Ribbed Floor Slab One Way Joists

A ribbed slab, giving considerable extra strength on one direction. Ribbed floors consisting of
equally spaced ribs are usually supported directly by columns. They are either one-way spanning
systems known as ribbed slab or a two-way ribbed system known as a waffle slab.

It consists of a floor slab, usually 5-10cm thick, supported by reinforced concrete ribs. The ribs
are usually tapered and uniformly spaced at distances that do not exceed 75cm. The ribs are supported
on girders that rest on columns. In some ribbed slabs, the space between ribs may be filled with
permanent fillers to provide a horizontal ceiling. However, formwork complication is minimized by use
of standard, modular, reusable formwork, usually made from polypropylene or fiberglass and with
tapered sides to allow stripping.
The Basic principles of this type of floor structures are the following:
-The Floor is made by several parallel ribs placed/cast along a specific direction(one way).
-The ribs are generally made of reinforced cast in place concrete
-Between the r.c. ribs, masonry/polystyrene blocks can be used in order to reduce the floor weight (so
called lightened floors).

ADVANTAGES:

Savings on weight (lightweight) and materials

Attractive soffit appearance if exposed
Economical when reusable formwork pans used
Vertical penetrations between ribs are easy.
Medium to long spans
Holes in topping easily accommodated
Large holes can be accommodated
Profile may be expressed architecturally, or used for heat transfer in passive cooling

DISADVANTAGES:
Depth of slab between the ribs may control the fire rating
Requires special or proprietary formwork
Greater floor-to-floor height
Large vertical penetrations are more difficult to handle.
Higher formwork costs than for other slab systems
Slightly greater floor thicknesses
Slower
Laying Out Pan Joist Floors:
Typically no stirrups are used in joists
Reducing Forming Costs:
Use constant joist depth for entire floor
Use same depth for joists and beams (not always possible)
Distribution Ribs:
Placed perpendicular to joists*
*Note: not required by ACI Code, but typically used in construction
Spans < 6m.: None
Spans 6-9m: Provided a midspan
Spans > 9m: Provided at third-points
At least one continuous #12mm bar is provided at top and bottom of distribution rib.

MEMBER DEPTH
ACI provides minimum member depth and slab thickness requirements that can be used without a
deflection calculation.
Useful for selecting preliminary member sizes
The most economical framing results if joists and supporting beams have the same depth. This
will involve beams considerably wider than columns. Such a system is referred to as joist-band system.
For beams with one end continuous: L/18.5
For beams with both ends continuous: L/21
L is span length in meters
usually gives a depth too shallow for design, but should be checked as a minimum.
Building codes give minimum fire resistance rating:
1 hour fire rating: 2cm cover, 7.5-9cm slab thickness
2 hour fire rating: 2.5cm cover, 12cm slab thickness
Member Depth ACI 318-99: Block sizes and dimensions, cm
30 50,55,60 variable
Block unit weight=12kN/m3
Light weight concrete unit weight=6kN/m3

BLOCK SIZES
unit weight=5kN/m3 Block thickness
14
17
24
32

Block length
40
40
40
40

Block width
25 (20)
25 (20)
20
20