Page 9 - Reinforced concrete voided slabs subjected to gravity and seismic actions

9PrefaceNever before in recent times have we seen such a proliferation, particularly at the inter- national level, of designs for buildings with unusual, if not “daring”, architectural styles involving highly complex, load-bearing structural systems.Within this context, the voided slab, with its numerous technical advantages, (minimum thickness, broad spans, irregular array of pillars both in plan view and vertical view, quality of the surface finish, levelness of the soffit, absence of lowered beams, flexible system capable of “tolerating” significant modifications, elevated on-site production, overcoming organisational and logistical problems on the work site, etc.) offers solu- tions that are truly appreciated by the design engineer.These days, the two-way load-bearing voided slabs, produced completely on site, are definitely supported by the presence of very effective tools for modelling and calcula- tion, modern formwork systems (which have reduced the high cost associated with the positioning and subsequent withdrawal of the provisional scaffolding) and the availabi- lity of U-Boot Beton® technology whose range of formworks facilitates the dimensio- ning of any horizontal structure.Although there are many recognised advantages to the voided slab, we have come to realise that the lack of familiarity on the part of engineers with the two-way slab scheme sometimes makes it difficult to adopt this solution.It should then come as no surprise that we first wish to direct our thanks specifically to those professionals who, with their doubts, their questions and their critical analysis, have stimulated us to undertake this work. We realised how important it was to give cle- ar, precise answers, but above and beyond that, to be able to “speak in facts” supported by a major experimental testing campaign.Special thanks obviously go to Prof D. Coronelli and the engineers L. Martinelli and F. Foti who comprised the team from the Politecnico di Milano through which the decision was made to address the issue in an authoritative, rigorous and independent manner as an endeavour to respond to the doubts that were raised. Thanks to their work, an attempt was made to fill in some of the voids in the technical literature, or at least provide clari- fication on a scientific and experimental basis, and increase the confidence of the design engineer in this valuable type of structure.Final thanks, certainly no less important, go out to the engineers and staff of Daliform Group who helped make this project possible.Dott. Antimo Riccardo Albertini President, Daliform Group S.r.l.up © Dalifoform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifoform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifoform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifoform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifo form Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grou© Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifo iform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifo form Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Group © Dalifoform Group © Daliform Group © Daliform Grouup © Daliform Group © Dalif form Grou