Prestressed concrete slabs and

grid floors

Types of prestressed concrete floor slabs

Prestressed concrete slab systems are ideally suited for floor

and roof construction of industrial buildings where the live
loads to be supported are of a higher order and the
uninterrupted floor space is desirable, for which reason
longer spans between the supporting elements are required

Precast prestressed hollow core slabs, with or without

topping are important structural elements in industialised
and large panel building construction.

The slabs, produced on long casting beds using the

pretensioning system and cut to shorter specified span
lengths, are mainly used in one way floors which are freely
supported by transverse walls or beams.

 Precast

pre-tensioned cored slabs with different types of

cavities are widely used as floor panels of civic and industrial
buildings.

Hollow

panels of oval cavity- type are more economical for

larger spans since they contain the least volume of concrete
as compared to round cavity panels.

Cross section of prestressed

concrete floor panels

 Large-size

roof panels which have ribs in the perpendicular

direction are used for spans up to 12 m.

Prestressed

single and double T slab panels have been

widely used for industrial structures due to advantages of
speed of construction.

Double
Double

and single T units can also be used as wall units.

T units are used in food processing

plants,warehouses and automobile industries where service
loads are in excess of 5 kN/m.

Prestressed concrete roof panel

 The

prestressing of the two-way continuous slab reduces the

thickness , control the deflection and eliminates cracks in
the slabs.

Solid

prestressed lifts slabs are generally most economical

for spans ranging from 6 to 10 m.

prestressed concrete grid floors are more slender and have

smaller deflections under service loads due to the combined
effect of the prestress in the principal directions.

Prestressed

coffered slabs are comparatively cheaper than

reinforced concrete grids for flooring schems of commercial
and industrial buildings.

Typical precast prestressed units for

floor systems

Continuous prestressed flat slab

Prestressed concrete grid floor

Design of prestressed concrete one way

slabs
The

design of prestressed concrete one way slabs spanning

between parallel supports is based on the principles of
designing members for flexure .

One

way slabs may be supported across the entire width of

the slab by beams, piers or abutments or bearing walls ,which
are positioned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the
span, or the supports may be at an angle to the span
directions.

One

way slabs may be continuous over one or several

supports.

Simple

or continuous slabs re analysed for design moments

by considering a unit width of the slab.

 In

case of slabs subjected to heavy concentrated loads,

transverse reinforcements in the form of mild steel or deformed
bars or prestressed cables will be required to resist transverse
moments.

Concentric

tendons are generally preferred for transverse

prestressing of one way slabs to prevent deflections in the
transverse direction.

The

slabs designed should conform to the requirements of

serviceability and strength.

The

serviceability requirements include limiting deflections and

cracking under working loads.

Design of prestressed concrete two way

slabs
The

design of a two way slab supported on all four sides

involves the computation of bending moments in the principal
directions of the slab.

The

slab may be supported on masonry walls or beams and

may or may not be continuous over the supports.

Transverse

loads are resisted by the development of two way

slab action, resulting in moments in the longer and shorter
span directions.

The

magnitude and nature of moments developed in two way

slabs depends mainly upon the type of load ,ratio of the sides
of slab and the degree of restraint at the supports.

 The

moments developed in a two way slab may be determined

by the elastic analysis or alternatively by the ultimate load
methods.

The

bending moment coefficients shown in table:1 are

provided for by the british standard BS:8110 for the design of
two way slabs simply supported on all four sides without any
adequate provision to resist torsion and the lifting of corners.

In

the case of two way slabs which are fully prestressed , the
serviceability criterion to be satisfied is generally the constraint
imposed on upward deflections under prestress and self
weight , so that tensile stresses are completly eliminated under
service loads.

In

prestressed slabs, due to the load balancing effect , the shear

forces and stresses developed being negligible small, shear
reinforcements are generally not required.

Table:1 bending moment coefficients for slabs spanning in two

directions at right angles, simply supported on four
sides(BS:8110)

Ly/Lx

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.75

2.0

0.062

0.074

0.084

0.093

0.099

0.104

0.113

0.118

0.062

0.061

0.059

0.055

0.051

0.046

0.037

0.029

Design of prestressed concrete simple flat slabs

A simple

prestressed flat slab is generally supported by a network

of columns without beams and prestressed in two perpendicular
directions.

The

design of flat slab involves the analysis of moments in the

two principal directions so that cables may be arranged to resist
these moments.

The

slab is analysed as a one way slab and the total number of

cables required to resist the moments in each of the two principal
directions are determined.

The

column strips being stiffer than middle strips, a greater % of

the tendons are housed in the column strips.

 The

proportion of the tendons between the column and middle

strips may be based on the provisions of codes, such as IS:456
and BS:8110 , where column strips share a higher proportion
of the total moment.

Since

it is not generally possible to vary the spacing of cables

for positive and negative moments in either the column or the
middle strips , the total number of cables required in any
direction is apportioned in the ratio of 65 and 35% between
the column and middle strips.

Prestressed concrete simple flat slab

Design of prestressed concrete continuous flat

slab floors
The

design principles of continuous flat slab floors are similar

to those of two way reinforced concrete slabs.

A strip

of slab of unit width , continuous over supports, is

analysed as a continuous beam.

Prestressing

of continuous slab results in secondary moments.

If

the cable profile is concordant , secondary moments can be

eliminated.

The

max. span up to which prestressed lift slabs are econimal

depends upon the type of slab

Solid

slab have a practical limitation of about 10m whilw

waffle or coffered slabs may be economical up to 16m.

 The

profile of the cables in the two principal direction should be

so arranged that they do not conflict each other.

The

number of cables required to resist moments is suitably

divided between the column and middle strips as in the case of
flat slabs.

It

is generally recognized that bonded tendons are to be

preferred both from the point of view of ultimate strength
requirements and easy maintenance under adverse conditions.

The

design of a continuous flat slab floor involves the

computation of max. and min. moments for various load
combinations and the determination of suitable cable profiles so
that the resulting stress in concrete are within the safe allowable
limits as per codes.

The

problems concerning excessive camber should be overcome

by suitably selecting the cable profiles.

 Shear

stresses at the junction of the column and slab should be

carefully controlled by proper design and detailing of the
critical shear zone.