Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Structural Design Guidelines RC Buildings PDF
Structural Design Guidelines RC Buildings PDF
DRAFT 1/1
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Table of Contents
Introduction
Components of structural system
Selection of floor system
Selection of lateral load resisting system
Selection of foundation system
Design of ribs
Design of concealed beams
Design of drop beams
Design of one-way slabs
Design of two-way slabs
Design of hollow core slab floors
Design of prestressed concrete floor slabs
Design of columns
Design of shearwalls
Design of cores
Design of coupling beams
Design of isolated centered footings
Design of isolated eccentric footings
Design of combined footings
Design of tie-beams
Design of rafts
Design of pile foundations
Design of pile caps
Design of basement walls
Design of water tanks
Design against progressive collapse
Calculation of superimposed dead loads
Calculation of lateral wind loads
Calculation of lateral seismic loads
Calculation of vertical deflection in beams and ribs
Calculation of vertical deflection in two-way slabs
Calculation of drift due to lateral load
DRAFT 2/2
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Introduction
This document describes the procedure to be used in the design of the structural
elements of reinforced concrete or prestressed concrete buildings. The purpose of
the guidelines presented in this document is to speed up the design process, make it
more uniform across different engineers and less prone to mistakes and omissions. It
is not the purpose of this document to replace design codes, design courses or
engineering judgement.
The document briefly reviews the components of the structural system that have to
be designed, the possible alternatives for each component, and then describes the
design procedure for each component.
For each component, the design guideline lists the elements to be designed, the
checks to be performed, the typical extreme values of the design variables, detailing
hints, the relevant code sections and the relevant references for more detailed
information. The design code used in this document is the ACI318-05M and the
UBC97.
For each of these components several alternatives are available; the selection of the
most appropriate choice is done based on several parameters listed below, with the
ultimate goal of achieving maximum economy over the useful life of the building
while meeting safety and serviceability requirements. The selection of the structural
system is done during the conceptual phase of the project by a senior engineer, in
coordination with the architect and the other disciplines (Electrical, Mechanical)
senior engineers.
Local availability of materials and skilled labor: The local availability of materials
(special forms) and skilled labor experienced in the construction of the system is
major factor in obtaining a construction of good quality within a reasonable time and
cost. Therefore, local availability of materials and skilled labor is a major comparison
parameter.
Cost: Since the floor system in a building constitutes the major part of the building
structure, its cost contributes the most to the cost of the structure. Therefore, the
unit cost per unit area of the floor system is a major comparison parameter.
Weight: Since the floor system in a building constitutes the major part of the building
structure, its weight contributes the most to the weight of the structure. Increased
weight leads to more seismic loads, larger column sizes and larger foundations.
Therefore the weight per unit area of the floor system is a major comparison
parameter.
DRAFT 3/3
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Depth: In many cases where the allowable height of the building is limited, or the
façade material is very expensive, limiting the floor depth to reduce the overall depth
of the building is a desirable objective. Therefore, the floor depth is a significant
comparison parameter, and may be a major one in high rise buildings where it may
allow increasing the number of floors for the same overall building height.
Shape of soffit: Some systems provide a flat soffit that can be exposed as is or with
minor plastering, others present a soffit that has cavities or other irregularities that
may have to be hidden by a false ceiling. If no false ceilings are planned and a flat
soffit is desired, then the systems with irregular soffit have to be ruled out.
Therefore, the shape of soffit is a significant comparison parameter.
Except for ground floor slabs, which should be of solid slab construction (to
resist a live load of 10Kpa and have a fire resistance of 4hr), the floor systems
generally available for consideration are the following:
Hourdi ribbed slabs: Hourdi blocks (hollow artificial bricks made of cement, sand and
stone) are placed in rows on a flat formwork. The voids between rows of blocks will
become the concrete ribs. Reinforcement cages are placed in the voids between
rows. Shrinkage and temperature reinforcement is placed above the blocks. Concrete
is poured to the required thickness. After the concrete has attained sufficient
strength, the formwork and shoring is removed. Reshoring may be needed to
support the next floor being constructed above.
