Plastic fibres as the only reinforcement for flat suspended slabs: Parametric study and design considerations

• The influence of the parameters from the constitutive equations on the structural behaviour of the slabs is analysed.
• The existence of a network effect was identified.
• Two geometric coefficients were defined to adapt the σ–ε curve suggested by the EHE.
• The first of them (ψ) considers the favourable orientation of the fibres in slab-type elements.
• The second (ζ) considers the overestimation in the response of the slabs provided by the current σ–ε diagrams.

The use of constitutive equations from the standards to model flat suspended slabs reinforced only with plastic fibres leads to an overestimation of the experimental response of these elements. To address such problem, a parametric study is conducted. In this study, the influence of the parameters from the constitutive equations on the structural behaviour of the slabs is analysed and the ones that provide the best fit with the experimental results are found through a non-linear regression. Based on this analysis, the existence of a network effect was identified and a design philosophy for suspended slabs reinforced only with plastic fibres is proposed. Thereby, this paper represents a meaningful contribution to provide a step towards the development of a rational and design-oriented constitutive model for real-scale hyperstatic slabs-type elements.