للكاتب
Sameh. El-Refaie
Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at El-Mataria,
Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Standard codes of practice give minimum and maximum limits for concrete and steel reinforcement
dimensions in order to satisfy serviceability and ultimate limits. However, there exist optimum
dimensions for concrete and steel reinforcement that not only satisfy the code provisions but also they
give minimum cost of a structure. The main aim of this research is to provide the design engineer with
guidance in the form of tables and simple equations to calculate the optimum slab thickness and
corresponding steel reinforcement ratio for square simply supported solid slabs. A computer program
using FORTRAN language is developed and devoted for design of proposed slabs according to
BS8110 Standard code of practice. The influence of span length, bar diameter and bar spacing on slab
thickness and area of steel reinforcement is investigated. Slab thickness determined from the span /
effective depth ratio given in the code is found to represent adequately the optimum thickness. Using
the optimization technique, the cost of concrete can be decreased to more than 10% whilst that in steel
may be reduced to 75%.