) were based on a series of preliminary

Fig. 19. FEA results; (a) deformed shape for a maximum deflection of 60 mm; (b) cracking pattern for a maximum deflection of 60 mm.

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

analyses, keeping in mind the purpose and limitations of the presented 5.4. Considerations for practice
model as described earlier.
Fig. 19 demonstrates that the model worked as intended. The de- Flat slabs as thin and as lightly reinforced as the ones described in
formed shape of Fig. 19a for a maximum deflection of 60 mm shows this paper may not be common in practice. However, a few possible
that the boundary conditions were modelled properly because uplift of extreme cases referring to existing structures were listed in Section 1.
the corners of the specimen comparable with the experiment was de- Furthermore, with the modern developments in the concrete tech-
tected (Fig. 8). The crack pattern demonstrated in Fig. 19b matches nology having ultra-high performance concrete, and new developments
reasonably well with the flexural crack pattern observed during the test to have high strength steel rebars without losing ductility, thin and
(Fig. 9). More importantly, Fig. 19a and b support the assumed yield lightly reinforced flat slabs can find their use in the design of new
line pattern used throughout this study to calculate the flexural capacity structures. Verification of the CSCT failure criteria will be necessary in
Vflex of the specimens (Fig. 11). this case due to the changes in concrete properties, but the discussions
The FEA results are compared in Fig. 20 with the experiment and above regarding the analytical construction of the load-rotation curve
with the predicted loads Vfibre,y and Vfibre,u from Table 4. The results in can be useful.
Fig. 20 confirm the role of the post-yield stress-strain curve of steel in In practice, assuming an elastic-perfectly plastic relationship for
the behavior of the 100 mm thick specimens with reinforcement ratio steel reinforcement (without a strain hardening region) will normally
equal to 0.38%. The curve corresponding to the model with elastic- lead to an underestimation of the flexural load carrying capacity, which
perfectly plastic steel (without strain hardening) is further away from is on the safe side. However, the anticipated failure mode can change in
the experiment compared to the other model that realistically models some cases from flexure to punching (brittle). A simple check as de-
steel. monstrated in Section 5.3 can be useful in determining the failure
mode, whereas CSCT can be used for a detailed design. Nonetheless,
this paper showed that the significant influence of the post-yield regime
5.3. Comparison with “flexure-induced punching” based on Ghali and of steel can be expected in practice in cases where the slab is very thin
Gayed and when the yielding plateau of steel is short. In these cases, re-
searchers and practitioners are suggested to be cautious in applying the
As previously described, all specimens except US-1.00 exhibited simplified approaches for the construction of the load-rotation curves in
significant flexural yielding before their ultimate failure, which can be the framework of CSCT.
characterised as “flexure-induced punching” [12]. A comparison of the
experimental results with the provisions of Ghali and Gayed [12] for 6. Conclusions
this type of failure is presented in this section.
According to Ghali and Gayed [12], the current ACI 318 [16] The concentric monotonic punching shear tests of four thin flat slab
punching shear provisions need to be supplemented such that pre- specimens were described and analyzed in this paper in the light of
mature flexure-induced punching is effectively avoided, especially in Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT). Two of the specimens were lightly
lightly reinforced flat slabs which have been shown [33] to fail for loads reinforced (ρ = 0.38%), whereas two other specimens had a re-
lower than the prediction of the ACI 318 code. A simple solution to this inforcement ratio of 1.00%. For each reinforcement ratio, one specimen
issue according to Ghali and Gayed [12] is to ensure that the amount of without shear reinforcement and one with shear studs were tested. The
flexural reinforcement in the vicinity of the column exceeds a minimum main conclusions are summarized below:
value corresponding to the formation of a yield line mechanism when
the slab’s reaction on the column is equal to the punching shear re- 1. The ultimate failure mode in all tested specimens was punching
sistance of the flat slab. For the specimens presented in this paper, this shear. The behavior of the specimens was highly influenced by the
means that a comparison between the punching shear resistance in employed flexural and shear reinforcement.
accordance with ACI 318 [16], VACI, and the flexural capacity already 2. The post-cracking behavior of the tested slabs was significantly in-
presented in Table 3 (based on yield-line theory) is necessary. fluenced by the flexural reinforcement ratio. After cracking, the
The punching shear resistances in accordance with ACI 318 [16] are stiffness of the specimens with a reinforcement ratio of 0.38% was
summarized in Table 5, for failure through shear reinforcement (Vs,ACI) much lower than that of the specimens with a reinforcement ratio of
and failure outside the shear-reinforced zone (Vo,ACI). The governing 1.00%. In specimens with relatively large deformations, this beha-
failure mode is then denoted as VACI in Table 5. For specimens without vior was considerably affected by the strain-hardening region in the
shear reinforcement, VACI is directly calculated as the punching shear stress-strain curve of steel reinforcement.
resistance considering a control perimeter located at a distance d/2
from the face of the column. Calculations are performed considering
strength reduction factors equal to 1.0.
Table 5 shows that, according to ACI 318 [16], the governing shear
failure mode is punching outside the shear-reinforced zone for the
specimens with studs. For all the specimens that experienced flexure-
induced punching (that is, all specimens except US-1.00), the load
corresponding to flexural failure (Vflex, both considering and neglecting
strain hardening of flexural reinforcement) is lower than the punching
shear resistance according to ACI 318 [16]. On the contrary, VACI is
smaller than Vflex,y and Vflex,u in case of US-1.00, and punching failure
occurred before significant flexural yielding in this specimen (refer to
Figs. 7 and 15).
The analysis above indicates that the rather simple approach pro-
posed by Ghali and Gayed [12] predicts reasonably well the overall
behavior of thin lightly reinforced flat slabs. A significant improvement
of the load carrying capacity of the specimens (except US-1.00) would
be achieved by increasing the amount of flexural reinforcement such
that VACI = Vflex,u (refer to the last column in Table 5). Fig. 20. Comparison of FEA and experimental results.

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A. Torabian, et al. Engineering Structures 196 (2019) 109327

Table 5
Assessment of flexure-induced punching based on Ghali and Gayed [12].
Specimen Vs,ACI (kN) Vo,ACI (kN) VACI (kN) Vflex,y (kN) Vflex,u (kN) VACI/Vflex,u

*
US-0.38 N/A N/A 169.5 73.7 106.3 1.59
US-0.38-stud 333.9 283.2 283.2 73.7 106.3 2.66
US-1.00 N/A N/A 167.3 190.4 224.7 0.74
US-1.00-stud 335.9 284.9 284.9 190.4 224.7 1.27

* N/A – not applicable.

3. The introduction of shear reinforcement led to a more ductile be- [7] Meisami MH, Mostofinejad D, Nakamura H. Strengthening of flat slabs with FRP fan
havior of the specimens, regardless of the amount of flexural re- for punching shear. Compos Struct 2015;119:305–14.
[8] Inácio MM, Ramos AP, Faria DM. Strengthening of flat slabs with transverse re-
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