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3. Slabs
R M Moss BSc, PhD, CEng, MICE, MIStructE O Brooker BEng, CEng, MICE, MIStructE
Introduction
The introduction of European standards to UK
construction is a significant event. The ten design
standards, known as the Eurocodes, will affect
all design and construction activities as current
British standards for design are due to be
withdrawn in 2010.
This publication is part of the series of guides
entitled How to design concrete structures using
Eurocode 2. Their aim is to make the transition to
Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures as easy
as possible by drawing together in one place key
information and commentary required for the
design of typical concrete elements.
The cement and concrete industry recognised that
a substantial effort was required to ensure that
the UK design profession would be able to use
Eurocode 2 quickly, effectively, efficiently and
with confidence. With support from government,
consultants and relevant industry bodies, the
Concrete Industry Eurocode 2 Group (CIEG) was
formed in 1999 and this Group has provided the
guidance for a co-ordinated and collaborative
approach to the introduction of Eurocode 2. As
a result, a range of resources is to be made
available through The Concrete Centre to help
designers during the transition period (see back
cover for details).
Designing to Eurocode 2
This guide covers the analysis and design of slabs to Eurocode 21 which is
essentially the same as with BS 81102. However, the layout and content of
Eurocode 2 may appear unusual to designers familiar with BS 8110. Eurocode 2
does not contain the derived formulae or specific guidance on determining
moments and shear forces. This has arisen because it has been European
practice to give principles in the codes and for the detailed application to
be presented in other sources such as textbooks.
The first guide in this series, How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2:
Introduction to Eurocodes3, highlighted the key differences between Eurocode 2
and BS 8110, including terminology. A separate guide in this series covers the
design of flat slabs4.
It should be noted that values from the UK National Annex (NA) have been
used throughout this guide, including values that are embedded in derived
formulae. (Derivations can be found at www.eurocode2.info.) A list of symbols
related to slab design is given at the end of this guide.
Design procedure
A procedure for carrying out the detailed design of slabs is shown in Table 1.
This assumes that the slab thickness has previously been determined during
conceptual design. More detailed advice on determining design life, actions,
material properties, methods of analysis, minimum concrete cover for
durability and control of crack widths can be found in the accompanying
guide How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Getting started 5.
Fire resistance
Eurocode 2, Part 12: Structural fire design6, gives a choice of advanced,
simplified or tabular methods for determining the fire resistance. Using tables
is the fastest method for determining the minimum dimensions and cover for
slabs. There are, however, some restrictions which should be adhered to.
Further guidance on the advanced and simplified methods can be obtained
from specialist literature.
Rather than giving a minimum cover, the tabular method is based on
nominal axis distance, a. This is the distance from the centre of the main
Continues page 3
Table 1
Slab design procedure
Step Task
Further guidance
How to guide
Standard
Getting started
Getting started
Introduction to Eurocodes
Getting started
NA to BS EN 199211
Getting started
BS EN 199211 Cl 4.4.1
BS EN 199211 section 5
10
Check deflection
BS 8500: 2002
11
12
Getting started
Note
NA = National Annex.
Table 2
Minimum dimensions and axis distances for reinforced concrete slabs (excluding flat slabs)
Standard fire
resistance
REI 60
REI 90
REI 120
REI 240
1.5 f
1.5 <l y /l x
hs =
80
80
80
b min =
a=
20
10 g
15g
a=
hs =
100
a=
30
hs =
120
100
15g
120
100
20
120
a=
40
20
25
hs =
175
175
175
a=
65
40
50
25
b min =
a=
b min =
a=
b min =
a=
100
120
15g
200
10g
120
160
250
35
25
15g
160
190
300
30
45
40
450
700
70
60
Notes
Key
1 This table is taken from BS EN 199212 Tables 5.8 to 5.11. For flat slabs refer to
separate guide.
a The slab thickness hs is the sum of the slab thickness and the thickness of any
non-combustible flooring.
