Design of Exposed Ground

Supported and Suspended Slabs

Design & Details
That Impact Serviceability
Rick Smith
President
Structural Services, Inc
Richardson, Texas

My Work Experience

January 1987

December 1987

Boremco Specialty Chemicals

Regional Sales Manager for Might 150 Superplasticizer

May 1988 - 2000

Graduated Oklahoma State University with BS in Construction Management

Technology

January 1988

My First World of Concrete, Houston, TX Astrohall / Astrodome

Ribtec
Carbon Steel Sales Manager
Novocon / SI Concrete Systems
Regional Sales Manager, Director of Technical Services

June 2000 April 2014

Structural Services Inc.

Owner Expectations

Well finished, blemish free sheen

Flat (FF 35 to 50); Level (FL 25 to 35)
Crack free (0 to 3% of panels cracked)

No relative movement at joints

Excluding Pour Backs!

Cushion Tire - < 0.020 differential movement under cross
traffic
Pallet Riders, Reach Trucks - < 0.010

Low maintenance
No problems which compromise serviceability for
the intended uses

Occupant / Tenant
Expectations

Generally, less than the foregoing, except:

Serviceability for the intended uses.

Serviceability
A serviceable slab is typically
defined by reference to only the
exposed surface: a flat, level, dense
finished surface with stable joints
and limited cracking..capable of
carrying the applied loading by
bearing on the ground.

Major Concerns

High (and low!) shrinkage mix (< 0.05% <)

Cracking
Joint Stability
Curling
Dominant Joints
Load transfer

Surface Delamination
Aggregate Shadowing and Mortar Flaking
Flatness and Levelness
Moisture related problems

Risks vs. Costs

High shrinkage mixes should not be accepted

Low shrinkage mixes must be finishable; avoid
surface flaking
Joint Stability - Excessive shrinkage and/or
dominant joints may lead to loss of load transfer
and rapid joint deterioration. Consider light
reinforcing (0.10%) continuous thru contraction
joints or dowels in all joints
Moisture related problems are avoided or at
least attenuated by the presence of a vapor
retarding sheet under the slab

BREAK THE NEWS!

Engineering / Construction
Realities

Wide bay placements will always have some nonuniform set and color
Floor flatness and levelness will always decay in
time due to curling
Crack widths

Slab-on-Ground < 0.030 (30 MILS)

Suspended / Structural Slabs 0.015 0.010 (15 MILS 10
MILS)

Most Owners do not have a maintenance budget

Construction schedules do not permit the slab to
achieve specified MVERs or Relative Humidity

Design Philosophy

Slabs-on-ground are not structural elements.

SOG are designed as plain, unreinforced concrete
elements using structural engineering principals.
Reinforcement does not impact slab thickness
SOG are designed for a safety factor against cracking
at the extreme fiber in tension.
First mode of failure should be flexure.
Structural slabs

Limit stress in reinforcement to approximately 20-ksi.

Check area of steel for serviceability

Cracking
Cracking

in slabs on ground is
primarily caused by tension due to
restraint to movement at structural and
non-structural penetrations, stresses
due to curling and subgrade restraint.
Cracking due to superimposed loads is
quite unusual.

Key Reference Documents

ACI 360R-10

ACI 302.1R-04

Concrete Floor and Slab Construction

ACI 302.2R-06

Design of Slabs on Grade

Guide for Concrete Slabs that Receive Moisture-Sensitive

Flooring Materials

ACI 223R-10

Shrinkage Compensating Concrete

Post-Tensioning Manual
ACI 301-10

ACI 117

Specifications for Structural Concrete

Tolerances

Context
ACI 302 and 360 are guidelines which
both include the statement; Reference
to this document shall not be made
in contract documents.
ACI 301 is a prescriptive specification
incorporated into the building code and
referenced in the contract documents

PRESCRIPTIVE
REQUIREMENTS

ACI 301-10 Specification for

Structural Concrete;
Section 11, Industrial Floor Slabs

Must be designated such

Minimum thickness 6
Minimum 4 aggregate base
Minimum fc = 3,500 psi
Maximum 6 slump
Maximum air content 3%
Capable of hard trowel finish
Do not use silicate based surface densifier for curing

So what are the considerations for the

design and construction of a slab
on ground?

Loads
(analysis considers each independently)

Distributed

(SF 1.4 to 2.)

Rack storage (SF (1.4?) 1.7 to 2.)
Lift truck; wheeled traffic (SF 1.7 to
2.+)
Speculative

construction?

Placed and Designed to Stay

Flat and Level

Transitions / Handoffs

Get It On the Drawings!

Owner initiated criteria

Anticipated loads, traffic

Surface finish expected
Flatness and levelness requirements

Will decay impact operations?

Tolerance for cracks (ACI 3%?)

