Toward a standardized procedure for

hollow-core slab testing

Marco di Prisco and Marco G. L. Lamperti
Department of Structural engineering

Aims of Research
EXPERIMENTAL
INVESTIGATION

EC2 MC '90
LITERATURE

To verify reliability of predictions

To optimize experimental lever arm

To investigate the residual shear capacity

Most critical
Shear Value

Fibre reinforcement quantification to prevent

shear failure
Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental Program 1

Four hollow-core slab types from

30 to 45 cm thickness
Shear and bending test
Real-scale performed tests: 18

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental Program
Distributed
Load-controlled
4PB Stroke-controlled
Bending
Test
set-up
set-up
set-up
4

Bending test set-up:

distribuited load controlled vs.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental Program
Stroke-controlled
Shear Test set-up

4-Point Bending

with flexural cracking

1.5 < < 3.5

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

without flexural cracking

3.5 < < 5.0

Material characterization

Concrete

Cubic specimens (150 mm side)

casted at the same time of slabs
Cores directly extracted from tested
slabs

Steel

Tested according UNI specifications gave resultes 1936 < fptk < 2020 N/mm2

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental Results
Bending tests

The real collapse was not reached in

some cases due to the large midspan deflection obtained

Shear tests

No bond failure was observed

Two different test set-ups were
adopted for only the V35 to induce
shear failure with or without flexural
cracking
After shear crack formation many
test presented a progressive strand
slip

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental Results
Bending Test

Although a flexural collapse did never occurred, because of the high deformability
of hollow-core slabs, closed-loop control allows a better test procedure that can
easily follow structural damage evolution.

200

160

P [kN]

120

80
fr Var30-F1
fr Var30-F2
40

simul. elastica
simulazione
Pcr con fctf=1.05fctm

0
0

40

80

freccia [mm]

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

120

160

Experimental Results
Top-Chord collapse
Shear Test 1

Strand Slip failure

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental Results
Shear Test 2

10

The small load lever arms corresponded to large residual bearing capacities after the
peak load, while larger lever arms caused small residual load capacities.
The higher force value in the chords reduces the shear resistant mechanisms as well
as to the higher elastic strain release in the crack propagation associated to the larger
bending deformation.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Adopted Design Models

Concrete - compression

Concrete - tension

11

Steel - tension

The adopted material models, are suggested from Fib Model Code 90 and EuroCode2.
The moment-curvature relation is derived from a plane-section model.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Adopted Design Models

12

In order to predict the shear loads, both the empirical equations adopted for
cracked and uncracked in flexure cases were computed. According to Walraven
(1982) and FIB, the following equations are here taken into account:

with flexural cracking

without flexural cracking

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Experimental vs.
Theoretical Results

13

The load displacement curves for bending collapse were very well reproduced by
adopting the beam theory.
The cracking moment was calculated by neglecting the tension stiffening and considering
the tensile strength of the concrete.
The shear tests are not equally well reproduced, especially for small shear span. This
result could be mainly related to the not perfectly planar extrados surface of the hollowcore that involves a stiffness reduction.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Discussion of Results

An analysis performed according to

Kanis valley approach highlights a
jump between 3.66 and 4.17 of a/d,
strictly related with the passage
from VRt to VR1 shear resistance.
The 300 mm deep element showed
a border condition for a/d = 4.23.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

14

Discussion of Results

15

By taking into account the residual values an evaluation of steel fibre addition could be
carried out by computing the maximum between the increase of VR1 needed to reach the
ultimate bending moment adopting a load lever arm close to 4, and the increase of the
residual shear capacity when VRt takes place. In this case we could expect that steel fibre
addition stabilizes the crack associated to both VRt and VR1 failures, as recently shown by
Elliott (2002), even if the elastic energy associated to the bending of a real span hollow
core could significantly affect the values investigated.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti

Concluding Remarks

16

The experimental investigation confirmed the predictive relations introduced by

previous authors in the range of 300 450 mm deep hollow core elements.
A closed loop hydraulic jacket, with 1000 kN of maximum load capacity, made
displacement controlled tests possible.
The residual shear capacity of the structures was exploited in order to prevent
brittle failures in these elements.
When the structures were cracked in flexure, the residual values were smaller than
in the case of uncracked structures.
A border value of about a/d = 4 was detected to separate the cracked-in-flexure
cases from the uncracked ones.
The use of steel fibre to prevent brittle failure has to be encouraged, even if it
should be validated on real-size beams, in order to take into account the real elastic
release rate in the crack propagation at failure.

Marco di Prisco and Marco G.L. Lamperti