Received: 22 July 2020 Revised: 7 October 2020 Accepted: 16 November 2020

DOI: 10.1002/suco.202000448

TECHNICAL PAPER

Numerical investigation of the punching shear capacity of

unbonded post-tensioned concrete flat slabs

Rafael Sanabria Díaz | Leandro Mouta Trautwein | Luiz Carlos de Almeida

School of Civil Engineering, University of

Campinas, Campinas, S~ao Paulo, Brazil
Correspondence
Rafael Sanabria Díaz, School of Civil
Engineering, Architecture and Urban
Design, University of Campinas,
R. Saturnino de Brito, 224, Campinas
13083-889, S~ao Paulo, Brazil.
Email: r163449@dac.unicamp.br
Funding information
Coordenaç~ao de Aperfeiçoamento de
Pessoal de Nível Superior, Grant/Award
Number: 88882.435128
Abstract
This paper describes a numerical study of the punching shear resistance of
unbonded post-tensioned slabs without shear reinforcement. This research
aimed to develop a methodology for modeling unbonded tendons and numeri-
cally evaluate the prestressing effects on the punching shear capacity. To vali-
date the modeling approach, a series of well documented experimental tests
were simulated using the finite element software DIANA. The nonlinear ana-
lyses were performed using three-dimensional solid elements, incorporating
the cracking behavior of concrete by the smeared crack approach. In addition,
interface elements were included, providing bond-slip properties to simulate
the friction between tendons and concrete. A good agreement was found
between the numerical results and experimental data. Load capacity, cracks
patterns, and the prestressing effects were accurately simulated. After the vali-
dation, a parametric study was conducted to analyze the influence of distribu-
tion, force and profile of prestressing tendons. Finally, the numerical results
were compared with current design code provisions and the approach provided
by the Critical Shear Crack Theory.

KEYWORDS
finite element, flat slab, nonlinear analysis, post-tensioned slabs, prestressing, punching shear

1 | INTRODUCTION slab-column connections remains a critical aspect for

Post-tensioned flat slabs have been used in residential,
office, parking buildings and bridges in several countries.
Compared to reinforced concrete (RC) flat slabs, the pre-
stressing force effects allow larger spans to be constructed
and reduce slab thickness, which leads to slender struc-
tures. In addition, the use of prestressing helps control-
ling cracking and deflection at the serviceability limit
state. Despite these advantages, punching resistance of
Discussion on this paper must be submitted within two months of the
print publication. The discussion will then be published in print, along
with the authors’ closure, if any, approximately nine months after the
print publication.
post-tensioned slabs design. This rupture should always
be avoided because it could lead to brittle failures and
progressive collapse of the structure. In recent years,
there have been some cases of progressive collapses of
this type of structure that led to significant material and
human losses.1–4
The influence of prestressing on punching resistance
has been the subject of numerous experimental and theo-
retical research. In general, the studies conclude that pre-
stressing has several beneficial effects on punching shear
behavior of flat slabs as a consequence of in-plane com-
pressive stresses, decompression moments and vertical
component of inclined tendons near the column. The
first experimental campaigns investigated these effects

