As lajes lisas podem oferecer diversas vantagens quando comparadas ao sistema de lajes, vigas e pilares, sendo, em muitos casos, mais econômicas. O uso da protensão pode oferecer outras vantagens, tais como um melhor controle da fissuração e dos deslocamentos transversais da laje. Como a punção é um dos pontos fracos das lajes lisas protendidas, face à grande esbeltez destas lajes, apresentam-se resultados experimentais de ligações laje-pilar interno, com carregamento concêntrico, com e sem armadura de punção (conectores tipo-pino), com e sem protensão por pós-tração (cabos não aderentes). Os principais aspectos analisados foram as influências da armadura de punção e da protensão na resistência da ligação laje-pilar. Fez-se também uma análise envolvendo a previsão da resistência da ligação, dada por algumas normas e códigos. Observa-se que, de um modo aproximado, a armadura de punção eleva significativamente a resistência do modelo à punção, seja ele de concreto armado ou protendido. Observa-se ainda que, embora diminuindo a taxa de armadura dos modelos de concreto armado, para que se introduzissem as cordoalhas de protensão, os valores experimentais obtidos mostram que a presença da protensão aumentou a resistência da ligação. De um modo geral, a melhor norma que reflete o comportamento da ligação lajepilar é a Revisão da NB-1 (2000). Com relação aos modelos protendidos, o ACI poderia ter tido um bom desempenho, caso não houvesse uma restrição tão rígida com relação ao uso de armaduras de punção / The use of flat plates may offer some economical and aesthetic benefits when compared with other structural systems. The use of post-tensioned slabs may offer other advantages, as a better crack and deflection control and a thinner slab for the same span and load conditions. This work presents some experimental results and conclusions about the punching shear failure, as it is a critical problem for flat plate structures, post-tensioned or not. The main aspects analyzed are the influence of the shear reinforcement (studs) and of the post-tensioning with unbonded tendons on a slab – internal column connection strength. A comparison between experimental results and those given by some standards is presented. This comparison aims to verify if the codes accurately predict the punching shear strength of the connection. It can be noted that, in an specific comparison, the studs enhance the punching shear strength of the slab-column connection. In spite of the use of less flexural reinforcement in the post-tensioned models, the punching shear strength of the connection had a higher value when compared with the reinforced ones. This fact is due to the presence of the prestressed strands

O crescente uso de lajes sem vigas (lisa com ou sem capitel) como solução estrutural de edificações, justificado por questões econômicas e construtivas, têm destacado a importância do estudo desses elementos estruturais. Já as desvantagens desse sistema estrutural estão associadas às altas tensões geradas na região próxima dos pilares, originando o fenômeno de punção. As normas atuais especificam uma seção íntegra resistente para dimensionamento à punção, entretanto, devido principalmente à passagem de instalações hidráulicas e elétricas através dos pavimentos, é necessária a execução de furações, em alguns casos muito próximas ao contorno dos pilares, o que implica diretamente na redução dessa seção e da resistência das lajes. Portanto, são necessários modelos de cálculo específicos para isso. A NBR 6118 tem critérios para esse problema, mas são antigos e precisam ser modernizados. Assim, comparando os dados experimentais de algumas pesquisas com as cargas últimas estimadas para normas vigentes (fib MC2010:2013, EC2:2004, ACI-318:2014 e NBR 6118:2014), este trabalho teve como objetivo identificar limitações das normas estudadas e verificar a eventual possibilidade de melhorias. Com base nos resultados observados foi proposta uma alteração para a NBR 6118: 2014 no cálculo da punção para lajes lisas com furo(s) na região do pilar, de modo que seja considerado no dimensionamento o momento gerado pela excentricidade do perímetro crítico devido à presença de furo(s) na laje. / The increasing use of flat slabs (slabs without beams with or without drop panel) as a structural solution of buildings, justified by economic and constructive issues, has highlighted the importance of the study of these structural elements. The disadvantages of this structural system are associated with high stresses generated in the region near of the columns, causing the punching shear phenomenon. The current standards specify a resistant section for punching shear design, however, due mainly to the passage of hydraulic and electric installations through the floors, it is necessary to execute holes, in some cases very close to the boundaries of the columns, which reduces this section and the slab strength. Therefore, it is necessary to specify calculation models for that. The NBR 6118 has criteria for this problem, nonetheless it is old and needs to be modernized. Comparing experimental data from some researches, with the estimated ultimate loads for current standards (fib MC2010: 2013, EC2: 2004, ACI-318: 2014 and NBR 6118: 2014), this work had as objective to identify limitations of the standards studied and verify possible improvements. Based on the observed results, it was proposed a modification for NBR 6118: 2014 in the design of the punching shear of flat slabs with hole(s) near of the column, considering the moment caused by the eccentricity of the critical perimeter due to the presence of hole(s) in the slab.