2 The table is valid only if the detailing requirements (see note 3) are observed and in
normal temperature design redistribution of bending moments does not exceed 15%.
3 For fire resistance of R90 and above, for a distance of 0.3l eff from the centre line of each
intermediate support, the area of top reinforcement should not be less than the following:
A s,req (x) = A s,req ( 0 ) ( 1 2.5 ( x/ l eff ) )
where:
R
E
I
A s,req ( 0 )
A s,req (x)
l eff
4 There are three standard fire exposure conditions that need to be satisfied:
Mechanical resistance for load bearing
Integrity of separation
Insulation
5 The ribs in a one-way spanning ribbed slab can be treated as beams and reference can
be made to How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Beams. The topping can
be treated as a two-way slab where 1.5 < ly / lx 2.
d The term two way slabs relates to slabs supported at all four edges. If this is
not the case, they should be treated as one-way spanning slabs.
e For two-way ribbed slabs the following notes apply:
The axis distance measured to the lateral surface of the rib should be at
least (a + 10).
The values apply where there is predominantly uniformly distributed loading.
There should be at least one restrained edge.
The top reinforcement should be placed in the upper half of the flange.
f l x and l y are the spans of a two-way slab (two directions at right angles) where
l y is the longer span.
g Normally the requirements of BS EN 199211 will determine the cover.
3. Slabs
Figure 1
No
Concrete class
C50/60?
Flexure
Outside scope of
this guide
Yes
Determine K from: K =
M
bd 2 fck
Values for K
d (redistribution ratio) K
% redistribution
Compression
reinforcement
required not
recommended for
typical slabs
No
Is K K ?
Yes
No compression reinforcement required
1.00
0.205
0.95
0.193
10
0.90
0.180
15
0.85
0.166
20
0.80
0.151
25
0.75
0.136
Table 5
z/d for singly reinforced rectangular sections
0.26 fctm bt d
fyk
where fck 25
z/d
z/d
0.01
0.950a
0.11
0.891
0.02
0.950a
0.12
0.880
0.03
0.950a
0.13
0.868
0.04
0.950a
0.14
0.856
0.05
0.954
0.15
0.843
0.06
0.944
0.16
0.830
0.07
0.934
0.17
0.816
0.08
0.924
0.18
0.802
0.09
0.913
0.19
0.787
0.10
0.902
0.20
0.771
Key
a Limiting z to 0.95d is not a requirement of Eurocode 2, but is considered to be good practice.
Table 6
Minimum percentage of reinforcement required
Table 3
fck
fctm
25
2.6
0.13%
28
2.8
0.14%
30
2.9
0.15%
32
3.0
0.16%
35
3.2
0.17%
40
3.5
0.18%
Notes
1 Applicable to one-way spanning slabs where the area of each bay exceeds 30 m2,
Qk 1.25 Gk and Qk 5 kN/m2
2 F is the total design ultimate load, l is the span
3 Minimum span > 0.85 longest span, minimum 3 spans
4 Based on 15% redistribution at supports and no decrease in span moments
45
3.8
0.20%
50
4.1
0.21%
First
Interior Interior
interior spans supports
support
Key
a Where fyk = 500 MPa.
Deflection
Eurocode 2 has two alternative methods of designing for deflection,
either by limiting span-to-depth ratio or by assessing the theoretical
deflection using the Expressions given in the Eurocode. The latter
is dealt with in detail in another guide in this series, How to design
concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Deflection7.
The span-to-depth ratios should ensure that deflection is limited to
span /250 and this is the procedure presented in Figure 3.
Figure 2
Simplified rectangular stress block for concrete up to class C50/60 from Eurocode 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
START
Increase
As,prov
was the intention of the drafting committee and is in line with current UK practice.
