Investigation of the behavior of reinforced concrete hollow-core thick slabs

This study presents investigation of the behavior of moderately thick reinforced concrete slabs having hollow cores with different parameters. The experimental part of this investigation includes testing eight specimens of solid and hollow-core slab models having (2.05 m) length, (0.6 m) width and (25 cm) thickness under two monotonic line loads. Load versus deflection was recorded during test at mid span and under load. Numerically, the finite element method is used to study the behavior of these reinforced concrete slabs by using ANSYS computer program. The specimens of slab models are modeled by using (SOLID65) element to represent concrete slabs and (LINK180) element to represent the steel bars as discrete axial members between concrete nodes. The finite element analysis has showed good agreement with the experimental results with difference of (4.71%-8.68%) in ultimate loads. A parametric study have been carried out by using ANSYS program to investigate the effects of concrete compressive strength, size and shape of core, type of applied load and effect of removing top steel reinforcement.