Floor slabs are called horizontal structures that perform the function of interfloor or attic partitions installed between the roof and the last floor of the house. In modern construction, they usually resort to installing concrete floors, while it does not matter how many levels the building has. In this article we will consider the types and sizes of floor slabs that are used most often on construction sites. These products make up the bulk of the products that are manufactured at precast concrete plants.
Design purpose
Bearing structures are made of heavy or light concrete, and reinforce their structure with the help of reinforcement, which gives strength to the products. On the modern market of building materials, all standard types of reinforced concrete slabs are presented, which can be divided into several categories depending on their width, length, weight, and other equally important parameters that affect the main characteristics of the products.
The most common method for classifying concrete panels is to separate them by cross-sectional view. There are also several more distinctive characteristics that we will definitely consider in our article.
Hollow core reinforced concrete panels PC
These are one of the most common varieties of products produced at precast concrete plants, which are equally well suited for the construction of a private and multi-story building. Also, multi-hollow PC products are widely used in the construction of massive industrial buildings, with their help they protect heating mains.
The flat flat surface, which the round hollow concrete panels have, allows you to mount reliable floors between floors that withstand impressive loads. This design is equipped with cavities with sections of various shapes and diameters, which are:
- round;
- oval;
- semicircular.
Technological voids, which are filled with air during the installation process, are in high demand due to this feature, which speaks about the advantages of just such a configuration of blocks. The undeniable advantages of PC include:
- Significant savings in raw materials, which reduces the cost of the finished product.
- High coefficient of thermal and noise insulation, improving the operational characteristics of the building.
- Round hollow panels are an excellent solution for laying communication lines (wires, pipes).
Reinforced concrete structures of this type can be conditionally divided into subgroups, and then we will tell you what round-hollow floors are and by what signs they can be attributed to a particular subgroup. This information will be important for the correct choice of material depending on the technological requirements of construction.
The slabs differ in the installation method: 1 PCT has three supporting sides, while 1 PKK can be laid on all four sides.
It is also necessary to pay attention to the size of internal voids - the smaller the diameter of the holes, the more durable and stronger the round hollow panels. For example, samples 2PKT and 1 PKK have a similar width, thickness, length and number of supporting sides, however, in the first case, the diameter of the hollow holes is 140 mm, and in the second - 159 mm.
As for the strength of products manufactured by factories, its performance is directly affected by the thickness, which averages 22 cm. There are more massive panels with a thickness of 30 cm, and when pouring lightweight samples, this parameter is observed within 16 cm, while most cases use lightweight concrete.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the bearing capacity of PC products. For the most part, multi-hollow PC ceilings, according to generally accepted standards, withstand a load of 800 kg / m2. For the construction of massive industrial buildings, slabs made of stressed concrete are used, this parameter is increased to a design value of 1200-1250 kg / m2. The design load is the weight exceeding the same value of the product itself.
Manufacturers produce reinforced concrete panels of standard sizes, but sometimes the parameters can vary significantly. The length of the PC can vary in the range of 1.5 m - 1.6 m, and their width is 1 m, 1.2 m, 1.5 m and 1.8 m. The lightest and smallest ceilings weigh less than half a ton, while the most massive and heavy samples weigh 4,000 kg.
Round hollow structures are very convenient to use, because the developer always has the opportunity to select the material of the required size, and this is another secret of the popularity of this product. Having familiarized yourself with the most common PC products, which include hollow core slabs, having examined their types and sizes, we suggest switching to other products of the same purpose.
Prefabricated ribbed (U-shaped) panels
These reinforced concrete structures got their name due to their special configuration with two longitudinal stiffeners, and they are used in the construction of non-residential premises and as load-bearing elements for laying heating centers and water supply networks. To strengthen the reinforced concrete products at the stage of their pouring, reinforcement is carried out, which, coupled with a special shape, leads to the saving of raw materials, gives them special strength and gives them resistance to bending. They are not accepted to be installed as jumpers between floors for a residential building, since here you will have to face an unaesthetic ceiling, which is quite difficult to provide with communications and sheathe lining. There are also subspecies here, we will consider what differences are in the products within the same group.
The first and main distinguishing feature of U-shaped structures is their size, or rather, in terms of height, which is 30 or 40 cm. In the first case, we are faced with products that are used in the construction of public buildings and as jumpers between the upper floor of the house and the attic. For massive large-sized commercial and industrial buildings, slabs with a height of 40 cm are usually chosen. The width of the ribbed floors can be 1.5 or 3 m (for stronger samples), and their weight ranges from 1.5 to 3 tons (in rare cases up to 7 t). Prefabricated ribbed concrete slabs are characterized by the following length indicators:
- 6 m
- 12 m
- 18 m (rarely).
Solid finishing structures
If it is necessary to obtain a particularly strong overlap between the floors of the house, resort to the help of solid jumpers, since they easily withstand a load of 1000-3000 kgf / m2, and they are used mainly for the installation of multi-storey buildings.
Such products have disadvantages, because their weight for relatively small dimensions is quite impressive: standard samples weigh from 600 kg to 1500 kg. Also, their indicators of thermal and noise insulation are rather weak, which does not allow them to compete adequately with hollow PC samples. The length of this type of panels is from 1.8 m to 5 m, and the thickness is 12 or 16 cm.
Monolithic constructions
The previous and given types of panels have the same scope and are installed where there is a need to create a strong building that can withstand overloads. Such a partition does not contain cavities and is created directly on the construction site according to the available accurate calculations, therefore it can take any configuration and dimensions limited only by the area of the constructed object.
In the article we described in detail what types of floor panels there are, what standard sizes they have and where they are used most often, so you can choose the necessary products for the upcoming construction and get a durable, durable structure that can last you at least a century.