Hourdi ribbed slabs require minimal amounts of steel (~25kg/m2). They cost from 85
to 95 $/m2 1 . They weigh from 0.96 to 1.22 t/m2. They can be economically used up
to a span of 9m for a floor thickness of 400mm. Lightweight blocks and expanded
polystyrene blocks are available to replace conventional Hourdi blocks, however they
are more expensive and less fire resistant than the Hourdi blocks.
T-form ribbed slabs: T-form ribbed slabs are similar in construction to Hourdi ribbed
slabs, except that the Hourdi blocks are replaced by removable forms. T-form ribbed
1
Based on assumed material costs only.
DRAFT 4/4
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
slabs are less tolerant of floor plan irregularities than Hourdi ribbed slabs; for
maximum efficiency, the column lines should be orthogonal. For both Hourdi and
ribbed slabs, column spacing normal to the rib direction should be significantly
smaller than the rib span.
T-ribbed slabs require minimal amounts of steel (~25kg/m2). They cost from 80 to
90 $/m2 (not including premium for reusable forms). They weigh from 0.79 to 0.96
t/m2. They can be economically used up to a span of 11m for a floor thickness of
470mm. They are inferior to Hourdi ribbed slabs in terms of sound insulation and fire
resistance.
A variant of T-ribbed slabs is the ribbed floor, where the ribs are spaced at 1m to
2m, and the slab in-between the ribs has a thickness of 110mm to 150mm. The ribs
are generally 500mm to 700mm deep and have an optimal span from 9m to 13m.
Solid slabs: Solid slabs may be supported by drop beams or drop panels around
columns (two-way slab) or may be supported directly by columns, widened by
capitals (flat plate). For maximum economy and speed drop beams and drop panels
should be eliminated, column sizes should be unified, and column lines should be
orthogonal and equally spaced in both directions.
Waffle slabs: Waffle slabs are similar to solid slabs in concept and construction,
except that removable square pans are used to create cavities in the bottom of the
slab. Waffle slabs are lighter than solid slabs but thicker; they are best used for long
spans in both directions.
Precast pretensioned hollow core slabs: Precast hollow core slabs are prefabricated
under controlled factory conditions and placed on site on steel beams or reinforced
concrete beams. The structure is finally tied together by cast-in-place grout. This
system achieves floor weights ranging between 0.77 and 0.97 t/m2 for spans
ranging between 5.5 to 11.m for a slab thickness ranging between 20 and 40 0mm.
However, the total floor depth is larger when the supporting beam is included.
DRAFT 5/5
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Precast hollow core slabs have good sound insulation and fire resistance capacity.
They are quick to erect; they do not need formwork or shoring. They are best used
with regular floor plans, with few but large service shafts, parallel beam lines and
orthogonal column lines. Local precast hollow core manufacturers are available and
should be contacted to check for required order lead times.
Moment resisting frames: moment resisting frames may be used for low rise
buildings in highly seismic areas or for medium rise buildings in intermediate to low
seismic risk areas. (UBC97 Table 16.N). The use of moment resisting frames requires
the use of squarish columns, drop beams and ductile detailing in the beams, columns
and beam-column joint regions. They are most effective when the floor height and
the bay width are limited. An extreme variant of this structural system is the “tube”
and “tube in tube”, where moment resisting frames are used along the perimeter of
the building (tube) and in the center around the services core (tube in tube) where
each frame consists of closely spaced mullion columns connected by deep spandrel
beams. These systems may be used in high rise buildings of 40 (tube) to 80 stories
high (tube in tube).
Shear wall buildings: are braced laterally by shear walls acting individually or two-by-
two (connected by coupling beams) or grouped into cores. The use of shear wall
bracing in buildings gives the designer freedom in arranging the columns of the
vertical load carrying system. Sufficient shear walls should be placed along every
principal direction. In plan, the center of stiffness of the shear walls should be as
close as possible to the center of mass of the building to minimize torsional
excitations. To maximize torsional resistance, shear walls parallel to the façade,
should as close to the façade as possible (on the façade if possible). Shear wall cores
should be placed as close as possible to the center of mass of the floor plan. In
buildings with large plan dimensions, shear walls should be located near the middle
of the plan dimension and not at the ends to minimize thermal restraint forces. In
tall buildings with moderate to small plan dimensions, shear walls are best located
near the corners to maximize the resistance to overturning moments. For best
resistance against lateral loads, shear walls should carry a significant part of the
vertical load (otherwise they might uplift at the foundation, or have a limited flexural
capacity).
