FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM

Faculty of Civil Engineering

Tel:(+603) 5543 6414 Fax: (+603) 5543 5275

REINFORCED CONCRETE SLAB ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

Slab can be analysed based on regular slabs or irregular slabs. Normal procedure of
analyzing slab using regular slabs are not complex in terms of shape (rectangular),
support condition, loading condition and without opening. The ultimate analysis
method required for irregular slab with complex shape, support conditions, the
presence of openings or with concentrated loads. Under Plastic analysis, two
methods can be used as listed below:

1. Yield line method – particularly suitable for slabs with a complex shape or
concentrated loading (Upper bound Approach).
2. Hillerborg Strip method – suitable for slabs contains openings (Lower
bound Approach).

YIELD LINE METHOD

Yield-line analysis is a very powerful method to calculate the collapse load of

a slab or, of course, the bending moment for a special load. The pioneer of yield-line
analysis was Professor K.W. Johansen, who published this theory in his doctoral
thesis in 1843 at the Danish Technical University. This method is based on the plastic
collapse analysis of 1-D beams. This kind of analysis is merely extended to 2-D
problems involving the bending of slabs and plates.

As load apply is increased the slab start to cracks with the reinforcement yield
at the point of high moment. Due to the high moment the deflection increases the
crack propagate until the slab is broken into the number of portions at collapse.

BASIC ASSUMPTION OF YIELD LINE THEORY

 the structure is collapsing because of the moment, not by other failure modes
such as shear or bend
 concrete is assumed to be ductile (linear stress distribution)
 axial (in-plane) forces are ignore.
 small deformations compared with the overall dimensions are assumed.

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FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Tel:(+603) 5543 6414 Fax: (+603) 5543 5275

SLAB CLASSIFICATION

 one - way slab: spanning in one direction (supported at two edges)

 two - way slab: spanning in two directions (supported all round)

BOUNDARY SYMBOLS

Fixed edge

Simply supported

Positive yield – line

Negative yield – line

YIELD LINE PATTERNS

Square slab, simply supported Square slab with circular hole

Rectangular slab, simply supported Rectangular slab, fixed all

at 3 edges round

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FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Tel:(+603) 5543 6414 Fax: (+603) 5543 5275

Rectangular slab with rec. hole Rectangular slab supported by

columns

Triangle slab, two edges fixed

GUIDE LINE TO ESTABLISH THE YIELD LINE MECHANISME

Assumption for determine the yield line.

a) Yield line developed under distributed critical loads are usually straight
line.
b) For one way slabs and for the smaller span lengths of two-way slabs the
location of the maximum positive plate strip moment obtained from elastic
theory gives a good starting point.
c) Along fixed boundaries, negative yield line developed.
d) Yield line pass through the intersection of axis of rotation of adjacent slab
segment.
e) Lines of support generally serve as axes of rotation.
f) Increased stiffness in the plate invites development of yield lines while
flexibility counteracts their formation.

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FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Tel:(+603) 5543 6414 Fax: (+603) 5543 5275

KINEMATIC THEOREM (UPPER BOUND)

Kinematic Theorem (Upper bound) defined that an external load computed on the
basis of an assumed mechanism, in which the forces always greater than or equal to
the collapse load. In applying this theorem, the work equation is used to determine
the collapse loads. The work done by the loads at collapse is equated to the work
done in the yield line rotating against the moment of resistance of the reinforced
concrete slab section. Referring to Figure 3, it shows that the collapse ultimate load
“W” at the end span AB moves through a deflection 1 while the sagging yield line
rotates 1 and the hogging yield line 2 against both moment of resistance M1 and M2
respectively. The general yield line theory using Virtual work is defined below:
External Work done = Internal Work Done
 W 1 =  M  
where  is the length of the yield lines, W is the collapse load, 1 is vertical
displacement, 1 is angle of rotation (radian) and M is the moment (kNm/m).This
theorem gives an upper bound solution to the true collapse load. Various yield line
patterns must be examined to determine which gives the minimum collapse load.

MOMENT RESISTANCE ALONG A YIELD LINE

a. One Way Slab

In a one way spanning slab, the reinforcement for bending moment is placed
across the span and the yield line forms at right angle to it. For a one meter
wide strip with slab effective depth (d), reinforced with steel area (A s), then the
ultimate moment of resistance in the slab is given by
m = (k)(b)(d2)

where k is taken from design chart for simply reinforced for calculated
100As/bd, b is the breadth of slab.

The ultimate coefficient for bending moment and shear forces in one-way direction
are tabulated in Table 3.13. Allowance has been made in these coefficients for 20%
redistribution. The reinforcement bars for one-way slab must be provided in x and y
direction depending on the amount of loading on top of slabs. Thus, the moment of
resistance along yield line is kNm/m. The yield line is expected to occur at mid-span
denote as red line as shown in Figure 4.

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FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Tel:(+603) 5543 6414 Fax: (+603) 5543 5275

Yield Line

PLAN

SECTION

Steel yield
 COLLAPSE
2 MECHANISM

Figure 4: Collapse mechanism for one-way slab

b. Two Way Slab

The analysis of two-way slab is a little bit difficult because there are some patterns of
yield line as compare to one-way slab. The length of yield line depends on the
boundary conditions, type of loading and shape of the slab. The two common
collapse mechanism for square and rectangular slabs are shown in Figure 5. The
square slab has a triangle shape pattern where for rectangular slab, the trapezium
and triangle forms the yield line pattern. This is similar to the distribution of load for
two-way spanning slabs.

For equilibrium method of analysis, ultimate loads are determined by writing

equations of equilibrium for each segment of the yield line pattern by taking moment
about the support. Shear forces at yield line can be replaced by statically equivalent
nodal forces acting at yield line junctions. For interior yield line junctions the nodal
shears cancel. Therefore, it is only at exterior edges that shears need to be explicitly
considered.

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FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Tel:(+603) 5543 6414 Fax: (+603) 5543 5275

Section
Section Section

Figure 5 : Yield line pattern for square and rectangular two-way slabs

In a rectangular two-way spanning slab, the reinforcement bars will be

provided in x and y direction depending on maximum moments. The
reinforcement provided in the X and Y directions in the slab are denoted as
Asx and Asy per meter and moments of resistance in the two directions are m x
and my respectively. Figure 6 shows the orientation x-y axis and yield line
pattern for rectangular slab.

x axis
1 mx 3
x bars

my

y-axis y bars 2

Figure 6: Yield Line Method for two-way slab

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