CE 410 Reinforced Concrete Design

One-way Slab Design - Reading

The design of one-way floor slabs is very similar to that of beams. In fact, you can think of a
slab as a shallow, wide beam. For the sake of simplicity and consistency, slabs are often
designed as strips of a unit width (one foot is usually a convenient dimension) and the
requirements of that unit strip are applied across the full width of the slab. Figure 1 shows this
idea.
Typically slabs will have four
layers of reinforcement, each
with a specific purpose.
Referring to Figure 2, the
reinforcement on the tension
face of the slab parallel to the
direction of bending (A) is the
primary structural
reinforcement. It is designed
considering the required
Figure 1. Slabs are idealized as one-foot strips for flexural
flexural capacity of the slab.
design [Source: Limbrunner, 2010]
The reinforcement transverse
to the primary reinforcement
is called distribution
reinforcement (B). Its
structural intent is to distribute
the load laterally so that it is
C
shared amongst several of the
D
primary bars. In this way
large concentrated forces on
the slab are not relying on just
one or two primary bars for
the support, but the
A
distribution reinforcement
helps to spread out the
B
demand. The bars on the
flexural compression face (C
& D) are needed to limit
Figure 2. Four typical layers of reinforcement in a one-way
cracking due to temperature
slab. A) Primary reinforcement, B) Distribution
and shrinkage effects. It is the
reinforcement, C&D) Temperature and shrinkage
minimum amount of
reinforcement
reinforcement that must be
provided in each direction and is typically coined temperature and shrinkage steel (T & S
steel).

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Design of slabs for flexural capacity is not unlike beam design. The only nuance is the fact that
all calculations (demand and capacity) are performed on a per-foot-width basis.
As an example, consider the one-way slab simply-supported over a 24 length in Figure 3. The
design live load on the slab is 100 psf. In other words, every square foot patch shown on the slab
is responsible for supporting 100 pounds.

Figure 3. Sample one-way slab

All one-foot wide strips spanning in the 24-foot direction are the same. One particular strip is
chosen for clarity of the graphic. That strip, just like all other strips, is responsible for a one-foot
wide patch of the load over its entire length (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Load on a one-foot strip for design.

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The design load is now effectively a

line load on the slab strip. We need to
pay careful attention to the units. The
slab is responsible for 100 psf, but this
particular strip is exactly one foot
wide. So I could say the load on the
slab is 100 plf, per foot width. Now I
can use that line load to draw shear
and moment diagrams for the slab strip
(see Figure 5). Note that everything
has been analyzed on a per-foot basis
and the units reflect that.

1200 lbs/ft
VLL
-1200 lbs/ft

7200 lb-ft/ft

The slab capacity is then determined

based on the generic cross-section
MLL
shown in Figure 6. The familiar
equations for the depth of the stress
block, a, and the nominal moment
capacity, Mn, still apply. The
Figure 5. Shear and moment diagrams (demand) for
resistance factor is also determined in
the sample slab strip
the same manner as for beams, but it is
nearly always 0.9 for slabs as they are
inherently flexible members.
b = 12"
The amount of steel attributed to any particular
strip can be determined as:

Compression Face
T&S Rein.

d
Distribution Rein.

Abar

(1)

When going through a design sequence its

usually helpful to rearrange equation (1). In
that event youll be calculating an As,reqd (that
would achieve the necessary capacity) and
Spacing, s
want to know what bar size and spacing must
be used to achieve it. Generally youll want to
Figure 6. Typical cross-section for
select a bar size, then calculate the
determining slab capacity
corresponding spacing that would provide
enough reinforcement to achieve the desired
capacity. Typically slabs will be reinforced
with either #5 or #6 bars, so choose each of
those bar sizes and calculate the necessary spacing. Then decide which one to use. Note that
you always have to round down from the calculated spacing rounding up would provide less
steel than needed.
(2)
cover

Tension Face

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Detailing Requirements
As with beams, you need to ensure that the slab thickness satisfies the ACI deflection criteria in
Table 9.5(a). Furthermore, you must consider that four layers of reinforcement must fit within
the thickness of the slab. For that practical reason, slabs of this style will rarely be designed less
than 7 inches thick. Slab thickness can be specified to the nearest half-inch.
Concrete cover for interior slabs is typically , but it should be checked with the ACI
requirements in 7.7
You must verify that the reinforcement needed for flexural capacity meets or exceeds the code
requirement for minimum reinforcement in ACI 10.5.4:
(3)
The amount of reinforcement needed for the distribution layer and the temperature and shrinkage
reinforcement is that calculated for As,min.
Lastly, the code places limits on bar spacing. For example, the equations shown previously
might suggest that #10 bars spaced 6 feet apart might provide enough capacity. But clearly if a
large concentrated load falls somewhere in the 6 feet between bars, the slab would not be
adequately reinforced. Therefore spacing limitations are set to prevent concentrated forces from
punching through a small area of the slab.
For the primary flexural reinforcement, the maximum spacing is either 3h or 18, whichever is
less. For distribution and T&S reinforcement, the maximum spacing is either 5h or 18,
whichever is less [ACI 10.5.4].

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