Structural Concrete. 2020;1–18. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/suco © 2020 fib. International Federation for Structural Concrete 1
2 DÍAZ ET AL.
combined in flat slabs with inclined tendons (Grow and
Vanderbilt,5 Nylander et al.,6 Pralong et al.,7 and
Shehata8).
More recently, the effects of prestressing on punching
shear resistance have been studied in an isolated manner.
For example, the effect of in-plane compressive force was
analyzed using straight tendons, without eccentricity
(Corrêa,9 Moreillon10) or applying external compressive
forces (Ramos et al.,11 Clément et al.12). It was verified that
in-plane compressive stress leads to an increase in the
slabs capacity to carry shear forces due to the reduction in
concrete strains and deformations, and because of the con-
tribution on aggregate interlock along the shear cracks.
The isolation of vertical component and the decom-
pression moments was studied by Ramos et al.13 and
Clément et al.,12 respectively, using special experimental
set-ups. The former tests confirmed that the deviation
forces caused by inclined tendons within the failure sur-
face increase the punching strength. According to Ramos
et al.,13 only tendons within a distance of 0.5d from the
edge of the column should be considered for the vertical
component calculation. Furthermore, it was also verified
by Clément et al.12 that the bending moments produced
by the eccentricities of the tendons lead to smaller crack
openings in the failure region and a reduction in the slab
rotation, increasing the punching strength.
Despite the advantages mentioned before, to date,
there is not a general consensus of a physical model that
takes into accounts all the benefits of prestressing on the
punching shear resistance of flat slab. That is verified
through the difference approaches between current design
recommendations, most of them based on empirical equa-
tions. Also, it is important to point out that codes provi-
sions make no distinction between unbonded and bonded
tendons on the contribution in the punching strength.
This study aimed to investigate the punching shear
resistance of unbonded post-tensioned flat slabs using
nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA). The numerical
simulations were carried out in the software DIANA14
based on the smeared fixed crack approach using 3D-solid
(continuum) finite elements (FE). A methodology was pro-
posed for modeling the prestressing forces transference
between the tendon and the concrete, and represent the
reaction forces at the anchors. Experimental tests, reported
in the literature, were modeled to validate the methodol-
ogy and assess the prestressing effects on the ultimate
punching capacity. Furthermore, a parametric study was
conducted to investigate the effect of prestressing loads
and tendon profile. The numerical results were compared
to the existing design codes provisions and the Critical
Shear Crack Theory (CSCT), originally proposed by
Muttoni15 and adapted by Clément et al.12 to study the
punching shear strength of post-tensioned flat slabs.
2 | PREVIOUS NUMERICAL
INVESTIGATION
Finite element (FE) analysis has been used successfully
to model the nonlinear behavior of RC structures. The
first studies on the numerical simulation of punching
shear of flat slabs included the application of rotational
symmetric continuum elements, for example, References
16–18. With the advancement of computers, recent stud-
ies are focused on 3D modeling of continuum elements,
in most cases using the smeared crack approach.19–27
Despite the several numerical investigations per-
formed to study punching shear, the simulation of
post-tensioned flat slabs is limited. This fact is justified by
the limited number of experimental tests (compared with
RC slab), and the difficulty of accurately representing the
interaction between prestressing tendon and surrounding
concrete. Vecchio et al.28 developed a methodology for
modeling unbonded tendons in beams for 2D-analysis, in
which the tendons nodes were connected to the concrete
elements with bond-links. The compression forces of the
tendons were modeled using a temperature gradient.
Vecchio et al.28 concluded that the increment of the axial
forces in the tendons (caused by the external loads) was
important to simulate the nonlinear behavior of post-ten-
sioned beams properly. Ellobody and Bailey29 investi-
gated the flexure capacity of one-way slabs using the
software ABAQUS. The modeling was based on interface
elements to represent the behavior of unbonded tendons.
Kang et al.30 applied two approaches to study the punc-
hing shear of two-way slabs. The former was similar to
the one used by Reference 29. The latter approach used
spring elements connected between the tendon and a vir-
tual tendon with low stiffness. At the anchors, master–
slave connections were applied to model the prestressing
effects in the slabs. Both approaches showed good agree-
ment with the reported experimental tests, although the
second approach seems to be more advantageous because
it requires less computational effort.
3 | MATERIAL M ODELING
3.1 | Concrete
The concrete behavior was modeled using the Total
Strain Fixed smeared crack approach implemented in
DIANA, which is based on the formulations of the modi-
fied compression field theory proposed by Vecchio and
Collins31 and its extension to three-dimensional analysis
proposed by Selby and Vecchio.32 This constitutive model
considers the concrete as a continuum material in which
cracks are uniformly smeared in a characteristic length
DÍAZ ET AL. 3

(also known as crack band), he, in the element's integra- 1f c

tion points. Thus, the stress–strain relationships are eval- εc=3 = −
3E
uated in the directions of the principal axes at first εc = −5εc=3 ð4Þ
cracking. The crack directions are fixed upon cracking, 3 Gc
and stresses are calculated in terms of total strains. εu = εc −
2 he f c
The total strain fixed crack model has been widely
used to simulated the nonlinear behavior of RC struc-
tures (e.g., 33–36). In this study, for higher porder
ffiffiffiffi two- The failure criterion for compression considers the
dimensional elements, he was established as A , with A lateral confinement according to Hsieh et al. four-
as the total areap of the element. For solid elements the
ffiffiffiffi parameter model40 in which the increase of the isotropic
3
value used was V with V as the volume of the element. stress is defined as:
The uniaxial tensile stress–strain diagram is defined
pffiffiffiffiffi
in terms of the tensile strength ft and the fracture energy J2 J2 f
f ðI 1 ,J 2 , f c1 Þ = 2:0108 2 + 0:9714 + 9:1412 c1
in tension Gf (energy required to open a unit area of a fc fc fc
crack). The stress–strain relationship is assumed to be I1
linear in tension until the maximum principal stress + 0:2312 −1 = 0 ð5Þ
fc
reach ft. Then, a softening exponential curve is defined
using the Equation (1) proposed by Hordijk.37
where I1 denotes the first invariant of the stress ten-
"  #  
σ w 3 w w  sor, J2 is the second invariant of the deviatoric stress ten-
= 1 + c1 exp −c2 − 1 + c1 3 expð −c2 Þ sor; fc1 is the maximum principal stress; and fc is the
ft wu wu wu
uniaxial compressive strength.
ð1Þ In fixed crack model the shear concrete behavior is
represented by a shear retention factor, β. Hence, the
where wu = 5:136 Gf f ; reduced concrete shear stiffness is described as:
t
w is the crack opening, and wu is the crack opening at
the complete release of stress. The values of the constants Gred = βG0 ð6Þ
are c1 = 3, c2 = 6.93. The equation from MC-201038 was
used to estimate Gf: The choice of β have a huge influence in the global struc-
ture behavior, particularly in the simulation of shear failure
Gf = 73f c 0:18 with f c in MPa and Gf in N=m ð2Þ modes.35,41 In this work, a variable shear retention factor pro-
posed by DeJong et al.42 is used for the reduction of the shear
The concrete compressive behavior is described with stiffness in the cracked state. The cracked shear modulus is
the parabolic curve proposed by Feenstra,39 Equation (3), calculated assuming that the secant shear stiffness degrades at
in which the softening of the concrete is governed by the the same rate as the normal stiffness due to cracking.

