Influence of horizontal restraints on the behaviour of concrete slabs

A study dealing with the influence of horizontal restraints on the behaviour of concrete slabs subjected to central concentrated loads is presented. As a part of this study, an experimental program was performed on strips of concrete slabs with horizontally restrained boundaries subjected to concentrated loads at midspans. The tested strip slabs were provided with minimum structural reinforcement to eliminate a sudden collapse at the moment of failure. Comparable tests were carried out on strip slabs that were simply supported and horizontally non-restrained with maximum reinforcement ratio.; The tests showed that the carrying capacities of the horizontally restrained strip slabs with minimum reinforcement ratio were similar to the capacities of horizontally non-restrained strip slabs with maximum reinforcement ratio. The enhanced carrying capacity of horizontally restrained strip slabs can be explained as a result of an arch action at failure due to the horizontal restraints.; In addition, an analytical study based on the plastic theory was carried out to analyze strip slabs with full and partial horizontal restraints. As a result, a plastic analysis method was developed for these strip slabs. This method was extended to analyze horizontally restrained square slabs subjected to concentrated loads. Also, non-linear finite element analysis for the horizontally restrained square slabs and strip slabs was carried out.; By considering the influence of horizontal restraints on a wide range of applications of reinforced concrete slabs, a significant amount of reinforcement can be saved without reducing the carrying capacities of the slabs.