Concrete Innovation Conference CIC 2014 OSLO, Norway 11th 13th June 2014

HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PUNCHING SHEAR REINFORCEMENT

FOR SEMI PRECAST SLABS
Johannes Furche
Ulrich Bauermeister
Filigran Trgersysteme, Germany

ABSTRACT
Semi precast slabs made of prefabricated plates with lattice girders and an in situ topping are
used in one way spanning slabs and also in two way spanning slabs. However, the application
as flat slabs supported by columns has been restricted by a limited punching shear resistance so
far. A punching shear reinforcement was missing which ensures a sufficient high resistance of
the semi precast slabs which consider the bond interface between the two layers and the joints
between adjacent precast elements. For this reason a special punching shear reinforcing system
was developed. This innovating Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement increases the punching
shear resistance of the slab more than double. It will be used to expand the market for economic
semi precast slab system into the application field which was covered up to now by monolithic
slab constructions.

Key-words: Precast, Reinforcement, Punching shear, Slabs

INTRODUCTION

Semi-precast slabs are made of thin precast plates with a thickness of about 50 mm and an in
situ concrete layer on top. The prefabricated plate is reinforced by lattice girders (Fig. 1), which
ensure a sufficient stiffness during transportation and erection on site. In the final stage the
lower chord of the lattice girder functions as a part of the bending reinforcement and the struts
of the lattice girder bear as shear reinforcement. The design is based on design standards for
reinforced concrete and on technical approvals for different types of lattice girders [1].

This slab system combines the advantage of the prefabrication with the flexibility of in situ
concrete construction. Most of the slabs in Germany are built as semi precast construction. In
other countries the application of this economic and flexible system is not as widespread as in
Germany, but the application of this slab system increases also in other countries.

Figure 1 - Semi precast slabs with lattice girders

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In the early years semi precast slabs were mainly used in one way spanning slabs. Meanwhile
semi precast slabs are also built up as two way spanning slabs. In this case the longitudinal
reinforcement of one direction is put into the precast plates and the bending reinforcement
perpendicular to this direction is laid down on the precast elements on site.

Flat slabs supported by columns can be constructed with precast slabs with lattice girders also.
However, due to the question about the dependency of the load bearing behaviour of the flat
slabs on the horizontal interface between the precast slab and the in situ concrete layer most of
the flat slabs are built up completely with in situ concrete, up to now. Also the joints between
the precast elements to the columns and as well as to each other raised questions about the
punching shear resistance of semi precast slabs and the possible increase by suitable shear
reinforcement.

Standardized stirrups and approved punching shear reinforcement, e.g. double headed studs,
are mostly tested as a standard case in monolithic slabs without any joint. There are only few
tests of semi precast slabs with punching shear reinforcement developed for monolithic slabs.

The market of slabs systems is enormous large. Approximately 20 Million square meter room
floors are built in Germany each year. The market in Europe is a multiple of this. And also in
other countries outside Europe the slabs are a huge part of the construction volume. The
advantages of flat slabs are well known. Therefore, the application of flat slabs made of
economic semi precast slabs is growing in importance.

CHALLENGE

The application of flat slabs is limited due to its punching shear capacity. The punching shear
resistance of a semi precast slab could be influenced by the bond of the interface between the
precast and the in situ concrete. Also the joints between several precast elements as well as
between the elements and the column raise the question of impact on the load bearing
behaviour.

To use the benefits of the prefabrication also in flat slab constructions, a punching shear
reinforcement is needed which
increases the punching shear resistance to a maximum.
is easy to install into the precast plate together with parallelly arranged assembly
lattice girders.
prevents a failure of the composite joint.
allows the arrangement of the precast plate directly near the column to avoid an
additional mould to cover a gap.

INNOVATION

The effectiveness of punching shear reinforcement depends on the stiffness of the anchorage
[2]. A stiff anchorage ensures small width of cracks in the concrete member and this results in
a greater shear friction and thus in a higher punching shear resistance. Own investigations on
the load-displacement behaviour of double headed studs and the comparison with test results
of different anchorages [3] shows that an anchorage of a reinforcing bar with a welded
transverse bar in combination with a loop ( in Fig. 2) can be stiffer than an anchorage by a

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headed stud ( in Fig. 2). This leads to the idea to use welded reinforcement with loops as
effective shear reinforcement.

Figure 2 - Steel stress slip curves for different anchorages [3]

The application of welded lattice girders as punching shear reinforcement started with lattice
girders arranged between the lower and the upper layer of the bending reinforcement in
Germany in 1997 [4]. However, the increase of the punching shear resistance using this
reinforcement was not as high as using double headed studs which are anchored within the layer
of the bending reinforcement or outside this layer, respectively.

