FLOOR SYSTEMS AND TRIBUTARY AREAS

Floor system – is composed of the slabs, beams, and girders composing a floor of a building.

Tributary area – is the portion of the slab area carried by a particular member ( beam, girder,
column ). During the design process, the engineer how much is the total distributed load carried by
each member.

Types of Slabs

Reinforce concrete slab is a large flat plate in a structure that supports the live load and
transmit it to the supporting beams. The following are the types of reinforced concrete slab.

1. One way slab

A slab supported on 2 opposite edges only or on all 4 edges but the ratio of the short
span to long span is less than 0.50. It is called a one way slab since the bending occur in one
direction only, that is in the short direction only. Figure 5.1 – 1 shows one way slabs.

S
m= < 0.50
L
Supporting beams

Where: S = short span

L = long span

One way slab loads are distributed to the supporting beams as shown below.

B1

Tributary area for B1 S/2

S

Tributary area for B2 S/2

B2
L

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2. Two way slab
A slab supported on all 4 edges and the ratio of the short span to long span is greater
than or equal to 0.50. It is called a two way slab because bending occur in both the short and long
directions. Figure 5.1 – 2 shows a plane of a two way slab.

S S
m=  0.50
L

Two way slab loads are distributed to the supporting beams as shown below.

B1

Tributary area for B1

Tributary area for B4
Tributary area for B3
S B4 B3 S
m=  0.50
45o L
Tributary area for B2
B2
L

The problems below illustrate how the loads are transmitted from one member to another by using
the tributary area method.

Problem: The floor of a building shown in Figure TH – 332 is subjected to the following loads:
Superimposed dead load = 2.8 kPa
Superimposed live load = 6.0 kPa

Given:
CD and EF: W 310 x 86 kg/m ( WEIGHT = 86 kg/m )
AB, GH, AG, and BH: W 310 x 97 kg/m
Concrete Slab thickness = 100 mm
Unit weight of concrete = 24 kN/m3

1. Compute the total uniformly distributed service load in kN/m on beam CD.

2. Compute the total uniformly distributed service load in kN/m on beam AB.

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3. Compute the total concentrated service load in kN on the column at A.

A B

C D

E F

G H
Figure TH – 332

Solution:

1.

Check Type of Slab:

S 2.50
m= 
L 6.00
m = 0.42 < 0.50 ( One Way Slab )

Uniform Dead Load:
wDL = iDL( width of the TA )
wDL = ( 2.8 kN/m2 )( 2.50 m )
wDL = 7 kN/m
Weight of Slab:
Uniform Live Load:
wS = concrete( Across – section )
wLL = iLL( width of the TA )
2 wS = ( 24 kN/m3 )( 2.50 x 0.10 )
wLL = ( 6 kN/m )( 2.50 m )
wS = 6 kN/m
wLL = 15 kN/m

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 Weight of Beam:

kg  m   1 kN 
Tributary Area wb = 86  9.81   

m  s 2   1,000 N 
of Beam CD
wb = 0.84 kN/m
wS = 6 kN/m

Total Uniform Load of Beam CD:

w = wDL + wLL + wS + wb
w = 7 + 15 + 6 + 0.84
w = 28.84 kN/m

2.

Uniform Dead Load:

Tributary Area wDL = iDL( width of the TA )
of Beam AB
wDL = ( 2.8 kN/m2 )( 1.25 m )
wDL = 3.50 kN/m

Uniform Live Load:

wLL = iLL( width of the TA )
wLL = ( 6 kN/m2 )( 1.25 m )
wLL = 7.5 kN/m

Weight of Slab:
wS = concrete( Across – section )
wS = ( 24 kN/m3 )( 1.25 x 0.10 )
wS = 3 kN/m

Weight of Beam: Total Uniform Load of Beam AB:

kg  m   1 kN  w = wDL + wLL + wS + wb
wb = 97  9.81   
m  s2   1,000 N  w = 3.5 + 7.5 + 3 + 0.95
wb = 0.95 kN/m w = 14.95 kN/m
wS = 6 kN/m

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3.

Load on Beam CD:

 Fy = 0
w = 28.84 kN/m
2RC = 28.84( 6 )
C D
RC = 86.52 kN
6.00 m

RC RD = RC

Load on Beam AB:

 Fy = 0
w = 14.95 kN/m
2RA = 14.95( 6 )
A B
RA = 44.85 kN
6.00 m

RA RB = RA

Loads on Girder AG:

44.85 kN 86.52 kN 86.52 kN 44.85 kN

wG = 0.95 kN/m

A G
7.50 m

Ay Gy = Ay

Weight of Girder:

kg  m   1 kN   Fy = 0
wG = 97  9.81   
m  s2   1,000 N 
2Ay = 2( 44.85 ) + 2( 86.52 ) + 0.95( 7.50 )
wG = 0.95 kN/m
Ay = 134.93 kN
wS = 6 kN/m

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 PLATE # 2

DISTRIBUTION OF LOADS ON FLOOR FRAMES

Problem 1: The floor of a building shown in Figure TH – 335 is subjected to the following loads:
Superimposed dead load = 2.4 kPa
Superimposed live load = 7.2 kPa

Given:
CD and EF: W 310 x 97 kg/m
AB, GH, AG, and BH: W 360 x 101 kg/m
Concrete Slab thickness = 120 mm
Unit weight of concrete = 23/54 kN/m3

1. Compute the total uniformly distributed service load in kN/m on beam CD.

2. Compute the total uniformly distributed service load in kN/m on beam AB.

3. Compute the total concentrated service load in kN on the column at A.

A B

C D

E F

G H
Figure TH – 335