Joint stability and maintenance, (joint filler
serviced after one year?)
General maintenance, good housekeeping

Surface Finish and Tolerance

Issues: can we get Div. 9
problems out of Div. 3?
Slab

moisture emissivity or RH may not

comply with finish flooring requirements.

Concrete

and finish flooring surface

flatness requirements use different
tolerance systems. Finish flooring may
require 1/8 in 10, i.e. superflat.

Local market, site specific,

actual or imputed criteria

Geotechnical considerations

Expansive / Collapsing Soils

Characteristics of coarse and fine aggregates

Concrete mix sources
Flatwork subcontractor capabilities
Available equipment; laser screeds, pan floats,
early entry dry cutting saws
Real estate market reality check

What else?

Time of year that construction will occur

Temperature and humidity variations.
Cold weather protection

Tiltwall project

Crane on slab to erect steel

Precast panels
Getting water out of building
CO / CO2

Heaving

Open Air Warehouse

Slab Sweating

Joint Filler Extrusion

ANATOMY OF A FLOOR SLAB

Concrete Slab on Ground

Contraction Joint
aka - Control Joint

Construction Joint
aka - Formed joint

Isolation Joint
aka - Expansion joint

Concrete
Vapor Retarder
Subgrade

Subbase

Concrete Slab on Ground

Contraction Joint
aka - Control Joint
Random Crack
Concrete
Vapor Retarder
Subgrade

Subbase

Construction Joint
aka - Formed joint

Isolation Joint
aka - Expansion joint

Concrete Slab on Ground

Contraction Joint
aka - Control Joint

Construction Joint
aka - Formed joint

Isolation Joint
aka - Expansion joint

Concrete
Vapor Retarder
Subgrade

Subbase

Concrete Slab on Ground

Dowel Basket
Contraction Joint
aka - Control Joint
Random Crack
Concrete

Smooth Dowel
Plate Dowel
Construction Joint
aka - Formed joint

Isolation Joint
aka - Expansion joint

Concrete Slab on Ground

Fiber
Deformed Reinforcement
Reinforcement

Smooth Dowel
Plate Dowel

Random Crack
Concrete

Concrete Slab on Ground

Deformed
Reinforcement

Concrete

Smooth
Dowel
Deformed
Plate Dowel
Reinforcement

Concrete Slab on Ground

Joint Filler
Semi Rigid
Semi Soft

Specified
Flatness (FF)
Levelness (FL)
Spectral Gloss

Curing Compound
Bond Breaker
Sealer
Chemical Densifier
Mineral or Metallic Shake

Concrete

Reinforcement for Slabs can be

Confusing
ACI 318

ACI 318

ACI 360
The

continuation of a small percentage

of deformed reinforcement (0.1% of the
slab cross sectional area) through
sawcut contraction joints in
combination with joint spacings (Fig.
6.6), has been used successfully by
some designers to provide loadtransfer capability without using
dowels.

Recommended Joint Spacing

How Much Reinforcement

ACI 360

ACI 360

As a general rule, the

continuation of larger percentages
of deformed reinforcing bars
should not be used across sawcut
contraction joints or construction
joints because they restrain joints
from opening as the slab shrinks
during drying, and this increases
the probability of out-of-joint
random cracking

To eliminate sawcut contraction

joints, a continuous amount of
reinforcement with a minimum
steel ratio of 0.5% of the slab
cross-sectional area in the
direction where the contraction
joints are eliminated is
recommended.

More Steel is Not Better

THERE IS NO PERFECT
DESIGN

52

Unreinforced

Strategically Reinforced

55

Nominally Reinforced

Dominant Joints

Nosing Repairs

Installing Slip Dowels

59

Basket Runners & Wire Mesh

60

Hybrid
Reinforced with Baskets

All Too Common!

#4s @ 16,18, 24, etc

63

Reinforced for Crack Width

Control

65

66

Cracking Expectations

Reentrant Corner Bars

Doors

Design Schools for

Serviceability

Grids, Ghosting, Cracks

Composite Decks
ANSI & SDI

ANSI & SDI

Reinforcement:

Neither welded wire fabric or

fibers will prevent cracking;
however, they have been shown
to do a good job of crack control.
The welded wire fabric must be
placed near the top of the slab
[3/4 to 1 inch cover) at supports
and draped toward the center of
the deck span. If a welded wire
fabric is used with a steel area
given by the above formula, it will
not be sufficient as the total
negative reinforcement.

Temperature and shrinkage

reinforcement, consisting of
welded wire fabric or reinforcing
bars, shall have a minimum area
of 0.075%, but shall not be less
than the area provided by 6x6W1.4 x W1.4 welded wire fabric.

Composite Decks Reinforced

for Serviceability / Polishing

Composite Decks Reinforced

for Serviceability / Polishing

Fingers?

Suspended Slabs

Reentrant Corners

Columns

Thank You!

Any Questions?

Rick Smith
rsmith@ssiteam.com
Structural Services, Inc.
Richardson, TX