Dual systems: combine both moment resisting frames and shear walls in the same
structure. These are used when neither moment resisting frames or shear walls
alone are possible or sufficient to resist the applied lateral loads and to provide the
required lateral stiffness. Since the deformation characteristics of both systems are
DRAFT 6/6
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
different (shearwalls have larger interstory deformations at the top of the structure
rather at the base, while moment resisting frames have larger interstory
deformations at the base of the structure rather than at the top), the combination of
both systems in a single structure leads to structure stiffer than the sum of
stiffnesses of both systems alone. Dual systems are recommended for mid to high
rise buildings, particularly when outriggers are used to increase the coupling
between both systems.
Raft foundation: A raft foundation consists of a single slab supporting all vertical
elements. A raft foundation is necessary when the lowest level of the structure is
below the water table. When the vertical loads on each footing are high enough, or
the soil resistance at shallow depth is weak enough, such that the sum of footings
area is more than 60% of the overall area of the building footprint, then a raft
foundation may be more economical to use than a set of shallow isolated footings.
Pile foundation: Piles consist mainly of vertical concrete elements cast in holes drilled
in the ground or of precast concrete elements driven into the soil, and connected to
the vertical load carrying elements of the structure by means of pile caps. Piles are
used when the soil resistance at a shallow depth is not sufficient to permit the use
shallow isolated footings or rafts (either because the resistance to failure is low, or
the expected settlements are high).
Raft on pile foundation: As the name implies, a raft on pile foundation is a raft
supported on piles. This type of foundation is used mainly for high rise buildings,
where the required bearing capacity under the raft cannot not be achieved by the
soil at shallow depth, or where the number of piles under each vertical element is so
large that the pile caps would run into each other.
Design of ribs: This item covers hourdi ribs (with in-fill blocks), T-form ribs and
ribbed floors. The design items for ribs are:
DRAFT 7/7
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Width of the flange: The width of the flange is determined from the size of
the hourdi block for the hourdi ribbed slab, the size of the mold for the T-rib
slab, and from structural optimization for the ribbed slab.
Width of the rib: The width of flange is determined from minimum cover
considerations (ACI318-8.11.2) and is never less than 125mm for T-ribbed
slab and never less than 150mm for hourdi ribbed slabs and ribbed slabs.
Rib framing plan: Generally the rib is oriented along the longest direction
of the floor panel in which it is located, unless cantilever balcony ribs require
a different orientation of the ribs in the interior panel adjacent to the balcony.
Double ribs, parallel to the ribs are placed along lines connecting columns,
and cross-ribs are placed in the middle of floor panels over 6m long.
DRAFT 8/8
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Crack width under service load: The allowable crack width under service
load is obtained from ACI318-Appendix A-9 or BS8110 section 21.904
depending on the type of exposure. To minimize the crack width, the smallest
possible bar size must be used.
Beam width: The beam width should not exceed 4 times the beam depth,
and should be such that the center-to-center spacing of longitudinal bars is
not less than 120mm.
DRAFT 9/9
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
distance between supporting drop beams plus one floor depth on each end.
The amount of tensile flexural reinforcement or of compression reinforcement
may be increased in order to limit deflections under service load. The flexural
reinforcement in the concealed beam shall be such that flexural failure occurs
before shear failure. The fraction of bottom reinforcement developed at the
support should satisfy the requirements of table 12.11 of ACI318, and strut
and tie requirements for shear resistance at the support. The fraction of top
reinforcement extending at midspan should satisfy the requirements of table
12.12 of ACI 318. Moment redistributions up to 10% may be used to optimize
the reinforcement scheme, provided the maximum reinforcement ratio and
the compression reinforcement ratio satisfy the requirements of ACI318-7.12.
Crack width under service load: The allowable crack width under service
load is obtained from ACI318-Appendix A-9 or BS8110-21.9.04 depending on
the type of exposure. To minimize the crack width, the smallest possible bar
size must be used.