8
>
> −f c εj
>
> if εc=3 < εj ≤ 0
>
> 3 εc=3
> "
>
>
>    #
>
< −f c εj −εc=3 εj −εc=3 2
  1+4 −2 if εc < εj ≤ εc=3
f εj = 3 εc −εc=3 εc −εc=3 ð3Þ
>
>
>
>  
>
> εj − εc 2
> −f
> c 1 −2 if εc < εj ≤ εc=3
>
>
εu − εc
>
:
0 if εj ≤ εu

compressive fracture energy Gc and the characteristic ele- Table 1 summarizes the concrete parameters
ment length he.where: implemented in the constitutive model used in the analyses.
4 DÍAZ ET AL.

TABLE 1 Concrete constitutive model used for the numerical tangential direction. In the normal direction, a high stiff-
simulations ness value was used (kn = 1,000 N/mm3) between the
Parameter Description
tendons and the concrete. In the tangential direction, the
bondslip model proposed by Dörr43 was used, which is
Crack Model Total strain fixed crack14
expressed by the following equation:
Tension softening Exponential curve, Hordijk37
Tensile fracture energy (Gf) MC-201038 tt =
8    2  3
Parabolic curve, Feenstra39
< c 5 Δut −4:5 Δu0t + 1:4 Δu0t
Compression softening >
Δu Δut
if 0 ≤ Δut ≤ Δu0t
Compressive fracture energy 250 Gf, Nakamura52 Δut
0 t

(Gc)
Compressive strength
reduction due to lateral
cracking
Compressive behavior with
lateral confinement
Shear modulus in cracked state
3.2 | Steel reinforcement
Vecchio and Collins53
Hsieh-Ting-Chen four-
parameter failure surface40
DeJong et al.42
>
:
1:9c if Δut > Δu0t
ð9Þ
where c is a model constant (which can be taken as ft for
RC) and Δu0t is the value in which the maximum shear
traction is achieved. In this study, for modeling the
unbonded behavior of the tendons, values of
c = 2 × 10−5 MPa and Δu0t = 100 mm were chosen.

The behavior of the flexural reinforcement and pre- 4 | VALIDATION OF PROPOSED

stressing tendons was described by an elastic-perfectly
plastic uniaxial stress–strain law (without hardening). A
perfect bond between the flexural reinforcement rebar
with the surrounding concrete was assumed. For the pre-
stressing tendons, a bond-slip relationship was
implemented, as explained in the next item.
3.3 | Unbonded tendons
M O DEL I N G P R O C E D U R E
The procedure for modeling unbonded prestressed ten-
dons is explained in this section. For this purpose, a post-
tensioned beam tested by Hussien et al.44 was used. Then,
the same methodology was extended for modeling the
post-tensioned slabs tested by Ramos et al.,13 Melges,45
and Carvalho et al.46

An explicit bond-slip relationship was used to account for
the relative displacement between the unbonded tendons
and concrete. The bond-slip model formulation is based
on un-coupled law for the normal and shear tractions,
and the relative displacement between the two materials.
This approach is similar to the one implemented by
Vecchio et al.28 This relationship can be expressed
according to Equations (7) and (8):
tn = kn Δun
t t = f ðΔut Þ
where tn and tt are the components of the traction vector
in the normal and the tangential directions, respectively.
Similarly, Δun and Δut are the components of the relative
displacement vector in those directions. A linear elastic
behavior is assumed between the normal tractions and
the relative displacement in those directions through the
stiffness coefficient kn. On the other hand, a nonlinear
function is used for representing the relationship
between the shear tractions and the displacements in the
4.1 | Post-tensioned beam analysis
The geometry of beam B8 tested by Hussien et al.44 are
shown in Figure 1. The beam had one unbonded tendon
of 12.7 mm diameter with a profile similar to the bending
moment induced from the load set-up scheme. The effec-
tive prestressing force was 101 kN and it was applied at
both ends of the beam. The concrete compressive
strength of the beam was 72 MPa. The yield and ultimate
ð7Þ stress of nonprestressing steel were 470 and 610 MPa,
respectively. For the prestressing steel, those values cor-
ð8Þ responded to 1,674 and 1860 MPa.
Exploiting the beam symmetry, only one half of the
beam was modeled (Figure 2). Eight-node quadrilateral
elements with 3 × 3 × 3 Gauss scheme integration were
used for the beam mesh. The bar and tendon were dis-
cretized using truss element and the embedded reinforce-
ment technique. For nonprestressing reinforcement, a
perfect bond was assumed with the concrete. For the ten-
dons, the bond-slip relation proposed by Dörr43 was
adopted. The anchor, supports, and loading plates were
also included in the model with a linear-elastic material.
DÍAZ ET AL. 5

F I G U R E 1 Loading scheme, P/2 P/2

geometrical properties and
reinforcement detailing of beam
340
B8.44 All dimensions in mm

1000 2000 1000 160

4400 mm
2 Ø10mm

2 Ø10mm
one tendon
Ø12.7mm

support plates interface horizontal restraint

element

anchor

interface element
support plate
vertical restraint

FIGURE 2 Mesh discretization for the B8 numerical model

Between the concrete and plates, interface elements were
created with zero normal stiffness in traction.
The numerical analysis was divided into two parts: in
the first one, the prestressing load was applied, and in
the second one, an incremental displacement was used to
simulate the load applied in the test. Numerically, the
two parts were applied as follows:
improve the convergence performance. A maximum
number of 400 iterations was set for the solution strategy.
The analysis was lead to continue if the convergence
criteria were not satisfied. Nevertheless, in all the simula-
tions were verified that the maximum number of itera-
tions only was achieved at the post-peak regime. The

1. The effective prestressing force was applied as a nodal (a) compression reaction
force at the end of the tendon element. Simulta-
neously, a linear distributed load was applied at the
anchor elements, representing the reaction force from
the prestressing action (Figure 3a).
2. The prescribed displacement was applied. In addition,
a master–slave connection was activated between the
prestressing effective force
end node of the tendon (in which the prestressing was
applied) and the closer node at the anchor elements. (b) prescribed displacement
Thus, the master–slave connection represents the
wedge action at the anchors in a real tendon.
(Figure 3b).

