Flexural performance of lightweight reinforced-concrete slabs

Recent advances in high-performance/high-strength lightweight concrete (HP/HSLWC) have had limited application in structural construction because of the lack of design and construction guidelines and concerns about material properties and their impact on performance. Research is needed to address the factors that significantly influence the design, constructability and performance of HSLWC slabs. After reasonable validation with experimental test results of companion slabs, non-linear finite-element analysis was conducted with the aim of providing a better understanding of the effect of concrete compressive strength, ratio of tensile steel reinforcement, ratio of compression steel reinforcement and slab thickness on the performance of the slabs. The results show that the current ACI 318-08 provisions for the serviceability requirements of ultimate strength and maximum deflection are underestimated, although they are adequate for cracking load requirements.