Quick-Guide

Cross section view Mitglied der

hd,min hd hd,max Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Nachhaltiges Bauen e.V.

German Sustainable Building Council

lightweight concrete slabs

Method 1, in-situ casting
e = center distance of void formers

1. layer

efficient economic sustainable

solid zone zone with void formers

hu hd - (cnom,o + hbew,o + ci,o + cnom,u + hbew,u + ci,u)

Method 2, semi-prefabricated elements

cobiax installed on site
e = center distance of void formers

S-hooks

Additional
solid zone zone with void formers
Documents
for (hbew,u + ci,u) cft,min Cobiax brochure
General information about the technology
hu hd - (cnom,o + hbew,o + ci,o + hft + hbew,u + ci,u) and
hk hd - (cnom,o + hbew,o + ci,o + hft) Cobiax reference projects
Various reference projects around the
world
for (hbew,u + ci,u) < cft,min with special fixing element
hks hd - (cnom,o + hbew,o + ci,o + hft ) Cobiax engineering manual
Detailed information about Cobiax tech-
nology and design
Method 3, semi-prefabricated elements
Cobiax software tool quick & light
cobiax installed in the factory Free software for defining the cross- Germany Heinze Cobiax Deutschland GmbH
Heinze Cobiax Deutschland GmbH, February 2017

e = center distance of void formers section of the slab and determining Cobiax Otto-von-Guericke-Ring 10
specific input parameters for structural D-65205 Wiesbaden
design Tel. +49 6122 918 45 00
Fax +49 6122 918 45 40
Approvals, expert reports and other info.de@cobiax.com
documents
A company of the Heinze Group
General German Technical Approvals
www.heinze-gruppe.de
according to Euro Code 2, Fire tests and
acoustics approvals & tests, LCA (Life Worldwide to be found on our website.
solid zone zone with void formers Cycle Assessment), EPD (Environmental sales partners
Product Declaration)
hft cnom,u + hbew,u + ci,u + 2,0 cm and
hu hd - (cnom,o + hbew,o + ci,o + cnom,u + hbew,u + ci,u) available upon request or free
download from www.cobiax.com
www.cobiax.com
Quick-Guide
Heinze Cobiax Deutschland GmbH, February 2017
 Quick-Guide

Introduction
This Quick-Guide is designed to give you a
short introduction to the Cobiax technolo-
gy. Additional information is available upon
request or as a download from www.cobiax.
com. We strongly recommend the use of our
free Cobiax software tool quick & light. Our
sales personnel will also be happy to answer
your questions.
Design and detailing
A Cobiax voided slab can be designed and
planned by any structural engineer in com-
pliance with the local building code and
standards. Cobiax also has achieved the
General German Technical Approval according
to Euro Code 2:
1. Slab cross-section and design parameters
solid zone must be provided along linear sup-
ports with a width equal to at least the centre
distance e of the void formers. At the free edge
of a slab a solid zone with the width of hd has
to be provided.
3. Second run of structural calculation
The self-weight and if necessary, the bending
stiffness are adjusted (back to full dead load
and stiffness) in the solid zones without void
prefabricated elements requires a design detail Execution on site
check for the transfer of horizontal shear forces
in the joint between both concrete layers con- The contractor installs the Cobiax void
sidering the reduced bonding area due to the formers modules according to the Cobiax
void formers (see software tool quick & light). layout drawing between the top and bottom
reinforcement layers using a fixed distance
min e
support device (to ensure required minimum spacing).
min hd
Insitu solution as well as semi prefabricated or
prefabricated solutions are possible. With the
in situ solution (Method 1) the void formers
and ready for the second layer of concrete.
This can be done within a few hours, depend-
ing on the temperature, weather conditions
and concrete properties. With the semi
pre-fabricated solution with Cobiax modules
installed on site (Method 2) uplift is prevented
by tying the upper reinforcement with S-hooks
to the lattice girders of the semi-prefabricated
elements. With the semi prefabricated
solution with Cobiax modules installed in the

slab
After estimating the slab thickness hd, a formers and a second, final run of structural VRd,c,cobiax are usually secured against uplift by casting factory (Method 3) no additional assurance

Technology and products
Cobiax technology uses recycled lightweight
plastic void formers to replace the heavy
suitable Cobiax void former module (support
height hu respectively total height of fixing
element hk or hks) is selected, taking into
account concrete cover cnom, the rebar layers
hbew and any intermediate layers ci (e.g. for
additional spacers or concrete core thermal
free edge of
calculation has to be done. u+2d the concrete in two separate layers. After the meashures have to be provided to avoid uplift.
first concrete layer (approx. 8 cm to 12 cm
4. Detailed design check thick only in the area of the void formers) has Cobiax can be combined for example with post
Casting the concrete in two layers (to prevent Approx. 50% to 80% of the slab area is fitted with hardened, the void formers are finally fixed tensioning or concrete core activation.
uplift of the void formers) or the use of semi- void formers (according to the different structural
configuration)

