slab systems

Flat Slabs
Load Path: Here
Information to provide in scheme design:
Constant thickness of flat slab
Thickness of drop panels, if required. These drop panels serve as thickened section
surrounding columns to provide additional shear strength at the ends of the columns.

Clear floor height

Reasons to use this slab type:

Capabilities
Support directly by and transfer loads directly to columns
Provides higher headroom due to unobstructed ceilings and lack of beams

Lack of beams that can otherwise interfere with light and air flow

Provides robustness

Provides space for partition wall placement

Flat soffit decreases concrete spalling, decreasing maintenance cost

Accommodates voids for service installation and distribution

Absent of sharp corners which increases fire resistance and safety protection

Adequate for resistance to heat, sound, vibration, and acoustics

Construction
Structural design provides repetitive construction sequence of components which speeds
up schedule and decreases cost of construction
Uses standardized and simple formworks, reinforcement placement, and shuttering
methods that speed up construction
Advantages over other slabs:
Flat Slab vs Beam Slab
Flat slabs provide a more aesthetic appearance due to unobstructed ceilings and lack of
beams which show beam underside
Beam slabs require more labor for shuttering and complicated reinforcement positioning

In Beam Slabs, the penetrations through downstand beams may affect the strength of the
beams. The size and location of slab openings will also be limited due to limited openings
for services and floor to floor openings.

Disadvantages
Need to design to suit concentrated loads and partitions
Less flexibility for openings. Trimming beams are needed around openings for support of
slab.

Flat slabs are larger in thickness so the structure will be heavier. This will incur a higher
cost for the amount of concrete and steel reinforcement needed for the foundation.

Not a lot of stiffness provided for wind resistance If there are no core walls

Can only utilize a limited span range

In your Detail Designed Calculations, you will need to put more emphasize on calculations
and check on punching shear and deflection, if flat slabs are used.

Beam Slabs
Load Path: Here
Information to provide in scheme design:
Thickness of slab spanning in one direction
Size of secondary and primary beams

Clear floor height

Reasons to use this slab type:

Capabilities
Flexible for future additional and alteration designs
Accommodates heavy utility systems and other loading

Not a lot of maintenance cost needed

Accommodates slab openings for services installation and distribution

Strong resistance to sound, fire, vibration, and heat

Flat soffit decreases concrete spalling

Provides robustness

Accommodates design for irregular grid lines and different shapes of buildings

Construction

Repetitive construction of components, which decreases the learning curve, construction

cost, and construction schedule
Local experience of construction of beam slabs

Advantages over other slabs:

Beam Slab vs Flat Slab
Beam slabs are more common, making them more cost and time efficient
Beam slabs can provide longer spans

Beams slabs can accommodate slab openings and future alteration in design

Beam slabs can be designed for irregular grid lines and different shapes of buildings

The structures in flat slabs are heavier than those of beam slabs, so beam slabs are less
expensive due to less cost in materials used for foundation

In Flat Slabs, not a lot of stiffness provided for wind resistance if there are no core walls

Beam Slab vs Ribbed Slab and Waffle Slab

Beam slabs uses a more common formwork that that of ribbed/waffle slabs, which saves
time and cost
Disadvantages
Less flexibility with size and location of slab openings due to limitations on penetrations
Larger structural depth which requires construction of a heavy foundation at times

More labor needed for complicated reinforcement positioning for downstand beams

Penetrations through beams will affect beam strength and clash and placement issues
with reinforcement in beams

Wall Slabs
Load Path: Here
Information to provide in scheme design:
Thickness of slab
Thickness of load bearing walls that support slab

Distance between load bearing walls

Clear floor height

Reasons to use this slab type:

Capabilities
Uses partition walls as structural elements not columns, which makes structure more
economical due to less materials used

Higher headroom are then produced from this wall type since space for beams are not
needed

Good lateral action in both directions provided by core walls

Flat soffit of slabs reduces concrete spalling so not a lot of need for maintenance

