BUBBLE DECK SLAB:-

INTRODUCTION:-

☆ Bubble is the invention of jorgen bruening in 1990‘s who developed the first axial hollow slab in denmark.
☆ It uses hollow balls made by recycled plastic which virually eliminates the concrete part in the middle of conventional slab which does not contribute to the structural performance.
☆ This hence reduces ignificantly the structural self weight and also leads to 30% to 50 % lighter slab which reduces the loads on the columns, walls and foundations
☆ The dead air space in the hollow spheres provides insulating value and can be introduced with focum for additional energy efficiency
☆ The reinforcements are placed as two meshes one at the bottom part and one at the upper part that can be tied or welded
☆ The bubble deck has many advantages as compared to traditional concrete slab such as lower total cost reduced materials use enhanced
MATERIALS REQUIRED :

1. Hollow bubbles : The hollow spheres are made from recycled

high-density polyethylene or HDPE
2. Concrete : The concrete is made of standard portland cement with max
aggregate size of 20mm. Number of plasticizers are necessary for concrete
mixture
3. Reinforcement bars : The steel reinforcement is of grade fyn strength
or higher. The steel is fabricated in two forms method layers for lateral
support and diagonal girders for vertical support of the bubbles.
PREPARATION OF REINFORCEMENT MESH :

The steel bars are provided in bubble deck for tension zone and
concrete is provided for compression zone the size of the steel bars in
horizontal and vertical direction is 50cm the spacing provided
between is 6.5cm the diameter of steel bar is 8mm and the diameter
of HDPE Sphere is 7.3cm
 PROPERTIES OF BUBBLE DECK
SLAB :
1. Flextural strength
2. Shear strength
3. Durability
4. Deflection
5. Sound insulation
6. Vibration
7. Fire resistance
CONTACT BETWEEN BUBBLES AND
REINFORCEMENT :

☆ The potential for any contact is only theoretical because the balls
do not perfectly fit between reinforcement bars and moves slightly
during assembly and site concrete compaction so that some grout
surrounds it.
 ADVANTAGES OF BUBBLE DECK SLABS :

1. As no beam support is required, it allows longer spans between supports.

2. It enables reduced foundation sizes since the structural dead-weight is
reduced by 50%.
3. A cross bracings and intermediate supports are eliminated.
4. Concrete usage is significantly reduced 1 kg of recycled plastic replaces
100kg of concrete.
5. It is therefore environmental friendly.
DISADVANTAGES :
1. There is an increase in cost of production due to assembly and manufacturing
of HDPE
2. Punching shear capacity is low
3. Difficulty in structural health monitoring
4. Skilled labour required
5. Not applicable to slabs having thickness