(Pan & Moehle, 1988) investigated the behavior of reinforced concrete flat plates under
both lateral and gravity loading, including biaxial effects. Their study has focused
mainly on interior slab-column connections and lateral drift. Through dual strategy, a
nonlinear dynamic analysis on 5-story structures compared to experimental results,
which have investigated 5-slab-column sub-assemblages that are exposed to uniaxial
and biaxial lateral loading. These sub-assemblages are scaled models (60% of full scale
of the analyzed structure) of slab-column connections tested separately. The models
were prepared by taking cuts at inflection points that were assumed to be at column
mid-heights and at slab mid-spans. Their results showed that lateral drift capacity
decreases with increasing gravity load, while biaxial lateral loading reduces the lateral
stiffness, strength, and available drift capacity of reinforced concrete slab-column
connections. Additionally, the results revealed that slab-column connections have a
critical role in the overall structural performance of the system. They concluded that,
in order to prevent progressive collapse in the event of a connection shear failure,
continuous bottom-slab reinforcement should be placed directly over columns.
On the other hand, more exploring the response of flat slab frames for lateral loading
and inspecting the research needs in this area, (Coronelli et al., 2020) established a
critical review on the experimental research regarding the seismic response of
reinforced concrete flat slab frames. The study categorized flat slabs into three groups:
isolated slab-column connections, a second with single flat slab floors, and a third with
flat slab multi-story frames with quasi-static or dynamic shaking table tests. Almost all
tests on single and multi-story reinforced concrete flat slab frames primarily employed
specimens scaled to 30-50% of the full scale of the prototype structures. All tests (a
total of five different studies and seven tests on single and multi-story flat slab frames)
showed a non-linear ultimate drifts ranging from 2.5 % up to 6 %. The response has
been characterized by a progressive spreading of damage and a sequence of failures in
the different connections. They highlighted that there were three studies, with seismic
resistant walls or frames, in which the scaled slab systems had been considered “nonparticipating” in the lateral resistance. The specimen systems that were designed for
seismic actions showed better performance compared to the former.
Expanding on this, however, including a third form of the slab systems to be studied,
(Kodali et al., 2015) assessed the seismic behavior of flat slab, solid slab, and alternate
flat slab-beam slab systems in high-rise structures. The lastly mentioned system is a
hybrid structural system that combines flat slabs and solid slabs in an alternating
pattern(placement) throughout the building height. With shear walls as the main lateral
resistance provider, structures of 31-story were investigated under different load
conditions in severe seismic zones. They found that the structure with flat slabs
exhibited higher story drift compared to solid slabs leading to increased column
moments, a result that aligns with (Misini et al., 2014) findings. Additionally, and
consistent with (R.P. Apostolska et al., 2008) study, they observed that flat slab
structure is more flexible, with lower base shear than solid slab structure, while the
alternate flat slab-beam structure showed intermediate behavior in terms of stiffness
and displacements between flat and solid slabs.
…………………………………………………………………….
These sub-assemblages are scaled models (60% of full scale of the analyzed
structure) of slab-column connections tested separately. The models were prepared by
taking cuts at inflection points that were assumed to be at column mid-heights and at
slab mid-spans.
On the other hand, more exploring the response of flat slab frames for lateral loading
and inspecting the research needs in this area, (Coronelli et al., 2020) established a
critical review on the experimental research regarding the seismic response of
reinforced concrete flat slab frames. The study categorized flat slabs into three groups:
isolated slab-column connections, a second with single flat slab floors, and a third with
flat slab multi-story frames with quasi-static or dynamic shaking table tests. Almost all
tests on single and multi-story reinforced concrete flat slab frames primarily employed
specimens scaled to 30-50% of the full scale of the prototype structures. All tests (a
total of five different studies and seven tests on single and multi-story flat slab frames)
showed a non-linear ultimate drifts ranging from 2.5 % up to 6 %. The response has
been characterized by a progressive spreading of damage and a sequence of failures in
the different connections. They highlighted that there were three studies, with seismic
resistant walls or frames, in which the scaled slab systems had been considered “nonparticipating” in the lateral resistance. The specimen systems that were designed for
seismic actions showed better performance compared to the former.
The lastly mentioned system is a hybrid structural system that combines flat slabs and
solid slabs in an alternating pattern(placement) throughout the building height.