No concern for the reduction of beam strengths since beams are not needed

Not a lot of maintenance cost needed

Suitable for irregular grids and structural shapes

Provides limits to deflection

Provides robustness

Accommodates slab openings for service routing

Construction
Uses standardized formworks, the simplest method of reinforcement placement, and
shuttering
Repetition of component construction
Advantages over other slabs:
Wall Slab vs Ribbed Slab or Waffle Slab
Wall slabs use standardized formworks, the simplest method of reinforcement placement,
and shuttering to reduce construction time and effort
More contractor experience in building wall slabs so not a lot of technical issues will
occur
Wall Slab vs Flat Slab
More contractor experience in building wall slabs
Wall slabs accommodate more slab openings for installation of services and for floor to
floor openings

Wall slabs offer minimum thicknesses that are suitable for large ceiling voids for service
installation and routing

Wall slabs provide more lateral wind resistance due to its rigid walls

Walls provide better sound and vibration insulation than columns

Flat slabs need heavy reinforcement, which can increase material cost and congest
reinforcement placement.

Wall Slab vs Beam Slab

Wall slabs provide higher headroom since space for beams are not needed.
Wall slabs provide more lateral wind resistance due to its rigid walls

It is more economical to use partition walls as structural elements.

Wall slabs use standardized formworks to reduce construction time and to increase
simplicity of construction processes

In Beam Slabs, beam strengths will reduce due to penetrations through downstand beams
for service installations and there will be clashes in reinforcement placements

Because of the beams in the Beam Slab structure, construction will be more complicated
and time consuming because more reinforcement arrangement design and labor force
would be needed.

Disadvantages
Construction is only inexpensive for regular spaced walls
Wall slabs are not flexible for large span concentrated loads

Structural walls are not as accommodating for service installations

Walls need to be a certain thickness for efficient reinforcement placement

The fixed layout for structural walls do not give a lot of flexibility for architectural design
and planning purposes

Ribbed Slabs
Load Path: Here
Information to provide in scheme design:
Statement that the design is a one way ribbed slab
Thickness of topping on top of slab

Depth of ribs, which are small downstand beams, and distance from center to center

Size of flat beams

Clear floor height

Reasons to use this slab type:

Capabilities
Aesthetically pleasing due to regular patterns induced by ribbed slab and ceiling shape on
the underside
Accommodates for floor penetrations, service installations, and high headrooms in one
direction

Decreases the overall self weight of slabs, but at the same time, has strength and stiffness
to limit deflection

Provides robustness

Standardized fabric glass formworks or lightweight formers on formworks can be used to

decrease construction time and effort

Parallel spans can accommodate for good service routing arrangements

Appropriate for long spans

Disadvantages:
Difficult to design and construct partition walls underneath ribbed slabs
Difficult to detail and position reinforcements in ribbed slabs

Not suitable for heavy and concentrated loads due to small shear capacity of ribs

Difficult to construct structures with irregular shapes

More finishes work required for large surface area of the structure

Service penetrations through ribbed beams decreases beam strength and will lead to
reinforcement congestion

Long construction time for formwork construction due to void formers

Standard formwork used is expensive for low-rise structures

Waffle Slabs
Load Path: Here
Waffle Slabs consist of coffers, or shaped voids, in soffits of slabs.
Information to provide in scheme design:
2-way waffle slab
Thickness of topping

Depth of ribs and distance of ribs from center to center

Size of flat beams

Clear floor height

Reasons to use this slab type:

Capabilities
Suitable for long spans
Voids can reduce the self-weight of slab

Accommodates space for services installation and distribution through slab openings

Flat beams can provide lateral resistance for wind loads

Provides robustness

Provides limited deflections

General aesthetics

Standardized formworks can be used to reduce construction time and effort

Disadvantages
Aesthetics of underside of slabs is dependent on workmanship
Service penetrations through rib beams will decrease their inherent strength and stiffness
and can lead to reinforcement congestion within the beams

Long construction time needed to construct void formers and reinforcement placement

No stiffness or lateral system to resist lateral wind loads when there are no core walls in
the design

Standard formworks used can be quite expensive for low-rise structures

More finishes work required for structures of large surface areas