For the iterative solution scheme, the quasi-Newton

(secant) method was used. The convergence criteria was master-slave connection
based on energy and force balance criteria with tolerance
values of 0.0001 and 0.01, respectively. The iteration F I G U R E 3 Phased analysis for model prestressing of
method was coupled with the line-search technique to unbonded tendons
6 DÍAZ ET AL.
described numerical strategy was found to be robust
enough to guarantee the convergence in the numerical
simulations. More details about the line-search technique
and iterative procedures can be found elsewhere.47,48
Figure 4 shows the comparison between the numeri-
cal and experimental load-deflection responses. The peak
load obtained by the simulation was 156.6 kN, while the
load obtained in test was 148 kN. The numerical curve
has a reasonably good agreement with the experimental
one. The crack pattern at the last converged step is also
shown in Figure 4. This crack pattern indicated that the
beam rupture was governed by flexural behavior which is
consistent with the observations reported by Hussien
et al.44
4.2 | Post-tensioned slab analyses
The previously described methodology for modeling
unbonded tendons was extended to investigate the punc-
hing shear failure mode of post-tensioned flat slabs. For
this purpose, slabs tested by Ramos et al.,13 Melges,45 and
Carvalho et al.46 were used as a benchmark. The chosen
specimens corresponds to squared panels of isolated slab-
column connections, representing the negative moment
region of an internal column. In total, 10 slabs were con-
sidered in this study, in which seven of them were
included unbonded tendons, the rest of the slabs cor-
responded to RC specimens used as a reference. The slab
M4 tested by Melges45 had eight prestressing tendons in
each direction with a parabolic profile and anchored in
plates on the edges of the slab (Figure 5a). The slabs
AR8, AR10, AR11, and AR16, investigated by Ramos
160
148
140
NLFEA
120
100
Load [kN]
80 Experimental
60 Experimental
40
NLFEA
20
0 to avoid precracking due to the tendons' prestressing.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Displacement [mm]
FIGURE 4 Comparison of load–displacement curve of
beam B8
et al.,13 had four tendons in each direction with a linear-
parabolic profile (Figure 5b). Differently from slab M4,
the tendons were anchored to external steel frames. The
purpose of this experimental setup was to assess the
effect of the vertical component of prestressing forces
without the influence of in-plane compression stresses.
The slabs L1A and S1 tested by Carvalho et al.46 had
12 tendons in each direction with a parabolic profile and
anchored in plates on the edges of the slab (Figure 5c).
The material and geometrical properties for all the simu-
lated slabs are shown in Table 2.
The load application procedure was similar for all the
specimens. Reaction support plates at the contraflexure
line restrained the vertical displacement of the slabs. At
the center, a hydraulics actuator were used to apply the
load on a steel plate, designed to simulate the concrete
column of a flat plate. During the tests execution, an ini-
tial load were applied on the column before applying the
presstressing forces to avoid cracking on the bottom sur-
face of the slab. Then, the tendons were tensioned and
the specimens were monotonically loaded to failure. In
the slabs tested by Ramos et al.,13 a load maintainer
device was used to keep constant the prestressing force in
each tendon during the test. For the slab M4, tested by
Melges45 and Carvalho et al.,46 an increased of the force
in the tendons was observed due to the slab
deformations.
The simulations were performed with the mean mate-
rial properties provided by Ramos et al.,13 Melges,45 and
Carvalho et al.46 Some additional parameters needed for
the numerical simulations were estimated according to
the properties shown in Table 1. Due to the symmetry in
loads and geometry, only one-quarter of the slabs speci-
mens were simulated. The models included displacement
restraints along the axis of symmetry and at support
plates to represent the full-size slab behavior. The dis-
156.6 cretization was made according to the recommendations
of the mesh sensitivity study performed by Díaz et al.49
Twenty-node brick elements with quadratic interpolation
and five layers of elements along the slab thickness was
used in the numerical models. To reduce the computa-
tional cost, a coarser mesh was used outside the punc-
hing failure zone (refer to Figure 6). The mesh
discretization adopted was found to be satisfactory for the
simulation of RC slab-connection tests.
Similarly to the simulation of beam B8, the loading
was divided in different steps. First, an incremental dis-
placement was applied to simulate the initial load applied
90 100
Then, the methodology proposed to represent the pre-
stressing procedure was applied. Finally, an incremental
displacement was applied at the center of the column. An
example of the FE mesh and the details for the applied
DÍAZ ET AL. 7

(a) (b) 2500

(c) 3000
2300

e=28 (L1A)
e=46.1
e= variable

2500

e=23 (S1)
3000
2300

300 700 500 700 300

525 525 900 525 525

e= variable e=33.6
e=45 (L1A)
e=45 (S1)

FIGURE 5 Tendon layout and geometric properties of slabs tested by (a) Melges,45 by (b) Ramos et al.,13 and (c) Carvalho et al.46 All
dimensions are in mm

