VOIDED SLAB

(BUBBLE DECKTECHNOLOGY)

FLOW OF PRESENTATION..
HISTORY OF HOLLOW CORE SLAB
BUBBLE DECK TECHNOLOGY
SITE INSTALLATION
COMPOSITION/THEORY
TYPES OF BUBBLE DECK/COMPONENTS
EXAMPLES
REFERENCES

history
A concrete block is one of several precast concrete

products used in construction. The term precast

refers to the fact that the blocks are formed and
hardened before they are brought to the job site.

In the 1950s, hollow-core slab were invented. The

voided or hollow core system was created to reduce

the weight of the concrete from the system. this
concept removes and replaces concrete from center
of the slab, where it is less useful with lighter
material in order to decreases the dead wt of
concrete floor.however,these hollow cavities
significantly decrease the slab resistance to shear
and fire, thus reduce its structural integrity.

 The first hollow concrete block was designed in

1890 by Harmon S. Palmer in the United

States. After 10 years of experimenting, Palmer
patented the design in 1900. Palmer's blocks
were 8 in (20.3 cm) by 10 in (25.4 cm) by 30 in
(76.2 cm), and they were so heavy they had to be
lifted into place with a small crane. By 1905, an
estimated 1,500 companies were manufacturing
concrete blocks in the United States.
These early blocks were usually cast by hand, and

the average output was about 10 blocks per

person per hour. Today, concrete block
manufacturing is a highly automated process that
can produce up to 2,000 blocks per hour

BUBBLE DECK TECHNOLOGY

Bubble deck slab is the slab in which some amount of

the concrete is replaced by the plastic bubbles or

ellipsoid which are made by the waste plastic material,
which reduces the self weight of the structure.
Design of this type of the slab is based on the euro and

the British codes.

 In the 1990ies, a new system was invented,

eliminating the some of the problems. It is used

in
Dutch:German
invented
by
JORGEN
BREUNING. He locks ellipsoids between the
top and bottom reinforcement meshes, thereby
creating a natural cell structure, acting like a
solid slab.
The slab is created with the same capabilities
as a solid slab, but with considerably less
weight due to the elimination of excessive
concrete.

World map showing the usage of the system

worldwide
Denmark
North America

uk

Russia

Brazil
Australia
New Zealand

The Millennium Tower (below) in Holland was one of the first

structures to use Bubble Deck.

(35 story)

Potential benefits:
Saves 30 to 50 % weight compared to a
corresponding solid slab equal stiffness.
20% concrete reduction in other components.
The reduced weight of the slab will typical result
in a change in design to longer spans and/or
reduced deck thickness.
It is also seismic friendly as it lowers the total
weight of the building.
Reduced concrete usage 1 kg recycled plastic
replaces 100 kg of concrete.
The company estimates that building costs are
reduced by 8 to 10 %.

SITE INSTALLATION
( Type A- Filigree Elements)

Temporary Support Propping on parallel beams

Placing Elements Semi pre-cast elements

mechanically
lifted into position

Joint Reinforcement Insert loose bottom splice bars

and tie top mesh across joints between elements

Perimeter shuttering Fix shuttering to bottom precast

concrete layer & tie to top mesh reinforcement

Soffit shuttering Prop plywood across joints

between element bays and between elements &
columns

Preparation Seal joints between elements, clean and

moisten bottom pre-cast concrete layer
Concreting Pour, vibrate and aggregate in-situ
concrete

Temporary works Remove, typically after 3 5

days,
according to specific site advice

Finishing no further work required.

Typical arrangement
of
props and propping
Loaded
beams
trailers
arriving on
site

Lifting
elemen
t
into
positio

Aligning bubbles
between
elements

Pouring,
Vibrating
& Floating Site
Concrete

 Several methods have been introduced during the

last decades, but with very limited success, due

to major problems with shear capacity and fire
resistance as well as impractical execution.
Most attempts have consisted of laying blocks of

a less heavy material like expanded polystyrene

between the bottom and top reinforcement.
But the use will always be very limited due to

reduced resistances towards shear, local

punching and fire.
which is why the use of these systems has never

gained acceptance and they are only used in a

limited number of projects

COMPOSITION
The voids are positioned in the middle of the cross
section, where concrete has limited effect, while
maintaining solid sections in top and bottom where
high stresses can exist. Hence, the slab is fully
functional with regards to both positive and
negative bending.

