PROPOSAL FOR CHANGES TO THE BASIS FOR THE DESIGN OF SLABS.

This report reviews a number of illogicalities which have developed in the sections of British Codes dealing with the design of reinforced concrete slabs. It is proposed that these inconsistencies can be resolved if slabs are designed for the single loading case of all spans or panels carrying their full design load simultaneously. In some circumstances, this leads to much less conservative designs than are currently permitted and the majority of the report is concerned with justifying this proposal. To this end, studies of the loading on multi-span structures are presented together with discussion of the ultimate load behavior of slab systems.