Experimental investigation on shear capacity of reinforced concrete slabs with plain bars and slabs on elastomeric bearings

• In this series of experiments, 24 tests were carried out on eight specimens.
• Slabs with plain bars have larger shear capacities than with deformed bars.
• The shear capacity of slabs is larger than the shear capacity of beams.
• Slabs on bearings can fail by punching of the bearings.

One-way slabs supported by line supports and reinforced with deformed bars were shown previously to behave differently in (one-way) shear than beams. For the application to existing slab bridges, the influence on the shear capacity of using plain reinforcement bars and of supporting the slab by discrete bearings is investigated. To study these parameters and their influence on the shear capacity, a series of experiments was carried out on continuous one-way slabs (5 m × 2.5 m × 0.3 m), subjected to concentrated loads close to the support line. The results from these experiments are compared to code provisions and a method developed by Regan. These experiments confirm the findings that slabs subjected to concentrated loads close to supports have larger shear capacities than beams.