)( )
3. Slabs
Table 7
vRd,c resistance of members without shear reinforcement, MPa
rI =
Effective depth, d (mm)
As /(bd)
200 225 250 275 300 350 400 450 500 600 750
0.25% 0.54 0.52 0.50 0.48 0.47 0.45 0.43 0.41 0.40 0.38 0.36
0.50% 0.59 0.57 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.52 0.51 0.49 0.48 0.47 0.45
0.75% 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.63 0.62 0.59 0.58 0.56 0.55 0.53 0.51
1.00% 0.75 0.72 0.71 0.69 0.68 0.65 0.64 0.62 0.61 0.59 0.57
Two-way slabs
Unlike BS 8110 there is no specific guidance given in Eurocode 2 on
how to determine the bending moments for a two-way slab. The
assessment of the bending moment can be carried out using any
suitable method from Section 5 of the Code. However, co-efficients
may be obtained from Table 8 (taken from the Manual for the design of
building structures to Eurocode 29) to determine bending moments per
unit width (Msx and Msy) where:
Msx = bsx w lx2
1.25% 0.80 0.78 0.76 0.74 0.73 0.71 0.69 0.67 0.66 0.63 0.61
1.50% 0.85 0.83 0.81 0.79 0.78 0.75 0.73 0.71 0.70 0.67 0.65
1.75% 0.90 0.87 0.85 0.83 0.82 0.79 0.77 0.75 0.73 0.71 0.68
2.00% 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.87 0.85 0.82 0.80 0.78 0.77 0.74 0.71
2.50% 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.87 0.85 0.82 0.80 0.78 0.77 0.74 0.71
k
2.000 1.943 1.894 1.853 1.816 1.756 1.707 1.667 1.632 1.577 1.516
Table derived from: v Rd,c = 0.12 k (100r I fck)1/3 0.035 k1.5 fck 0.5
where k = 1 + R(200/d) 2 and r I = As /(bd) 0.02
Note
Msy = b sy w lx2
Where bsx and bsy are coefficients, lx is the shorter span and w (load
per unit area) is the STR ultimate limit state combination. For more
information on combinations refer to How to design concrete structures
using Eurocode 2: Introduction to Eurocodes.
fck
25
28
32
35
40
45
50
Factor
0.94
0.98
1.02
1.05
1.10
1.14
1.19
Figure 5
Basic span-to-effective-depth ratios
Notes
1 For two-way spanning slabs, the check should be
carried out on the basis of the shorter span.
2 This graph assumes simply supported span
condition (K = 1.0).
K = 1.5 for interior span condition
K = 1.3 for end span condition
K = 0.4 for cantilevers
3 Compression reinforcement, r, has been taken as 0.
4 Curves based on the following expressions:
l
1.5 fck r 0
+ 3.2
= K 11 +
r
d
fck
1.5
r0
1
r
( )]
where r r 0
and
1.5 fck r 0
l
+
= K 11 +
d
( r r )
fck
12
r
r0
where r > r 0 .
Figure 6
Procedure for determining flexural capacity of flanged ribs
Current practices for determining forces in ribbed and waffle slabs may also
be used for designs to Eurocode 2. Where a waffle slab is treated as a
two-way slab refer to previous section, but note that their torsional stiffness
is significantly less than for a two-way slab and the bending moment coefficients may not be applicable. Where it is treated as a flat slab reference
may be made to How to design concrete structures to Eurocode 2: Flat slabs4
The position of the neutral axis in the rib should be determined, and
then the area of reinforcement can be calculated depending on
whether it lies in the flange or web (see flow chart in Figure 6). The
main differences compared with BS 8110 are that the assessment of
the flange width is more sophisticated (see Figures 7 and 8).
Where a slab is formed with permanent blocks or a with a topping
thickness less than 50 mm and one-tenth of the clear distance
between ribs it is recommended that a longitudinal shear check is
carried out to determine whether additional transverse reinforcement is
required (see BS EN 199211, Cl 6.2.4).
Table 8
Bending moment coefficients for two-way spanning rectangular slabs
supported by beams
Type or panel
and moments
considered
1.0
1.25
1.5
1.75
Long-span
coefficients
for all values
of ly /lx
START
No
Concrete class
C50/60?
