Structural performance of SFRC slab-on-grade supported on elastic spring system Available to Purchase

Slabs-on-grades (SOGs) reinforced with 20, 30 and 40 kg/m³ of steel fibres and supported on an elastic spring system (S25H4) were tested under concentric loading conditions. The S25H4 system, which contained 25 elastic springs and four hinges to simulate Winkler-type soil reactions, was intended to solve problems observed in other subgrade systems used in SOG experiments. Tests showed that the S25H4 system could reproduce the flexural behaviour of a slab supported on soil by an appropriate distribution of moments along the yield lines. A theoretical model was also developed, based on yield line theory, to predict the flexural strength of a SOG supported on the S25H4 system. From comparisons between the model predictions and test results, better predictions were obtained with the equivalent flexural tensile strength incorporating the effect of slab thickness and the rectangular stress blocks in a section determined from sectional equilibrium.