T A B L E 2 Parameter of tested slabs

Slab fc (MPa) h (mm) c (mm) ρ (%) d (mm) σ p (MPa) Vp,0.5 (kN)
used as benchmark
M1 26.6 160 180 1.58 127 0 0
M4 51.9 160 180 0.92 134 2.58 11.32
AR2 39.1 100 200 1.63 80 0 0
AR8 41.6 100 200 1.62 80.6 0 66.15
AR9 37.1 100 200 1.60 81.9 0 0
AR10 41.4 100 200 1.62 80.8 0 52.42
AR11 38 100 200 1.62 80.6 0 35.25
AR16 30.6 100 200 1.63 80.3 0 69.35
L1A 26.4 200 200 0.71 165 2.32 0
S1 39.4 200 250 0.75 156 2.30 0

the prestressing are illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. It must
be noted that in the slabs tested by Ramos et al.13 no
compression reactions were applied to the slabs since the
tendons were anchored to external frames in the experi-
mental set-up. Instead, a constant force was maintained
in the tendons during the analysis.
The comparison between the numerical load–
displacement curves and the corresponding experimental
ones are shown in the Figure 8, Figure 9 and Figure 10. It
is noted that the numerical simulation represented well
the experimental responses for the RC and prestressed
specimens. The numerical analysis was able to capture
the postpeak behavior, confirming the brittle failure
mode expected for a punching shear slab without shear
reinforcement. However, it must be seen that in some
specimens a discrepancy between simulated and mea-
sured load–displacement responses was observed in the
early load stages (see e.g., in the slab M4). This was prob-
ably caused by the tension operation during the experi-
mental tests.
The mean relationship between the numerical and
the experimental peak load (VNLFEA/Vexp) was 98%, with
a standard deviation of 6%, which was found to be accu-
rate enough. Furthermore, the increment in the punc-
hing strength due to the prestressing observed in the
experimental test and captured in the simulations, illus-
trates the NLFEA methodology's capability to simulate
the effects of tendons. The punching shear failure mode
was also confirmed by the principal tensile strain con-
tours. Figure 11 show the strain localization after
reaching the peak load, which is in agreement with the
crack patterns observed in the experimental tests.
5 | P A R A M E T R I C ST UDY
A parametric study was carried out to investigate the
effect of distribution and profile of prestressing tendons
on the punching shear capacity. In total, 16 slabs were
simulated using the verified methodology presented in
8 DÍAZ ET AL.

F I G U R E 6 Mesh
discretization, boundaries
conditions and prestressing of
slab M4

Vertical restraint
at support plates
Lateral restraints
along line of symmetry

Lateral restraints
along line of symmetry

Prescribed
displacement After prestressing

Effective presstressing
force (maintained constant
during incremental analysis)
Lateral restraints
along line of symmetry

FIGURE 7 Mesh discretization, boundary conditions, and prestressing of slab tested by Ramos et al.13

the previous section. The slab geometry was chosen to panels had a side length of 3,000 mm and a thickness of
represent the negative moment region of a post-tensioned 200 mm. The column was simulated with a
flat plate floor (see Figure 12). The isolated squared 240 × 240 mm squared plate. The supporting plates were
DÍAZ ET AL. 9

400
AR-2 AR-8 380 AR-9
353.2

300
255.2
Load [kN]

254.8 258 251

200 NLFEA

Experimental
100

400
AR-10 371 AR-11 AR-16
342 324.5
337.2 351
317.2
300
Load [kN]

200

100

0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Displacement [mm] Displacement [mm] Displacement [mm]

FIGURE 8 Load–displacement responses comparison for slabs tested by Ramos et al.13

F I G U R E 9 Load– 800 M1 M4 772.6 772.8

displacement responses
comparison for slabs tested by
600
Melges45

441.6 423.8
Load [kN]

400 Experimental

200 NLFEA

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Displacement [mm] Displacement [mm]

FIGURE 10 Load– L1A S1

1000 991.6
displacement responses 900
comparison for slabs tested by
800 772.4 750
Carvalho et al.46
Load [kN]

600 Experimental
Ultimate load
NLFEA
400

200

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Displacement [mm] Displacement [mm]

also included in the model, positioned at a radius of 100 mm and a effective dept. of 169 mm, which gives a
1,500 mm around the column. The top flexural reinforce- 1% ratio. A yielding stress of 580 MPa and a elasticity
ment consisted in 16 mm diameter bars with a spacing of modulus of 210 GPa were adopted for the the
10
F I G U R E 1 1 Tensile strain contour at rupture, after reaching
the peak load in numerical models
reinforcement bars. For all the slabs, a concrete material
with a compressive strength of 35 MPa was used. A ten-
sile strength of 3.2 MPa and elasticity modulus of
34,405 MPa were adopted. Additional nonlinear concrete
behavior was modeled with the parameters shown in
Table 1. It is worth to mention that no safety formats or
reduction factors were considered for the above input
material properties.
In total, five different configurations of prestressing
tendon layout were simulated (refer Table 3). In each
DÍAZ ET AL.
N
3000 mm
m
0m
150
W 240 mm E
160 mm
thickness = 200 mm
S
FIGURE 12 Geometry of all the slabs simulated for the
parametric study
configuration the number and spacing of tendons were
varied to study the influence of the normal compressive
stress. The tendon layout configurations are illustrated in
Figure 13. To study the influence of tendon profile, three
differences profiles (straight, straight with eccentricity
and parabolic) were simulated on each configuration (see
Figure 14). The tendons had a 12.7 mm diameter and an
effective prestressing force of 100 kN.
The numerical analyses were divided in four series:
• Series A: One reference slab (without prestressing)
• Series B: five post-tensioned slabs with straight tendon
• Series C: five post-tensioned slabs with straight tendon
and eccentricity
• Series D: five post-tensioned slabs with parabolic
tendons
The five slabs in each B, C, and D series correspond
to ones with the tendon configurations shown in Table 3.
A nomenclature was adopted to identify each model, in
which the letter indicates the series and the number cor-
responds to the layout configuration. In all the models,
the mesh discretization, boundary conditions, and load-
ing procedure were similar to the ones used for the vali-
dation models (only one-quarter was simulated). The
bond-slip law proposed by Dörr43 was applied to simulate
the unbonded behavior of the tendons. For the solution
strategy, the Quasi-Newton method coupled with the
line-search technique were used.
DÍAZ ET AL. 11

