Title: Shear capacity of hollow-core slabs with concrete-filled cores
Date Published: March - April 2020
Volume: 65
Issue: 2
Page Numbers: 59 - 74
Authors: Matthew R. McDermott and Benjamin Z. Dymond
https://doi.org/10.15554/pcij65.2-03

Click here to view the full article.

Abstract

Precast concrete manufacturers frequently enhance the shear capacity of hollow-core slabs by filling one or more of the cores with concrete in regions where the shear demand exceeds the slab capacity. Although routinely implemented, the core-fill web-shear performance has not been thoroughly studied and can be ambiguous in design. Sixteen experimental web-shear tests were performed on eight 12 in. (304.8 mm) deep hollow-core slabs, each slab tested twice, to investigate how a concrete-filled core augmented the web-shear capacity of the hollow-core slab. Core-fill material was added both immediately following extrusion and following detensioning to consider core-fill timing in regard to web-shear strength. In addition, several core-fill enhancement strategies were implemented and tested to investigate practical methods to potentially improve the core-fill web-shear strength. None of the core-fill enhancement strategies definitively demon­strated an improvement in web-shear capacity beyond the typical core-filled specimen. Rather, bond between the core-fill concrete and hollow-core-slab concrete appeared to be the most important factor for core-fill web-shear strength.