A lattice girder with loops protruding into the layer of the bending reinforcement showed a
higher increase of the punching shear resistance [3]. But the increase was limited because steep
shear cracks near the column were not penetrated by the bearing struts of the reinforcement.

Lattice girders are economically and placing them into the precast plate is easy. However, for
a successfully widespread application of semi precast slabs as flat slabs a new punching shear
reinforcement was needed, which increase the punching shear resistance to at least as high as
monolithic slabs with punching shear reinforcement. For this purpose the special Filigran
Punching Shear Reinforcement with the German abbreviation FDB II was developed. Figure 3
shows a piece of 400 mm length.

Figure 3 - Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II for semi precast slabs

Strut bars form loops which protrude over the upper chord. On this upper chord the bending
reinforcement is placed on site. The height of the protrusion should be similar to the thickness
of the reinforcement layer to have the best anchorage of the struts into this layer. This anchorage
consists of the welded chord and the loop.

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Concrete Innovation Conference CIC 2014 OSLO, Norway 11th 13th June 2014

The Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement (FDB II) shows load bearing struts with alternating
steep inclination. The slight inclination of the nearest strut to the column of 20 mm ensures that
also a steep punching shear crack is penetrated by this strut (Fig 4).

Figure 4 - Possible cracks near the column are penetrated by shear reinforcement

The chords of this reinforcement are thicker than the load bearing struts. These chords give a
good anchorage to the struts, can also penetrate cracks (Fig. 4) and the lower chord strengthens
the compression zone. This contributes also to a higher shear resistance.

An international patent for this here introduced reinforcement system has been registered.

TESTING

In the years 2012 and 2013 full scale punching shear tests with semi precast slabs reinforced
with the new shear reinforcement were performed at the University of Aachen, Germany [5].
In these tests the concrete strength, the thickness of the slab, the dimension of the column, the
ratio and the dimension of the bending reinforcement were varied. Also the arrangement of the
joints between the precast part of the slab and the distance of the precast elements to the column
were investigated.

The Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II with a strut diameter of 9 mm and a
diameter of the chords of 10 mm was tested. All bars are ribbed to ensure several small cracks
instead of few wide cracks. The characteristic yield strength of the steel is 500 MPa.

The shear reinforcement elements were placed in parallel to each other. This arrangement meets
the requirement of an easy installation into precast plates reinforced with parallel aligned
assembly lattice girders. Figure 5 shows an example of a test specimen with the tested punching
shear reinforcement.

The test specimen had been produced in two layers. At first two or four plates for each member
respectively were concreted with a thickness of 50 mm. The surface of these plates were not
mechanically treated and therefore according to Eurocode 2 [6,7] classified as "smooth". The
lower parts of the slab contained the lower reinforcement and the punching shear reinforcement.
These thin prefabricated plates were arranged with 40 mm wide gaps between each other. The
distance between these plates to a prefabricated part of a column varied between 20 mm and
zero. In one case the plates were placed 10 mm onto the column.

The gaps between adjacent prefabricated slabs were poured together with the upper concrete
layer. The filling of these gaps ensures a load transfer of compression forces over the joint. Due
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to this kind of production the test specimen contained a bond surface between the two concrete
layers and joints between several precast plates like a semi precast slab in practice.

Figure 5 - Test member (example) with Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II

Five full scale tests on inner column slab connections were carried out to determine the
maximum shear resistance. In these tests a sufficient amount of shear reinforcement was chosen
to avoid a steel failure. Only in this case it is possible to determine the maximum strength of
the compressive concrete strut, which characterizes the maximum shear resistance in several
design models like Eurocode 2 [6,7].

Table 1 gives a summary of the parameters and the results of the tests described in [5]. The slab
thickness varied between h = 180 mm and 360 mm belonging to effective depths between
d = 145 mm and 295 mm. The column with a square cross-section ranged from c = 240 mm to
300 mm. This results in ratios of column perimeter to effective depth of u0/d = 4.0 to 8.0. The
ratios of the bending reinforcement were chosen between l = 0.70% and 1.47%. These tested
parameters cover a wide application range.

The listed concrete compressive strength in Table 1 shows the average cylinder strength fcm of
the upper concrete layer at the time of testing. The strength of the belonging prefabricated lower
layer slightly varied from that of the top layer, with a maximum deviation of 7.7 MPa.