TABLE 3 Number of tendons, spacing and prestressing for each layout configuration

Configuration Tendons dir. x Tendons dir. y sx (mm) sy (mm) σ p,x (MPa) σ p,y (MPa) σ p (average) (MPa)
1 6 6 100 100 1 1 1
2 10 10 100 100 1.67 1.67 1.67
3 6 6 200 200 1 1 1
4 10 10 200 200 1.67 1.67 1.67
5 6 14 500 40 1 2.33 1.67

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e)

FIGURE 13 Plan view of tendon layouts for Series B, C, and D

5.1 | Results and comparison with code
provisions
In this section, the code's provisions are compared with
the punching shear strengths obtained in the experimen-
tal tests (used as benchmarks in the previous section) and
numerical simulations. The unfactored (characteristic)
punching shear strength was calculated according to ACI
318-19,50 MC2010 (level II),38 and EC 2 (2004)51 using
the equations in Appendix A, in which all safety factors
were considered equal to one. It must be noted that the
use of unfactored formulas does not ensure a fair compar-
ison between the code safety levels. In fact, partial safety
factors might be different for resistances and loads in
each code. Despite that, this type of comparison is
important to get an idea of the safety margins and identi-
fied unconservative results.
Table 4 shows the comparison between the codes esti-
mates and the experimental loads. The test results pres-
ented herein indicate that the code's predictions give safe
results (all the 5% percentiles are above 1). The most con-
servative predictions were obtained with the ACI
318-1950 equations, while the EC 2 (2004)51 gives the
punching shear strengths closer to the experimental ones.
It must be said that the code predicted punching capacity
was calculated using the initial prestressing stress applied
in the slabs and the initial tendons vertical deviations. In
the slabs tested by Melges45 and Carvalho et al.,46 it was
observed that the tendons' stress increased during the test
execution. Also, in the slabs tested by Ramos et al.13 an
12 DÍAZ ET AL.

(a) T A B L E 5 Comparison between numerical results and

W E predicted punching shear capacities by codes

VEXP
100 mm V EXP V EXP V EXP
Slab Tendon profile (kN) V ACI V EC V MC,II

A — 680.66 1.26 1.04 1.32

B1 Straight 810.42 1.45 1.14 1.29
B2 884.37 1.44 1.19 1.24
(b) W E B3 807.39 1.49 1.14 1.29
e = 35 mm B4 862.34 1.41 1.16 1.21
135 mm
B5 851.76 1.39 1.14 1.23
C1 Straight 811.37 1.46 1.14 1.25
With eccentricity
(c) C2 941.75 1.54 1.27 1.24
W E
C3 834.16 1.50 1.17 1.28
e = 35 mm
100 mm
C4 909.34 1.48 1.22 1.20
C5 915.23 1.49 1.23 1.25
D1 Parabolic 848.62 1.51 1.18 1.31

FIGURE 14 Tendon profiles for Series B, C, and D D2 952.08 1.54 1.26 1.27
D3 849.12 1.52 1.19 1.32
D4 906.23 1.47 1.21 1.22
TABLE 4 Comparison between experimental results and
predicted punching shear capacities by codes D5 924.07 1.49 1.23 1.28
Mean 1.46 1.18 1.26
VEXP
Slab Tendon profile (kN) V EXP V EXP V EXP SD 0.07 0.06 0.04
V ACI V EC V MC,II