concrete inside a slab where it is not required. activation) and if necessary, the thickness of
The resulting savings of up to 35% in concrete the semi-prefabricated element hft. Additional
and weight has a positive effect on the requirements for the fire resistance have to
Application data Slim-Line Eco-Line
S100- S120- S140- S160- S180- S200- S220- S240- S260- S260- S260- S260- E-270 E-315 E-360 E-405 E-450
be taken into account if necessary. The load 120c 140c 160c 180c 200c 220c 240c 260c1) 280c1) 300c1) 320c1) 340c1)
reduction of void formers, the associated Generally
Slim-Line Eco-Line stiffness factor for the bending stiffness fEI Min. slab thickness hd,min cm 22 (20)1) 24 (22)1) 26 (25)1) 28 30 32 35 38 40 42 44 46 40 45 50 55 60
and the shear resistance factor fV (or the Max. slab thickness hd,max cm 45 56 70
reduced shear resistance VRd,c,cobiax = Support height hu cm 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 27.5 32 36.6 41.1 45.7
fV VRd,c) can be found in the table on the Fixing element (FE) height hk cm 12.5 14.5 16.5 18.5 20.5 22.5 24.5 26.5 28.5 30.5 32.5 34.5 28.0 32.5 37.1 41.6 46.2
next page. Alternatively the free software Shear factor fV - 0.50 0.45 0.50 0.45
tool quick & light can be used for quick pre- Stiffness factor fEI - 0.95 0.93 0.93 0.91 0.90 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.87 0.90 0.91 0.92 0.92 0.91 0.91 0.90 0.89
Void former height Dcx cm 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 26 26 26 27 31.5 36 40.5 45
Slim-Line void former Eco-Line void former liminary calculation.
modules for slab thicknesses modules for slab thicknesses Void former diameter cm 31.5 27 31.5 36 40.5 45
between 20 und 56 cm between 40 und 70 cm Min. center distance of void formers e cm 35 30 35 40 45 50
2. First run of structural calculation
Void formers per m2 pcs/m 8.16 11.11 8.16 6.25 4.94 4.00
The calculation of a Cobiax voided slab is to
Cross section vertical rebars FE cm/m 6.41 8.73 6.41 7.07 5.59 6.16
construction of the slab itself (e.g. less be done in similar manner as that of a con-
Concrete strength and consistency class - C20/25 up to C45/55, F3 up to F4 C20/25 up to C45/55, up to F4
deflection, larger spans or thinner slab ventional concrete slab, taking into account
Maximum aggregate mm 16 16 32
thickness) and hence on the whole building these 3 input parameters. With the first run of
CO2 Emission reduction t/m 0.011 0.013 0.016 0.018 0.020 0.022 0.024 0.026 0.028 0.028 0.028 0.028 0.024 0.028 0.032 0.036 0.040
structure. Cobiax void former modules, the structural calculation the load reduction
In situ solution and prefabricated concrete solution
which are internationally patented, consist and the reduced stiffness is applied for the
Volume displacement hcx m/m 0.0528 0.0641 0.0754 0.0858 0.0961 0.1055 0.1149 0.1248 0.1348 0.1348 0.1348 0.1348 0.1145 0.1336 0.1527 0.1718 0.1909
of 2.50 m long linear fixing elements (FE) whole slab. A consideration of the shear forces
Weight reduction (25 kN/m) kN/m 1.32 1.60 1.88 2.14 2.40 2.64 2.87 3.12 3.37 3.37 3.37 3.37 2.86 3.34 3.82 4.29 4.77
made from steel reinforcement fitted with leads to the determination of the required solid
Semi prefabricated concrete solution
void formers made of 100% recycled post- zones. Areas with VEd > VRd,c,cobiax must remain Volume displacement (-10%) 1) hcx,ft m/m 0.0475 0.0577 0.0679 0.0772 0.0865 0.0950 0.1034 0.1123 0.1213 0.1213 0.1213 0.1213 0.1031 0.1202 0.1374 0.1546 0.1718
consumer plastic. without void formers. In areas of punching Weight reduction (25 kN/m) kN/m 1.19 1.44 1.70 1.93 2.16 2.37 2.59 2.81 3.03 3.03 3.03 3.03 2.58 3.01 3.44 3.87 4.30
shear it is necessary to check whether the solid Min. distance between surface of semi- cft,min cm 2 0 0
zone extends beyond the critical circular cross- prefabricated element and longitudinal
rebar of void former module 2)
section or the last row of shear links by at least
Special fixing element height hks cm 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 - -
the dimension 2d. Otherwise the solid zone
must be enlarged accordingly. Additionally, a 1) Increased center distance of void formers caused by additional lattice girders 2) e.g. additional spacers or with special fixing element

Heinze Cobiax Deutschland GmbH, February 2017