The design items for a drop beam are as listed below, and the requirements differ
significantly depending on the function of the drop beam:
Beam depth: The beam depth may be determined from the requirements of
table 9.5a of ACI318 to satisfy deflection requirements, or it may determined
from shear requirements (shear stress tu ~3 f vc such that stirrup spacing
s<d/4) in conjunction with a determination of the beam width. Moreover, the
flexural capacity of the beam at the beam-column connection in a moment
resisting frame should be such that flexural yielding occurs in the beam
rather than in the column. For beams supporting two-way slabs, the beam
moment of inertia should be larger than the supported slab moment of inertia
(ACI318-13.6).
DRAFT 10 / 10
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Beam width: The beam width B must satisfy the following requirements:
B<L/50 where L is the beam span between inflection points.
B > 250mm for beams in ductile moment resisting frames (ACI318-21.5.1.3).
B > 200mm for proper support of precast elements.
B > H/8 where H is the beam depth.
B< Bc+D in moment resisting frames where Bc is the width of the column
supporting the beam and D is the floor slab depth, when B>Bc.
B<Bc-10 when B<Bc and Bc is the width of the supporting column.
Moreover, B should be such that the minimum center-to-center spacing
between top bar is 120mm and between bottom bars is 70mm.
DRAFT 11 / 11
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Crack width under service load: The allowable crack width under service
load is obtained from ACI318 Appendix A-9 or BS8110 Section 21.9.04
depending on the type of exposure. To minimize the crack width, the smallest
possible bar size must be used.
DRAFT 12 / 12
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Shear strength: The shear strength in the one-way slab is provided solely
by the concrete (ACI318-11.3.1,11.5.5), and is a way of determining the
required slab thickness. For additional safety, the bottom reinforcement at
the support should be sufficient to develop the required shear strength by
strut-and-tie action.
Crack width under service load: The allowable crack width under service
load is obtained from ACI318-Appendix A-9 or BS8110 Section 21.9.04
depending on the type of exposure. To minimize the crack width, the smallest
possible bar size must be used.
Drop panel thickness and extent: When heavy distributed loads or long
spans are involved, it may be more economical to provide drop panels. The
minimum depth and extent of drop panel are set in ACI318-13.3.7. Additional
considerations may be the punching shear or flexural moment at the support
column. The minimum drop panel depth is T/4 (ACI318-13.3.7.2) and the
maximum drop panel depth is 0.7T (flexural strength considerations), where
T is the slab thickness away from the drop panel. The extent of the drop
DRAFT 13 / 13
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
panel should not be less than L/3, where L is the span length between
column centrelines (ACI318-13.3.7.3).
Slab flexural reinforcement: The minimum bar size should be 10mm and
the maximum bar size should be T/10, where T is the slab thickness. The bar
spacing needs to satisfy the requirements of ACI318-13.3.2, but should not
be less than 120mm on-centers to allow proper placement and vibration of
concrete. A maximum bar spacing of 300mm would allow the addition of
intermediate bars for extra reinforcement while maintaining the minimum bar
spacing requirement in the additional bars region. Only one layer of
reinforcement in each direction should be used along each face of the slab.
The verifications specific to the two-way slabs are as follows (drop-beams and
columns are treated elsewhere):
Deflection under service load: Two way slabs satisfying the requirements
of ACI318 table 9.5.c should have satisfactory deflection under service loads.
Otherwise, the effective long term deflection shall be calculated using the
appropriate spreadsheet.
DRAFT 14 / 14
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Crack width under service load: The allowable crack width under service
load is obtained from ACI318-Appendix A-9 or BS8110 Section 21.9.04
depending on the type of exposure. To minimize the crack width, the smallest
possible bar size must be used.