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Concrete Innovation Conference CIC 2014 OSLO, Norway 11th 13th June 2014

Table 1 - Test parameter and results with Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II,
summary taken from [5]

Type 1) h d c u0/d ratio l fcm smax Vu j

mm mm mm % MPa mm kN
1 FDB II 14/3 180 145 240 6.6 0.97 26.0 63.2 896 2.22
2 FDB II 14/3 180 150 300 8.0 1.47 44.5 29.4 1461 2.25
3 FDB II 21/3 260 209 300 5.7 0.70 21.9 32.7 1428 2.16
4 FDB II 30/5 360 295 295 4.0 0.80 22.3 25.7 2796 2.42
5 FDB II 30/6 360 295 300 4.1 1.07 48.2 42.6 4121 2.40
1)
overall height in centimetre / protrusion of upper loop in centimetre

Table 1 shows the measured maximum punching shear load Vu and the belonging deflection of
the slab. The deflection smax was measured on a circle with a diameter of 2500 mm around the
column. On this circle also the loads of 12 linked hydraulic cylinders were applied. The
deflection between 25 mm and 63 mm gives a good impression of the high ductility of the
column slab connection.

After the tests had been carried out the specimen was cut to observe the crack pattern (Fig. 6).
The composite joint between the lower and the upper concrete layer shows no initial crack. The
horizontal crack in the compressive zone occurs below the bond joint. The shear cracks were
fine distributed, small and penetrated by the shear reinforcement. This shows the effectiveness
of the Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II.

Figure 6 - Saw cut of the test specimen after the test [5]

EVALUATION

The evaluation of the punching shear test to estimate the maximum shear resistances has been
made on the basis of the design model according to Eurocode 2 [6,7]. Herein, the maximum
punching shear resistance is given as a multiple of the shear resistance of slabs without shear
reinforcement (1).

vRd,max = vRd,c (1)

vRd,max design maximum shear resistance in the basic control perimeter
vRd,c design punching shear resistance of slabs without shear reinforcement
increase factor depending on the reinforcing system

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On the basis of equation (1) the factor j for each test was calculated as the ratio from the
maximum shear stress in the test to the calculated punching shear resistance of slabs without
shear resistance according to equation (3). Like the evaluation of tests with stirrups taken as the
basis of the design regulation of Eurocode 2 [7], the evaluation was made with a characteristic
concrete strength taken as fck = fcm - 4 MPa. The single values j for each test are listed in
Table 1. The average value of the increase is j,m = 2.29. Hence, the Filigran Punching Shear
Reinforcement FDB II increased the resistance to 2.29 times the resistance of slabs without
shear reinforcement. The variation coefficient was 4.9%. Taken into account a statistic factor
of k = 1.80 belonging to five tests to calculate the 5%-quantile with a known standard deviation
and a confidence level of 75% an increase factor of 2.09 is evaluated. Thus equation (2) can be
taken to verify slabs with Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II.

vRd,max = 2.09 vRd,c (2)

Equation (2) is based on the design model according to Eurocode 2 [6,7]. The small scatter of
the single increasing factors j confirms this model with the belonging critical perimeters in a
distance of two times the effective depth and the appropriate consideration of the parameters
effective depth, concrete strength, ratio of bending reinforcement and column dimension. The
determined increasing factors j are independent of these parameters.

TECHNICAL APPROVAL

The evaluation of the full scale tests [5] has resulted in application rules and in the European
Technical Approval ETA-13/0521 [8]. This approval sets a maximum punching shear
resistance which represents the concrete strut failure. This maximum resistance is given by
equation (2) on the basis of equation (3) which gives the design resistance of slabs without shear
reinforcement according to Eurocode 2 [6] and the German annex [7], respectively.

vRd,c = CRd,c k (100 l fck)1/3 vmin (3)

CRd,c = 0.18 / c fr u0/d 4

CRd,c = 0.18 / c (0.1 u0/d+0.6) 0.15 / c fr u0/d < 4
c partial safety factor for concrete
c = 1.5
u0 perimeter of the load bearing area (column perimeter)
k coefficient to size effect
k = 1 + (200/d)1/2 2.0 (with d in mm)
fck characteristic compressive concrete cylinder strength
l geometrical ratio of bending reinforcement
l = (lz ly)1/2
2.0
0.5 fcd / fyd
fcd design value of compressive concrete strength
fcd = 0.85 fck / c
fyd design value of the yield strength of the bending reinforcement
vmin minimum value of the punching shear resistance
vmin = 0.0525/c k3/2 fck1/2

The design load has to be calculated according to equation (4) with a basic control perimeter in
a distance of two times the effective depth (Fig. 7).
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vEd = VEd / (u1 d) (4)

vEd design value of the shear stress (MPa) in the basic control section
VEd design value of the force (Column load)
u1 basic control perimeter (mm)
d average effective depth (mm)
coefficient taking into account the effects of load eccentricity

For structures where the lateral stability does not depend on frame action between the slabs and
the columns and where the adjacent spans do not differ in length by more than 25%,
approximate values for may be used according to Eurocode 2 between = 1.10 (inner column)
and = 1.50 (corner column).

Figure 7 - Basic control perimeter according to Eurocode 2 and ETA-13/0521 [8]

Figure 7 shows the control perimeter for a symmetric inner column slab connection. Control
perimeter for other applications like edge columns or columns with recesses nearby are covered
by the approval according to the Eurocode 2.

