Prestressed Concrete Design, 1/e

Chapter 12

Slabs

12.1 Introduction

Prestressed concrete slabs are widely used as floors in structures like warehouses, shopping centres, offices, apartments etc. The deflection of the slab which governs the thickness is better controlled in prestressed concrete slabs. By properly choosing the amount of prestress, the designer can in fact eliminate deflection. Thus more slender and crack-free slab systems are possible by using prestressed concrete.

For design purposes, it is necessary to distinguish slabs as one-way slabs and two-way slabs. A one-way slab acts like a wide beam with predominant bending in one direction. Hence in these slabs, the main reinforcement is placed in this direction and secondary reinforcement is provided in the other ...