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 CONCRETE Advice
CONCRETE ADVICE No. 13

Cracking in composite/
corrugated metal decking
floor slabs

Deryk Simpson, BSc CEng MICE FCS

Licensed copy: unielon, , 20/01/2010, Uncontrolled Copy, ®The Concrete Society

Composite concrete/profiled steel sheet slabs are a popular form of construction

for suspended floor slabs as they are simple and economical to design and con-
struct. Generally they are found to be satisfactory in service. However, visible
cracking is one aspect that occasionally causes problems and complaints from
building occupiers. As the majority of composite floors are covered (by finishes,
flooring or a raised computer floor) cracking is generally not readily visible.
Sometimes the floor use dictates that the surface of the composite slab is left
uncovered, e.g. power trowelled floor finishes. Here that cracking can be an issue.
This document outlines the causes of the cracking and steps that should be taken
to minimise it.

1 Causes of cracking the metal decking tensile strains may

Composite decks are normally designed
as simply supported slabs with the
profiled sheet itself providing the nec-
essary structural reinforcement in the
slab. In heavily loaded floors additional
bottom reinforcement is sometimes used.
Generally only light top reinforcement is
provided, typically 0.1% of the gross
cross sectional area. Unfortunately this
relatively low percentage of rein-
forcement may not adequately control
cracking, which occurs mainly due to two
mechanisms.
• Hogging moments over supporting
beams. These moments cause cracks
approximately over the line of the
beams.
• Differencial drying shrinkage. Com-
posite slabs can dry from one face only
and so a moisture gradient is
developed in the slab. As usually any
joints are at wide centres and the
concrete slab cannot curl as it is tied to
be generated in the top of the slab due
to restrained warping.
• Restrained drying shrinkage. The
profiled steel sheet provides a high
level of restraint to the overall con-
traction of the concrete. This tends to
produce tension in the slab, which can
lead to cracking. The tension gen-
erated by restrained contraction will
depend on the layout of the slab and
any joints.
All three mechanisms contribute to the
tension in the concrete slab over the sup-
porting beams, whereas only two mech-
anisms contribute to tension in the
middle of slab panels. Thus there is a
greater risk of cracking over the sup-
porting beams than in mid panel. In
addition, the presence of shear con-
nectors can increase the risk of cracking
because of local stress concentrations.
Therefore with composite slabs there will
always be a very high risk that cracking
will occur over some or all of the sup-
porting beams. There is also some risk
that cracking may occur in floor panels
 between beams. In practice the
cracking in the slab panels is often
perpendicular to the supporting
beams. It has been found that
cracking in composite slabs may
not occur for several months after
construction and that further
cracking may continue to occur for
sometime as the slab continues to
dry out.
Cracking, particularly that over the
supporting beams, may not be ade-
quately controlled by the light mesh
Licensed copy: unielon, , 20/01/2010, Uncontrolled Copy, ®The Concrete Society
regular crack control joints) but
there are measures that can be
adopted to reduce the visual effects
and improve the floor's service-
ability:
1. Provide saw cuts over the centre
line of the beams. This will
induce a crack at the saw cut, sig-
nificantly reducing the risk of a
random crack occurring. A saw
cut usually looks neater, and gen-
erally performs better under
traffic, than a crack. It can be
filled with a suitable sealant if
but will control any cracks that
do occur. Fine cracks are likely
to be less noticeable and perform
better under traffic than wide
cracks. The higher the rein-
forcement percentage, the
smaller the crack width and
spacing. One problem with this
approach is that it may change
the way the slab works struc-
turally. For example, more rein-
forcement will mean that more
hogging moment over supports
can be generated and some sup-
porting beams could attract more

required. Care is needed if saw

usually provided. The cracking has
no structural significance, but its
appearance and the possibility of
crack edge breakdown under traffic
are normally perceived as being
problems.
2 Measures to reduce
cracking
The designers of composite slabs
must remember that there will be a
high risk of cracking. Nothing can
be done to eliminate the risk, and
thus clients/building users should be
made aware that cracks are likely. A
power trowelled composite slab will
not remain virtually crack-free (like
a well-designed and constructed
ground bearing slab which has
loading.
cuts are introduced to ensure that
reinforcement and/or shear studs
3 Summary
are not cut by the sawing
operation. Sufficient top rein-
forcement is needed to control
any cracks to ensure satisfactory
composite action with any shear In summary, there is a high risk that
stubs present cracking will occur in composite
slabs. This has no structural signif-
2 In addition to (1), saw cuts or
icance but may affect the
joints in the slab perpendicular to
appearance and serviceability of
the beams at centres say about
exposed floor surfaces. The risk of
1.5 times the beam spacing could
cracking cannot be eliminated.
be provided. This should induce
However, there are measures that
the drying shrinkage cracking at
can be adopted to control the
these locations. This option
cracking and reduce its impact on
could give a lot of saw cuts or
appearance and serviceability. Con-
joints.
siderations of cost, practicability
3. Provide a significantly higher and client preferences will deter-
percentage of top reinforcement. mine the choice of measures to use.
This will not eliminate cracking

FURTHER READING AND ADVICE

Further Reading

THE CONCRETE SOCIETY, Non-structural cracks in concrete, Technical Report 22 3rd edition, The Concrete Society,
Camberley. 1992

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Issued: February 2006

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