O presente trabalho estuda a variação do diâmetro inicial e diâmetro final de um furo puncionado feito em uma chapa de aço ASTM A-36 com 12,7 mm de espessura. São propostas três geometrias diferentes de punção fabricados em aço AISI D2 e AISI S1 com diâmetro inicial 20 mm e final 22 mm. Os punções foram fabricados para realizarem o processo de puncionamento e brochamento com penetrações de avanço (asf) de 0,2 mm, 0,5 mm e 1 mm. O objetivo principal é reduzir a conicidade dos furos puncionados atualmente através do método convencional. As folgas entre punção e matriz (w) utilizadas foram de 3,1%, 7,8% e 15,7% da espessura da chapa de testes respectivamente. Para avaliação do desempenho de cada ferramenta, todos os furos puncionados foram medidos e tabelados. Entre os resultados encontrados, constatou-se que os punções com brochamento apresentam melhores valores que os convencionais em todos parâmetros analisados. As regiões de cisalhamento (Zc) e região de ruptura abrupta (Zr) também sofreram influência direta em função da geometria utilizada. / The present work studies the variation of the initial diameter and final diameter of a punched hole made in an ASTM A-36 steel sheet with 12.7 mm of thickness. Three different punches geometries are proposed and manufactured from AISI D2 and AISI S1 steel with initial diameter 20 mm and final diameter 22 mm. The punches were manufactured to carry out the punching and broaching process with feed penetrations (asf) of 0.2 mm, 0.5 mm and 1 mm. The main objective is to reduce the conicity of the punched holes currently through the conventional method. The clearance between punch and die (w) used were 3.1%, 7.8% and 15.7% of the thickness of the test plate respectively. To evaluate the performance of each tool, all punched holes were measured and tabulated. Among the results, it was observed that the punches with a broaching showed better values than the conventional ones in all analyzed parameters. The regions of shear (Zc) and region of abrupt rupture (Zr) also had a direct influence in function of the geometry used.

As demandas do mercado da construção civil têm exigido vãos cada vez maiores e ao mesmo tempo alturas cada vez menores das vigas. Isto tem levado muitos projetistas à adoção da solução do pavimento em laje lisa em concreto armado ou protendido. No entanto, a ausência das vigas torna possível a ruptura das lajes por puncionamento junto aos pilares. A norma NBR-6118:2014 prescreve as disposições para o projeto de lajes sob punção. O trabalho proposto teve como objetivo principal a análise da confiabilidade da ligação laje-pilar interno sob o efeito da punção em lajes que se apoiam diretamente sobre pilares de acordo com a NBR-6118:2014. Primeiramente, com o intuito de se entender melhor o fenômeno da punção, realizou-se uma breve revisão bibliográfica, identificando os principais parâmetros que influenciam na resistência da ligação, assim como os principais métodos de análise e trabalhos realizados na área. Em seguida, estudou-se o software de análise em elementos finitos ANSYS (Analysis Systems Incorporated), especificamente a ferramenta UPF (User Programmable Features), que foi utilizada para adoção de um modelo constitutivo para o concreto. Utilizando o software, foram modeladas lajes estudadas por outros autores, visando a validação do modelo numérico. Para o estudo da confiabilidade foi dimensionado um conjunto de lajes lisas seguindo as prescrições da NBR 6118:2014. A análise da confiabilidade foi realizada utilizando a ferramenta PDS (Probabilistic Design System), empregando o método de simulação numérica de Monte Carlo com amostragem por Latin Hypercube. Por fim, determinou-se o índice de confiabilidade em cada projeto e realizaram-se análises paramétricas com as variáveis adotadas no trabalho. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que as lajes lisas sem armadura de cisalhamento projetadas segundo a NBR 6118:2014 obtiveram, em sua maioria, índices de confiabilidade adequados. Porém, para as lajes lisas com armadura de cisalhamento, o índice de confiabilidade foi, em grande parte, menor que o índice de confiabilidade alvo adotado. / The demands of the construction market have required increasingly large spans while diminishing of the beam heights. This has led many designers to adopt the pavement solucion of reinforced or prestressed concrete flat slab. However, the absence of the beams makes it possible to slabs failure by punching shear. The Standard NBR-6118: 2014 prescribes the requirements for the design of slabs under punching. The aim of this work was to analyze the reliability of the internal slab-column intersection under punching in slabs supported directly on columns according to NBR-6118: 2014. Firstly, in order to better understand the punching phenomenon, a brief bibliographic review was carried out, identifying the main parameters that influence the connection strength, as well as the main methods of analysis and published in the area. Then, the finite element analysis software ANSYS (Analysis Systems Incorporated), specifically the UPF (User Programmable Features) tool, was used to adopt a concrete constitutive model. Using the software, slabs studied by other authors were modeled, aiming at the validation of the numerical model. For the reliability study, a set of flat slabs was designed following the requirements of NBR 6118: 2014. The reliability analysis was performed using the PDS (Probabilistic Design System) tool, using the Monte Carlo numerical simulation method with Latin Hypercube sampling. Finally, the reliability index was determined in each project and parametric analyzes were performed with the variables adopted in the study. The results from this study show that the flat slabs without shear reinforcement designed according to NBR Standarts obtained appropriate reliability index. However, for the flat slabs with shear reinforcement, the reliability index, in most cases, did not achieve the target reliability index.

