Forces in the vicinity of edge columns in flat-slab floors

Synopsis Tests were carried out on four half-size models of flat-slab floors. Each model represented two panels at the edge of a building. They were tested under simulated uniformly distributed load with the object of investigating the distribution of moments and shears on the three faces of an edge column. The three force components at the pin support at the foot of the test column were measured; strain gauges were also attached to the reinforcement. From these measurements, expressions are developed which predict what proportions of the total panel moment and shear enter the column directly as bending and shear at the column face. The remainder enters via the spandrel beam or spandrel-strip. Statics then enables the torsion, shear and bending in the spandrel to be calculated,