Shear Response Assessment of Two-way Voided Slabs With Pipe Mesh

The hollow or voided slab system has been employed since the ۱۹۵۰s mainly as a means to reduce the weight of structures and minimize deflection. Various systems, such as Joist, Cubiax, Bubble Deck, and Hollowcore, have been developed and widely utilized. The Voided Slab with Pipe Mesh (VSPM) system is similar to the Hollowcore system; however, in this system, voids are created in both directions to further reduce slab weight and deflection. This results in a significant decrease in inertial and seismic forces, allowing for smaller dimensions in lateral force-resisting elements. From both a material consumption and cost standpoint, the system is economically advantageous. Additionally, it can be applied as a two-way slab in precast and cast-in-place configurations. In this study, the shear capacity of five VSPM slabs is experimentally and numerically assessed and compared to a solid slab using finite element analysis via Abaqus. The analysis reveals a reduction in shear capacity of approximately ۴۵–۵۰%, suggesting the use of a conservative reduction factor of ۰.۵ for shear design. Despite this reduction, the VSPM system demonstrates adequate durability and uniform load distribution. Moreover, the V۴-Z specimen, enhanced with Z-shaped rebar, shows response parameters nearly equivalent to the solid S۲ specimen, despite being considerably lighter. Overstrength factors (Ω) range from ۱.۲۳ to ۲.۰۴, with an average of ۱.۶۲, while ductility factors (μ) average ۱۰.۲ for specimens with a ۳۰ cm loading beam distance. The lowest ductility is observed in the S۲ and V۴-Z specimens, with μ values of ۱.۹۶ and ۱.۸۶, respectively. These findings highlight the system's potential for reducing seismic mass while maintaining structural integrity.

کلیدواژه ها:

Voided Slab with pipe mesh (VSPM) ، shear capacity ، Experiment ، Finite element method (FEM)