In addition to the verification of the shear stress according to equation (2) it has to be verified
the amount of shear reinforcement according to the requirements of the technical approval [8].
The load bearing struts in an inner circle around the column must bear the column load. Further
regulations are given for adjacent annular areas and for design for higher loads. There are also
design rules to verify the length of the shear reinforcing elements. Outside the area with
punching shear reinforcement the design shear must be lower than the shear resistance of a slab
without shear reinforcement.

The maximum distance between several reinforcing elements and to the column must be limited
to ensure that possible cracks are penetrated by the bars of the punching shear reinforcement.
Figure 8 shows the requirements of the technical approval [8] for a symmetrical half inner
column.

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Figure 8 - Arrangement and maximum spacing of the Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement
FDB II

The scope of application is approved for 180 mm up to 360 mm thick slabs and concrete classes
according to Eurocode 2 from C20/25 up to C50/60. The maximum diameter of the bending
reinforcement is 25 mm. For additional details see [8].

PRACTICAL ADVANTAGE

The punching shear resistance of flat slabs reinforced with the new Filigran Punching Shear
Reinforcement FDB II is more than doubled compared to the resistance of slabs without
punching shear reinforcement. This increase is larger than the increase of other known shear
reinforcement tested in monolithic concrete. Semi precast slabs with the newly developed shear
reinforcement can be built with higher punching shear resistance than monolithic slabs.

Furthermore the test results have shown that in case of using the introduced reinforcement
system the composite joint between the precast plates and the in situ topping does not influence
the load bearing capacity even when the surface is smooth. Furthermore, it is possible to arrange
the precast part directly near the column with some tolerances without decreasing the load
bearing behaviour.

It is easy to install the introduced reinforcement into the precast plate parallelly to the assembly
lattice girder. Figure 9 shows a manual installation. In some modern precast plants lattice
girders are installed automatically.

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Figure 9 - Installation of the Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II in parallel to

assembly lattice girders

Figure 10 - Semi precast slab with Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement on site

With the installation of precast plates with lattice girders there exist decades of experience.
Precast plates with Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement can be successfully used in the same
way. Figure 10 shows a precast plate. On site the upper layer of bending reinforcement has to
be put above the chord without a direct embracement by the loops.

EXTENSION OF APPLICATION

The introduced innovative Filigran Punching Shear Reinforcement FDB II was developed to
open the market of the flat slabs for the precast industry. Up to now only in Germany and some
other countries flat slabs have been built with precast slabs (Fig. 10) with in situ topping. With
the benefits of this innovation one can use the advantage of the prefabrication together with the
flexibility of the semi precast slab system also in other countries, in Europe and anywhere.

Flat slabs with this highly effective punching shear reinforcement guarantee the benefits of the
semi precast construction and contribute to the increasing market share for precast industry.

REFERENCES
1. Furche, J.; Bauermeister, U. "Lattice floor slabs in conformity with the new approvals". Concrete
Plant + Precast Technology, 72nd Volume 2006, Part 1: August 2006, pages 4 to 14, Part 2:
September 2006, pages 24 to 35, Bauverlag, Gtersloh, 2006.
2. Beutel, R.; Hegger, J. " The effect of anchorage on the effectiveness of the shear reinforcement in
the punching zone". Cement & Concrete Composites (2002), Nr. 24, S. 539-549.
3. Furche, J.: "Punching shear reinforcement for semi-precast slabs", Proceedings 2nd International
Symposium on Connections between Steel and Concrete. Edited by Eligehausen, R. et.al., ibidem,
Stuttgart 2007.
4. Furche, J.: "Lattice Girder Flooring in the Punching Zone of Flat Floors", Concrete Plant + Precast
Technology, 63rd Volume 1997, issue 6, pages 96 to 104, Bauverlag, Gtersloh, 1997
5. Siburg, C.; Hegger, J.; Furche, J.; Bauermeister, U. "Durchstanzbewehrung fr Elementdecken nach
Eurocode 2" (in German)," Punching Shear Reinforcement for semi-precast slabs according to
Eurocode 2", Beton- und Stahlbetonbau, Ernst & Sohn, in preparation, 2014, Berlin.
6. Eurocode 2: "Design of concrete structures - Part 1-1:Gerneral rules and rules for buildings" German
version EN 1992-1-1:2004 + AC:2010, January 2011, Berlin.
7. DIN EN 1992-1-1/NA: National Annex - Nationally determined parameter (Germany), January
2011, Berlin.
8. Deutsches Institut fr Bautechnik (German Institute for Building Construction, Member of
EOTA): European Technical Approval ETA-13/0521: Filigran Punching Reinforcement
FDB II, 13th June 2013, Berlin.
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