Flat plate systems are constructed with slabs directly supported on columns. Since there are no beams in the system, the behavior of connections between the slabs and columns play a crucial role. Due to the sudden and brittle nature of punching shear failures, slab-column connection design must be conducted with proper safety precautions. The first part of this study aims to evaluate the safety level of different design expressions in the codes. Fir this purpose, the ability of ACI 318-11, TS-500 and Eurocode-2 to estimate punching shear strength was examined in light of experimental results compiled from previous research. Interior and exterior connections were examined in the course of the study. In the second part of the study, beam and shell models were calibrated to simulate the load-deformation response of interior slab-column connections in light of experimental results. In the final part of this thesis, a typical floor plan of a flat plate system was analyzed to investigate the possibility of a progressivefailure mechanism after punching failure takes place at a slab-column connection. Minimum post-punching capacity required to avoid progressive punching failure in a floor was estimated. It is believed that, the results of this study can be helpful in guiding engineers in understanding the safety inherent in punching shear design expressions and to take necessary precautions against progressive collapse.

Reinforced concrete slab-column structures are widely used because of their practicality. However, this type of structures can be subject to punching-shear failure in the slab-column connections. Without shear reinforcement, the slab-column connection can undergo brittle punching failure, especially when the structure is subject to lateral loading in seismic zones. The shear bolts are a new type of transverse reinforcement developed for retrofit of existing structures against punching. This research focuses on how the shear bolts can improve the punching-shear capacity and ductility of the existing slab-column connections under vertical service and lateral seismic loads. A set of nine full-scale reinforced concrete slab-column connection specimens were tested under vertical service and cyclic loads. The vertical (gravity) load for each specimen was kept at a constant value throughout the testing. The cyclic lateral drift with increasing intensity was applied to the columns. The specimens were different in number of bolts, concrete strength, number of openings, and level of gravity punching load. Strains in flexural rebars in the slabs, crack widths, lateral loads, and displacements were obtained. The peak lateral load (moment) and its corresponding drift ratio, connection stiffness, crack width, and ductility were compared among different specimens. The testing results show that shear bolts can increase lateral peak load resisting capacity, lateral drift capacity at peak load, and ductility of the slab-column connections. Shear bolts also change the failure mode of the slab-column connections and increase the energy dissipation capacity. The thesis includes also research on the development of guidelines for shear bolt design for concrete slab retrofitting, including the punching shear design method of concrete slab (with shear bolts), dimensions of bolts, spacing, and influence of bolt layout patterns. Suggestions are given for construction of retrofitting method using shear bolts. Recommendations are also presented for future research.

Reinforced concrete slab-column structures are widely used because of their practicality. However, this type of structures can be subject to punching-shear failure in the slab-column connections. Without shear reinforcement, the slab-column connection can undergo brittle punching failure, especially when the structure is subject to lateral loading in seismic zones. The shear bolts are a new type of transverse reinforcement developed for retrofit of existing structures against punching. This research focuses on how the shear bolts can improve the punching-shear capacity and ductility of the existing slab-column connections under vertical service and lateral seismic loads. A set of nine full-scale reinforced concrete slab-column connection specimens were tested under vertical service and cyclic loads. The vertical (gravity) load for each specimen was kept at a constant value throughout the testing. The cyclic lateral drift with increasing intensity was applied to the columns. The specimens were different in number of bolts, concrete strength, number of openings, and level of gravity punching load. Strains in flexural rebars in the slabs, crack widths, lateral loads, and displacements were obtained. The peak lateral load (moment) and its corresponding drift ratio, connection stiffness, crack width, and ductility were compared among different specimens. The testing results show that shear bolts can increase lateral peak load resisting capacity, lateral drift capacity at peak load, and ductility of the slab-column connections. Shear bolts also change the failure mode of the slab-column connections and increase the energy dissipation capacity. The thesis includes also research on the development of guidelines for shear bolt design for concrete slab retrofitting, including the punching shear design method of concrete slab (with shear bolts), dimensions of bolts, spacing, and influence of bolt layout patterns. Suggestions are given for construction of retrofitting method using shear bolts. Recommendations are also presented for future research.