Selection of framing plan: Hollow core slab floors are best used with
rectangular regular floor bays without cantilevers. Since the slab support
beam is a drop beam, it may not be necessarily more advantageous to have
the beam spanning in the short direction, and the slab spanning in the long
direction. Hollow core slabs should meet the support at an angle as close to
right angle as possible (skew support lines need to be avoided because they
may lead to splitting of the slab). Shafts in hollow core floor slabs can occur
only between slab elements or within concrete cores (service, elevator, stairs)
The specific verifications to be performed are (in addition to those for drop beams):
Slab support ledge: The design of the slab support ledge is done according
to the procedure described in PCI Design Handbook 6.14 and involves
determining the following parameters:
• Ledge width: based on minimum bearing stress and slab length
tolerance.
• Ledge depth: based on shear, flexure and reinforcement
arrangement; it is never less than 200mm.
• Ledge reinforcement: based on flexure, shear and shear-friction.
• Cumulation of ledge reinforcement with that of beam shear and
torsion reinforcement (consideration of partial load to maximize
torsion on beam).
DRAFT 15 / 15
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Checking of stresses during the various phases: The main phases for
which the top and bottom slab flexural stresses must be checked are: initial
prestressing under self-weight only (may be partial prestress), final
prestressing under self-weight and some or all superimposed dead load,
prestress after occurrence of all time-dependant losses and in presence of all
permanent loads (self weight and superimposed dead loads), and finally
prestress after occurrence of all time-dependant losses and in presence of all
loads (permanent and live). The flexural stresses must be within the
allowable limits for tension and compression stress (ACI318-18.3.3 and
18.4.1 to 18.4.4).
DRAFT 16 / 16
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Design of columns:
The design elements of a cast-in-situ reinforced concrete column include the
following items:
DRAFT 17 / 17
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Shear strength: is calculated for the applied loads and may take advantage
of the shear strength enhancement due to compression caused by axial loads
(gravity load cases). Alternatively, a capacity approach may be taken such
that the shear strength is larger than the maximum shear that can be caused
by the flexural moment strength (fVn > (Mntop+Mnbot)/H, ACI318-21.6.5.1).
Design of shearwalls
The design elements of a shearwall include the following items:
Wall length: wall length is mainly determined from architectural
considerations in coordination with structural requirements.
Wall thickness: wall thickness is mainly determined from structural
requirements based on required fire resistance, minimum slenderness,
required structural strength (compression, flexure, shear) and stiffness.
Shear strength: is calculated for the applied loads and may take advantage
of the shear strength enhancement due to compression caused by axial loads
(gravity load cases).
Design of cores:
The design elements of cores are identical to those of shearwalls. The specific
verifications to perform are (in addition to those done for shearwalls):
DRAFT 18 / 18
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
DRAFT 19 / 19
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
DRAFT 20 / 20
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Stability against sliding: The ratio of resisting force to sliding force for x
and y directions should be larger than 2. The sliding force is the external
horizontal force. The resisting force is Fres = m.Ptot+c.Afoot where:
m = coefficient of friction between footing and soil tan(2/3f)
Ptot = total vertical force (external load+footing
weight+overburden weight)
f = internal angle of friction of foundation soil
c = foundation soil cohesion
Afoot = footing area
This verification is done using service load combinations.
DRAFT 21 / 21
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
footing should be such that punching shear check is satisfied without having
to use punching shear reinforcement.
Beam shear: Beam shear in the footing due to externally applied ultimate
vertical load and moments is calculated at two orthogonal sections d away
from the column limit as per ACI318-11.1.3.1. The thickness of the footing
should be such that punching shear check is satisfied without having to use
punching shear reinforcement.
Load eccentricity: The sign of the moment about the Y axis (normal to the
strap beam direction) is significant and may increase the load eccentricity.
The load eccentricity is calculated with respect to the centroid of the footing
and may be balanced completely or partially by the shear and moment
applied by the strap beam at the edge of the footing opposite to the edge
where the column is situated.
Strap beam section: The strap beam section needs to be determined from
3 considerations: shear strength, flexural strength and flexural stiffness. The
distribution of loads between the footing and the strap beam should take into
account their rotational and vertical translation stiffness.
DRAFT 22 / 22
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Punching shear area: In case the strap beam connects to the footing along
its side face, then punching shear stress under the eccentric column needs to
be checked (reduced punching shear perimeter). In case the strap beam
connects to the footing along its top face and extends to the eccentric
column, then no punching shear needs to be checked.