M1 — 441.6 1.66 1.06 1.36 5% fractile 1.30 1.07 1.20

M4 Parabolic 772.6 1.57 1.36 1.20

the results with the reference model. This gain ranged
AR2 — 258 1.40 0.96 1.39
between 19 and 40% (refer Table 5), which confirms the
AR8 Linear-parabolic 380 1.61 1.11 1.48 favorable effect of prestressing in the punching shear resis-
AR9 — 251 1.35 0.93 1.34 tance of flat slabs. The slabs with parabolic profile achieved
AR10 Linear-parabolic 371 1.67 1.13 1.53 the highest load capacities for each configuration, followed
AR11 Linear-parabolic 342 1.74 1.13 1.56 by the straight profile with eccentricity. Regarding the
arrangement of the tendons, one can see in each series that
AR16 Linear-parabolic 351 1.64 1.11 1.44
the slabs with equal prestressing level had similar strength;
L1A Parabolic 750 1.42 1.28 1.05
however, configuration 2, in which had more concentrated
S1 Parabolic 900 1.42 1.37 1.16 tendons over the columns in both directions, presented the
Mean 1.55 1.14 1.35 highest strength capacities in each series.
SD 0.14 0.15 0.17 By analyzing the crack patterns obtained, it was veri-
5% fractile 1.35 0.93 1.05 fied that all the models had a punching shear failure
mode. As an example, Figure 15 shows the crack patterns
obtained for the layout configuration 2 (refer Figure 13b)
increase in the vertical tendon component was reported in each series and the reference slab.
due to the slabs deformations. Table 5 also shows a comparison between the design
The predicted ultimate loads obtained in the parametric codes and the numerical analyses. In general, the compari-
study are shown in Table 5. Since the numerical models son between the numerically predicted loads and the ones
were validated with experimental tests, a comparison with calculated by the codes shows the same trend observed in
the code predictions represents in some way, an additional the comparison with the experimental results (Table 4). In
validation for the simulations. From these results, one can overall terms, the design values are safe for the slabs inves-
observe the influence of the tendon layout configuration tigated in this study. The best predictions were obtained
and the profile of the prestressing tendon. In general, pre- with EC 2 (2004),51 follow by the MC-2010,38 while ACI
stressing improves the punching shear resistance, comparing 318-1950 presented the most conservative results.
DÍAZ ET AL. 13

F I G U R E 1 5 Crack pattern derived

from the tensile strain at the peak load
(mirrored at symmetrical axis) for the
layout configuration 2 (refer Figure 13b)
in each series and the reference slab

0.7
approach proposed by Clément et al.,12 in which the rota-
0.65
tion of the slab is reduced by a reference strain:
0.6 Experimental results
Melges (2001)
σn
b0d √ fc √ MPa

0.55
Ramos et al. (2014)
Carvalho et al. (2011) ψ 0 = ψ + 45 ð11Þ
Ec
0.5 Parametric study
V

Series A
Series B
0.45 CSCT failure criterion Eq. 10 Series C Finally, the ultimate punching shear capacity is
Series D
0.4 obtained by the intersection of the failure criterion and
0.35
the load-rotation curve of the slab.
0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Figure 16 shows the ultimate rotations and loads for
ψd
dg,0+dg the experimental slabs considered in this work and the
slabs simulated in the parametric study. The final rota-
F I G U R E 1 6 Comparison between CSCT, experimental test tions were calculated by dividing the maximum vertical
and numerical results deflections by rs. For the case of numerical specimens a
maximum aggregate size (dg) of 16 mm was assumed.
5.2 | Comparison with CSCT The failure criterion was plotted according to Equa-
tion (10). The comparison indicates that the numerical
In addition to the comparisons between numerical and and experimental results are consistent with the CSCT
experimental results with code provisions, the load and shows the influence of presstressing on the punching
capacities were also compared with the failure criterion shear strength.
of the CSCT proposed by Muttoni15 for slabs without
transverse reinforcement:
6 | CONCLUSIONS
VR 3=4
pffiffiffiffi = ð10Þ
b0 d f c 1 + 15 dg ψd
+ dg
In this work, nonlinear FE analyses were performed to
,0
investigate the punching shear behavior of unbonded
post-tensioned concrete flat slabs. The total strain fixed
To include the influence of the in-plane compressive crack approach, implemented in the software DIANA,
forces, the rotation of the slab was adjusted using the was used to simulate the concrete nonlinear behavior. A
14 DÍAZ ET AL.

phased analysis methodology was proposed to investigate Es modulus of elasticity of reinforcing steel
the prestressing effects. To assess the suitability of the fc compressive strength of concrete measured on
proposed procedure a small series of RC slab-column cylinder specimens
connections were simulated. Based on the results of this fc1 maximum principal stress
study, the following conclusions can be derived: ft concrete tensile strength
fy reinforcement steel strength
1. The procedure proposed for modeling unbonded ten- G0 initial shear module of concrete
dons in RC elements presented satisfactory results Gc compressive fracture energy of concrete
and good agreement with the experimental tests. The Gf tensile fracture energy of concrete
numerical analysis properly represented the increase Gred reduced shear module of (cracked) concrete
of tendon force using a bond-slip relationship pro- h depth of slab
posed by Dörr.43 In general, the load-deflection he characteristic length of finite element
response and failure modes were well represented in I1 first invariant of stress tensor
the numerical models. kn stiffness coefficient in normal direction
2. The influence of distribution and profile of pre- kdg coefficient depending on aggregate size
stressing tendons on the punching shear capacity was kψ coefficient depending on rotation
investigated by a parametric study. The gain of mp unitary bending moment due to prestressing
strength due to in-plane compressive forces, tendons mR flexural strength
eccentricities, and deviation forces were confirmed by msd acting bending moments due to external loading
the load-deflection responses. This results are consis- in the support strip
tent with the experimental observations reported in n compressive force per unit length in the support
the literature. strip
3. In general, EC 2,51 MC-2010 (LoA II),38 and ACI rs radius of slab
318-1950 provided safe estimations of the strengths of sx,sy tendon spacing in x and y directions
the flat slabs modeled in the parametric study and the tn,tt components of traction vector in normal and tan-
experimental tests considered for modeling validation. gential directions
This fact is justified by the tendon force increment un, relative displacements in the normal and tangen-
due to the slab deflection and the intrinsic safety level ut tial directions
of codes. Vp vertical component of tendon force acting on a
4. The failure criterion proposed in the CSCT provided a specified section
good approach to study the influence of prestressing V shear force
effects on punching shear. The comparison between w crack opening
failure criterion and experimental results reported in wu ultimate crack opening
literature presented a good correlation. This trend was αc coefficient depending on column position
also confirmed with the the parametric study results. β shear retention factor
Δ vertical displacement of slab
The results obtained in this work give confidence in λs size effect coefficient according to ACI 318-19
NLFEA analysis for the assessment of complex RC struc- ξ size effect coefficient according to Eurocode
tures. It is intention of the authors to extend the model- 2 (2004)
ing methodology to address other topics such as the ρ flexural reinforcement ratio of passive
influence of slab continuity and punching shear strength reinforcement
for nonsymmetrical loading. σ prestressing stress
σp average prestressing stress
ψ rotation of the slab
NO TATIO N ψ0 reduce rotation of the slab
ACI related to ACI 318-19
b control perimeter EC related to Eurocode 2 (2004)
d effective depth MC related to Model Code 2010
dg maximum aggregate size
dg,0 reference aggregate size (16 mm) DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
e eccentricity of normal force from the center of Some or all data, models, or code that support the find-
gravity section ings of this study are available from the corresponding
Ec modulus of elasticity of concrete author upon reasonable request.
DÍAZ ET AL.
ORCID
Rafael Sanabria Díaz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6907-
7159
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J Solids Struct. 2018;15(10):e120.
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ACI 318-19
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
According to ACI 318-19,50 the punching shear strength
for post-tensioned slabs is given by:
Rafael Sanabria Díaz, PhD Candi-
8 pffiffiffiffi 
date School of Civil Engineering, >
< 0:29 f c + 0:3σ bACI d + V p
 