Throughout the United States accelerated bridge construction is becoming increasingly popular to meet growing transportation demands while keeping construction time and costs to a minimum. This research focuses on eliminating the need to form full-depth concrete bridge deck overhangs, accelerating the construction of concrete bridge decks, by using full-depth precast prestressed concrete deck panels. Full-depth precast overhang panels in combination with cast-in-place (CIP) reinforced concrete are experimentally and analytically investigated to assess the structural performance. Experimental loaddeformation behavior for factored AASHTO LRFD design load limits is examined followed by the collapse capacity of the panel-to-panel seam that exists in the system. Adequate strength and stiffness of the proposed full-depth panels deem the design safe for implementation for the Rock Creek Bridge in Fort Worth, Texas. New failure theories are derived for interior and exterior bridge deck spans as present code-based predictions provide poor estimates of the ultimate capacity. A compound shear-flexure failure occurs at interior bays between the CIP topping and stay-in-place (SIP) panel. Overhang failure loads are characterized as a mixed failure of flexure on the loaded panel and shear at the panel-to-panel seam. Based on these results design recommendations are presented to optimize the reinforcing steel layout used in concrete bridge decks.

An innovative strengthening technique is applied for the first time in this study to provide flexural strengthening in two-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs supported on edge beams. The technique comprises external bonding of textiles on the tension face of RC slabs through the use of polymer-modified cement- based mortars. The textiles used in the experimental campaign comprised fabric meshes made of long stitch-bonded fibre rovings in two orthogonal directions. The specimens measured 2 x 2 m in plan and were supported on hinges at the corners. Three RC slabs strengthened by textile reinforced mortar (TRM) overlays and one control specimen were tested to failure. One specimen received one layer of carbon fibre textile, another one received two, whereas the third specimen was strengthened with three layers of glass fibre textile having the same axial rigidity (in both directions) with the single-layered carbon fibre textile. All specimens failed due to flexural punching. The load-carrying capacity of the strengthened slabs was increased by 26%, 53%, and 20% over that of the control specimen for slabs with one (carbon), two (carbon) and three (glass) textile layers, respectively. The strengthened slabs showed an increase in stiffness and energy absorption. The experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions based on existing models specifically developed for two-way slabs and the performance of the latter is evaluated. Based on the findings of this work the authors conclude that TRM overlays comprise a very promising solution for the strengthening of two-way RC slabs.

Flat slab-column connections are common elements in reinforced concrete (RC) structures such as parking garages. In cold weather regions, these structures are exposed to de-icing salts and aggressive environments. Using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars instead of steel in such structures will overcome the corrosion problems associated with steel reinforcement. However, the available literature shows few studies to evaluate the behaviour of FRP-RC interior slab-column connections tested mainly under concentric loads, which seldom occurs in a real building. The main objectives of this research are to deal with this gap by investigating the behaviour of full-scale glass (G) FRP-RC interior slab-column connections subjected to eccentric load and to provide design recommendations for such type of connections. This study consisted of two phases, experimental and analytical. The experimental phase included the construction and testing of ten full-scale interior slab-column connections. The parameters investigated in the experimental phase were flexural reinforcement ratio, concrete compressive strength, type of the reinforcement, moment-to-shear ratio and the spacing between the shear stud reinforcement. Test results revealed that increasing the GFRP reinforcement ratio or the concrete strength increased the connection capacity. Moreover, compared to the control steel-RC specimen, the GFRP-RC connection with similar reinforcement rigidity showed comparable capacity and deflection at failure. Also, increasing the moment-to-shear ratio resulted in a reduction in the vertical load capacity, while using the shear stud reinforcement enhanced the strength up to 23%. In the analytical phase, a 3-D finite element model (FEM) was constructed using specialized software. The constructed FEM was able to predict the experimental results within a reasonable accuracy. The verified FEM was then used to conduct a parametric study to evaluate the effects of perimeter-to-depth ratio, column aspect ratio, slab thickness and a wide range of flexural reinforcement ratio. The numerical results showed that increasing the reinforcement ratio increased the connection capacity. In addition, increasing the perimeter-to-depth ratio and slab thickness reduced the punching shear stresses at failure, while, the effect of the column rectangularity diminished for a ratio greater than three. Moreover, the results showed prominent agreement with the experimental results from literature. / October 2015