The specific verifications to be done are identical to those done for a concentric
footing.
DRAFT 23 / 23
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Stability against sliding: The ratio of resisting force to sliding force for x
and y directions should be larger than 2. The sliding force is the external
horizontal force. The resisting force is Fres = m.Ptot+c.Afoot where:
m = coefficient of friction between footing and soil tan(2/3f)
Ptot = total vertical force (external load+footing
weight+overburden weight)
f = internal angle of friction of foundation soil
c = foundation soil cohesion
Afoot = footing area
This verification is done using service load combinations.
Beam shear: Beam shear in the footing due to externally applied ultimate
vertical load and moments is calculated at orthogonal sections d away from
the column limits as per ACI318-11.1.3.1. The thickness of the footing should
be such that punching shear check is satisfied without having to use shear
reinforcement.
DRAFT 24 / 24
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Kz = Af.Ks
Kxx = ∫∫Ks.y2dxdy
Kyy = ∫∫Ks.x2dxdy
Ks = Modulus of subgrade reaction (~120qa)
qa = Allowable net bearing capacity.
Design of tie-beams:
Tie-beams connect isolated footings and may support slabs on grade. The design
elements of tie-beams are:
Location with respect to top of footing: Generally, the tie beams frame
into the columns immediately above the top face of the footing and may
support the slab on grade. In some cases
Section dimensions: Tie beam sections are such that the vertical dimension
is larger than the horizontal dimension. The horizontal dimension should not
be less than 250mm and should be either smaller or larger (by at least
50mm) than the column dimension into which it is framing (to avoid
interference between the tie-beam longitudinal reinforcement and the column
longitudinal reinforcement). The vertical dimension is determined from
analysis, based on the required compression capacity, buckling resistance and
flexural stiffness.
Flexural and shear resistance: the tie-beam shear and flexural strength
shall be sufficient to resist imposed deformations corresponding to the
expected differential settlement under vertical load, the imposed rotations
due to lateral loads and the vertical loads directly applied to the tie-beam
(from slabs-on-grade monolithically connected to the tie-beam).
Design of rafts:
DRAFT 25 / 25
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Rafts are used when the bearing capacity is so low, or the column loads so high, that
individual footings would overlap over one another. The design elements of a raft
are:
The extent in plan: The extent in plan of a raft is usually the footprint of the building
(particularly when it is a high-rise or has basements below the water table), in which
case it also supports the perimeter basement walls. Otherwise, the extent in plan
outside the high-rise core is determined from soil bearing capacity considerations.
The thickness: The thickness of a raft is determined from punching shear and beam
shear considerations, since it is not practical to provide punching shear
reinforcement in the raft. In some cases, where uplift due to shallow water table is
encountered, the raft thickness may be increased to provide ballast weight against
uplift, and to have the reinforcement work at a reduced stress to limit the flexural
crack widths.
The flexural reinforcement: The flexural reinforcement is calculated for the moments
induced in the raft. Two approaches are possible for the detailing of the
reinforcement; either a constant bar spacing is used with changes in the bar
diameters where needed, or a basic reinforcement mesh at twice the minimum bar
spacing (250mm to 300mm) is laid and additional reinforcing bars are inserted
between the mesh bars, where needed. The minimum bar spacing should not be less
than 120mm or 150mm preferably, to allow proper placement of reinforcement.
The construction sequence and heat of hydration control: For large or thick rafts that
cannot be poured in one phase, it is necessary to preview a construction sequence
with either construction joints either along vertical planes or along horizontal planes.
In either case, the reinforcement has to be detailed to provide sufficient
development length across the construction joints, and the construction joint faces
must be keyed or roughened to provide sufficient shear resistance across the planes.
Moreover, in case of thick rafts, some measures need to be taken to avoid excessive
rise of temperature inside the raft and thermal gradients leading to cracking of the
raft.
Design of slab-on-grade:
DRAFT 26 / 26
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
DRAFT 27 / 27
Department: ED11 K&A–CEC Company Confidential Rev. Date: Aug 2007
Unspecified case:
We=Wp/3 > 1KN/m2.
Generally partition loads would not be less than 4.5KN/m2.
DRAFT 28 / 28