The ultimate flexural strength of reinforced concrete rafts

Summary A description is given of an experimental and analytical investigation into the flexural strength of reinforced concrete rafts. In conformity wuh the concepts of soil mechanics, the contact pressure is generalized by paraboloids. The structural analysis is based on the yield-line theory. Some solutions based on lower bound technique are shown to give identical values for the collapse load. The magnitude of the collapse load for a rectangular raft in terms of the yield moment has been computed for a wide range of values of the three different parameters, characterizing the contact pressure distribution, the ratio of sides, and the coefficient of orthotropy. Tests carried out on reinforced plaster mortar slabs supported on springs confirm reasonably well the soundness of the structural analysis.