Outside scope
of this guide
Yes
Determine l0 (see Figure 7) and beff from:
beff = (bw + beff1 + beff2) where
beff1 = (0.2b1 + 0.1 l0) 0.2 l0 b1
beff2 = (0.2b2 + 0.1 l0) 0.2 l0 b2
Note: The flange width at the support will be
different from that at mid-span.
For symbols refer to Figures 7 and 8
Determine K from: K =
M
bd 2 fck
z=
2.0
Calculate depth to neutral axis x from:
Interior panels
x = 2.5 (d z)
Negative moment
at continuous edge
0.031
0.044 0.053
0.059 0.063
0.032
Positive moment
at midspan
0.024
0.034 0.040
0.044 0.048
0.024
Yes
Is x 1.25hf
Neutral axis in
flange.
Design as
rectangular
section.
No
Negative moment
at continuous edge
0.039
Positive moment
at midspan
0.029
0.050 0.058
0.063 0.067
0.037
Neutral axis in web
Calculate moment capacity of flange from:
0.038 0.043
0.047 0.050
0.028
0.039
0.059 0.073
0.083 0.089
0.037
Positive moment
at midspan
0.030
0.045 0.055
0.062 0.067
0.028
Kf =
M MR,f
fck bw d 2
No
Yes
0.047
0.066 0.078
0.087 0.093
0.045
Positive moment
at midspan
0.036
0.049 0.059
0.065 0.070
0.034
Is Kf K
Redesign
section
3. Slabs
Figure 7
Figure 8
Selected symbols
Symbol
Definition
Value
Ac
bh
As
As2
As, prov
As, reqd
beff
bt
bmin
bw
Effective depth
d2
fcd
fck
fctm
hf
Flange thickness
hs
Slab thickness
leff
The minimum clear distance between bars should be the greater of:
n Bar diameter
n Aggregate size plus 5 mm
n 20 mm
l0
l/d
lx, ly
(d z)/0.4
xmax
Lever arm
a cc
gm
r0
Rfck /1000
As/bd
As2/bd
3. Slabs
References
1 BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures Part 11 General rules and rules for buildings. BS EN 199211: 2004.
2 BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. The structural use of concrete Part 1, Code of practice for design and construction. BS 81101: 1997.
3 NARAYANAN, R S & BROOKER, O. How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Introduction to Eurocodes. The Concrete Centre, 2005.
4 MOSS, R M & BROOKER, O. How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Flat slabs. The Concrete Centre, 2006.
5 BROOKER, O. How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Getting started. The Concrete Centre, 2005.
6 BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS EN 199212, Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures. General rules structural fire design, BSI 2004.
7 WEBSTER, R & BROOKER, O. How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Deflection calculations. The Concrete Centre, 2006.
8 MOSS, R M & BROOKER, O. How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2: Beams. The Concrete Centre, 2006.
9 THE INSTITUTION OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS/THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. Manual for the design of concrete building structures to
Eurocode 2. IStructE/ICE, 2006.
Acknowledgements
The content of this publication was produced as part of the project Eurocode 2: transition from UK to European concrete design standards. This
project was part funded by the DTI under the Partners in Innovation scheme. The lead partner was the British Cement Association. The work was
carried out under the guidance of the Concrete Industry Eurocode 2 Group, which consists of representatives from:
Alan Baxter and Associates Arup British Cement Association British Precast Building Research Establishment Clark Smith Partnership
Concrete Innovation and Design Construct Department for Trade and Industry Office of the Deputy Prime Minister The Concrete Centre
The Concrete Society Quarry Products Association.
Eurocode 2 (CCIP006).
n Find out more about the series of seminars and short courses being offered across the UK.
Visit www.concretecentre.com/ec2events
n Also available in the coming months are Concise Eurocode 2, Worked examples for designing concrete to
The Concrete Centre here with everything you need to know about Eurocode 2.
Ref: TCC/03/18
ISBN 1-904818-28-5
Published January 2006
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