RC Flat Slab‐Column Subassemblages under Lateral Loading

Abstract

Results of laboratory tests on four reinforced concrete flat slab‐interior column connections, carrying quasi‐static, cyclic, horizontal loadings are presented. The specimens, at about two‐thirds scale, had reinforcing steel arrangements representative of column strips. The major aspects studied are the resistance and final failure mechanisms, the relative influence of the cross‐sectional width of the column, and the contribution of vertical gravity loading on the propagation of failure. Test results show that combined primary bending, slab failures, and final one‐side punching‐shear failures had occurred. The failure contributors, their development areas, and final shape are described. The results of the present series of tests are compared with solutions of current calculation methods, which suggest using either the full slab width between the field centerlines, beam analogies, or the linear shear stress distribution on a critical perimeter around the column.