Slab Bands and Punching Shear

Slab bands are a common structural system in North America due its general economy. At the slabband/column connection, unbalanced moments are being transferred that could lead to a common failure mechanism termed punching shear failure. This type of failure occurs when the column and a portion of the slab punches through the remaining slab. Thus, it is critically important from a design prospective to identify and quantify how these unbalanced moments are being transferred, specifically as shear stresses at the slab-column connection. Current design code practices used for punching shear design of slab bands may lead to an unsafe design and thus its review is warranted. Therefore, the objective of this research is to investigate punching shear of slab bands, specifically the fraction of unbalanced moment transmitted to the slab-band/column connection by shear. The research will be approached through numerical investigation to develop analytical models representative of the slab band column connection, and the project outcome shall be summarized through design guideline used for punching shear analysis and design of slab bands.

Faculty Supervisor:

Raafat El-Hacha

Student:

Khaled Abdelrahman

Partner:

Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

University of Calgary