Architecture and Urban Design, V ACI = min
> αs d pffiffiffiffi
University of Campinas, Campinas, : 0:083 1:5 + f c + 0:3σ bACI d + V p
bACI
S~ao Paulo, Brazil.
ðA1Þ
Email: r163449@dac.unicamp.br

in which αs is a constant, equal to 40 for inner columns;

Vp is the vertical components of the tendons; and bACI is
Leandro Mouta Trautwein, Profes-
the control perimeter. For RC slabs with inner columns
sor, PhD School of Civil Engineer-
the punching shear slabs is calculated as:
ing, Architecture and Urban
Design, University of Campinas,  pffiffiffiffi
Campinas, S~ao Paulo, Brazil. V ACI = 0:33λs f c bACI d ðA2Þ
Email: lmouta@unicamp.br
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiλs is the size effect factor, calculated as
where
1 + 0:004d ≤ 1:.
d
DÍAZ ET AL. 17

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
(a) 200
ξ= 1+ ≤2
d

However, no limit for ξ is considered in this study for

d/2
comparison with the experimental tests and numerical
models. Contrary to ACI 318-19,50 Equation does not
include the vertical tendon component explicitly. Never-
theless, EC 251 allows to consider the vertical component
of inclined tendons inside the critical section. Therefore,
the punching strength was calculated as VEC + Vp,2d for
(b) the comparison with the numerical and experimental
results.

fib Model Code 2010

2d
The formulation of MC-201038 for punching shear is
based on the CSCT proposed by.15 MC-201038 has four
design levels, of which Levels I to III are intended for
design and Level IV for assessment. In general, all four
levels are based on Equation (A4).
pffiffiffiffi
(c) V MC = kψ f c bMC d ðA4Þ

where
d/2
1
kψ = ≤ 0:6 ðA5Þ
1:5 + 0:9ψdkdg

32
k dg = ≥0:75 ðA6Þ
16 + dg

in which dg is the maximum aggregate size in mm and ψ

FIGURE A1 Perimeters for punching verification according
is the slab rotation. In the case of post-tensioned slabs,
to current codes for a square column
the rotation can be calculated using Equation (A7) for
Level II:
However, no limit for λs is considered in this study for
 
the comparison with experimental tests and numerical r s f y msd −mp 3=2
models. ψ = 1:5   ðA7Þ
d E s mR −mp

 
h d
EC 2 (2004) mp = n − + e ðA8Þ
2 3

In the Eurocode 2,51 the punching strength is calcu-

lated by:
h i
V EC = 0:18ξð100ρf c Þ1=3 + 0:1σ bEC d
in which ρ is the flexural reinforcement ratio, bEC is the
control perimeter, and ξ is the size effect factor, calcu-
lated as:
rs denotes the position where the radial bending moment
is zero in relation to the column axis, estimated as 0.22L
ðA3Þ (for prestressed and nonprestressed slab); fy is the yield
strength of the flexural reinforcement, Es is the modulus
of elasticity of reinforcement; ms is the average bending
moment per unit width in the strip; bs, which is assumed
to be of width 1.5rs four square panels; and mR is the
18
average flexural strength per unit width of the support
strip. For concentrically loaded inner columns, ms = Vd/
8. Furthermore, the decompression moment, mp, is calcu-
lated as a function of tendon eccentricity e, and the pre-
stressing force per unit length, n, in the support strip.
Similarly to EC 2,51 MC-201038 does not include the
DÍAZ ET AL.
vertical tendon component explicitly as part of the punc-
hing shear strength. However, the vertical component of
inclined tendons inside the critical section can be consid-
ered as additionally force. Therefore, the punching
strength was calculated as VMC + Vp,0.5d for the compari-
son with the numerical and experimental results.