THEORY
In principle, Bubble Deck slabs acts like solid

slabs. Designing is consequently like for solid

slabs, just with less load corresponding to the
reduced amount of concrete. Thorough
investigations according to Euro codes are
made at universities in Germany,
Netherlands and Denmark, concluding that a
Bubble Deck slab acts like as a solid slab.

Bending stiffness and deflection

Only top compressive portion and bottom

reinforcing steel of a solid concrete slab

contribute to flexure stiffness in bending.
Bubble deck removes concrete from the
center of the flexural slab and replaces with
hollow HDPE spheres. It is having equal
bending stiffness as solid slab.
But technical university of Denmark also
carried out test on stiffness of bubble deck
slab. they verified the result and they found
out, for same strength, bubble deck has 87%
of bending stiffness of similar solid slab but
only 66% concrete volume due to HDPE

As a result, deflection was higher in bubble

deck.
However, significant lower dead weight

compensated for the slightly reduced stiffness

and therefore bubble deck gave higher
carrying capacity.
As, reduced permanent load positively affects

long term response in the serviceability limit

state design, which governs crack
propagation.
It has been concluded that adding a minimum

amount of extra reinforcing steel would

satisfy the criteria.

SHEAR
The main difference between a solid slab and

a voided, voided slab refers to shear

resistance. Due to the reduced concrete
volume, the shear resistance will also be
reduced.
For a BubbleDeck slab the shear resistance is
proportional to the amount of concrete, as the
special geometry shaped by the ellipsoidal
voids acts like ,hence enabling all concrete to
be effective.
The reduced shear resistance will not lead to
problems, as balls are simply left out where
the shear is high, at columns and walls

In calculations, a reduction factor of 0.6

is used on the shear capacity for all

bubble deck slab.
This guarantees a large safety margin.

Areas with high shear loads need

therefore a special attention, e.g.
around columns. That is solved by
omitting a few balls in the critical area
around the columns, therefore giving full
shear capacity.

Types of bubble deck

The simple Bubble Deck is cast

over the pre-fabricated bubble lattice

on traditional formwork.(cast in situ)
In the filigree-element Bubble Deck

the bottom side of the

bubble-lattice unit is furnished
with a pre-cast concrete
layer which on the building site
replaces the horizontal part of
the formwork.(semi pre cast)

The simple Bubble Deck may also

be delivered to the building site as

pre-cast factory-made slabs.(pre cast)

COMPONENTS

Lattice girder

-Grade of steel: Generally Fe

500,550.
-Rebar size depends on the
thickness of the slab and span.
-spacing: Max 1 m. or maximum
3 balls between two girder.
Two types:
(a). Self supporting
(b). Trussed type.

Main bar 10mm minimum

for 200 to 300 mm slab
thickness.
12mm- for size 300 mm

Plastic balls
Plastic balls or ellipsoids are made up of the

plastic waste.
Diameter: always 0.9 of the slab size.
Material of balls:

1.polyethin.
2.pvp- poly vinyl propylene.
3.pvc- poly vinyl chloride.

Concrete
Type: self compacting concrete
Grade: Any grade of concrete can be used,
generally M 20, 30 grade is use.

Examples:
The

1.LeCoieHousing:

largest Bubble Deck

structure so far erected in
Great Britain. The structure
comprises 7,800 m2 of Bubble
Deck floor slabs between 3
and 6 stories high supported on
in-situ reinforced concrete
columns. Over 400,000 of
savings were realized as a
direct result of incorporating
Bubble Deck into this project,
amounting to a 3% saving off
the total project cost.

Bridge deck with hollow balls

Sogn Arena, Oslo in Norway

City Hall and

Offices, in
Denmark

REFERENCE
Bubble deck-advanced structure engineering
by Paul harding,managing director bubble deck
C.I.ltd.
Bubble deck structure solution (UNITED
KINGDOM)
Structural Behavior of bubble deck slab by
Massachusetts institute of Technology

THANK YOU.