An experimental investigation of steel-free deck slabs

The steel-free deck slab developed in Canada used straps as a confinement system and relied on the stiffness of this confinement system rather than its strength. In this paper, a new approach, using the strength of a confinement system comprising unbonded prestressed bars, was investigated. In addition, the effect of the concrete strength and the steel ratio of the confinement system was examined. Seven large-scale one-way steel-free deck slabs were built using normal- and high-strength concrete, prestressed to different levels, and statically tested up to failure. The overall behaviour of the slabs was similar to that of slabs confined by straps. Cracking strength was not considerably enhanced. The slabs failed in punching shear mode with high loads. The new approach was not able to overcome the problem of the longitudinal crack, which developed in the tested slabs and reportedly appeared in all the steel-free slabs built or tested previously in Canada. Prestressing had a definite effect, however, on delaying the occurrence of this longitudinal crack, thereby enhancing serviceability. The paper recommends that the serviceability limit state of the steel-free slabs would be better assessed by the occurrence of the longitudinal crack, even though the ultimate capacity of the slabs is high.Key words: arch action, cracking, external prestressing, high-strength concrete, punching shear, steel-free deck slab.