DESIGN OF SLAB

Slabs are generally designed on the assumption that they consists of a

number of beams of breadth one meter.

Effective Span
The effective span of a simply supported slab
shall be taken as the lesser of the following:

1. Distance between the centers of

bearings,

2. Clear span plus effective depth

Thickness of Slab
The following table gives the maximum values of the ratio of span to depth.

Type of slab Ratio of span to depth

Simply supported and spanning in one direction 30
Continuous and spanning in one direction 35
Simply supported and spanning in two directions 35
Continuous and spanning in two directions 40
Cantilever slabs 12
Reinforcement
Minimum reinforcement in either direction shall be 0.15 percent of total
cross-sectional area.

Main reinforcement which is based on the maximum bending moment shall

not be less than 0.15 per cent of the gross sectional area. The pitch of the
main bars shall not exceed the following:

1. Three times the effective depth of slab, and

2. 45 cm.
 Distribution bars are running at right angles to the main reinforcement and
the pitch shall not exceed

1. Five times the effective depth of slab, and

2. 45 cm.

The diameter of main bars may be from 8 mm to 14 mm. for distribution

bars, steel 6 mm or 8 mm are generally used.

Cover of Reinforcement:
The minimum cover to outside of main bars shall not be less than the
following:

1. 15 mm and

2. Diameter of the main bar.

Steps to be followed in the design of slab

1. Assuming suitable bearings (not less than 10cm), find the span of the
slab between the centers of bearings.

2. Assume the thickness of slab (take 4 cm per metre run of the span).

3. Find the effective span which is lesser of (i) distance between centres
of bearings, and (ii) clear span and effective depth.

4. Find the dead load and the live load per square meter of the slab.

5. Determine the maximum bending moment for a one meter wide strip
of the slab.

The maximum bending moment per meter width of slab,

Where, w = total load intensity per square meter of the slab.

1. Equate the balanced moment of resistance to the maximum bending
moment

Find the effective depth d from the above equation.

1. Calculate the main reinforcement per metre width

For M15 concrete, lever arm = 0.87 d

Spacing of bar =

CONTINUOUS SLAB
Suppose a slab is supported at the ends and also at intermediate points on
beams, the maximum sagging and hogging moments to which the slab is
subjected to due to uniformly distributed load, can be computed as follows:

Let = intensity of dead load per square metre

= intensity of live load per square metre.

Bending moment due to dead load and live load may be taken as follows
(IS: 456 2000)

At middle of end At middle of Over interior

Over support
span interior support support
BM due to dead
load
Bending moment
due to live load