One Way Slab

One Way Ribbed slab

One-way joist floor system: This type of slab is also called a ribbed slab. It consists of a
floor slab, usually (50 to 100 mm) thick, supported by reinforced concrete ribs (or joists).
The ribs are usually tapered and are uniformly spaced at distances that do not exceed
(750 mm). The ribs are supported on girders that rest on columns. The spaces between
the ribs may be formed using removable steel or fiberglass form fillers (pans), which may
be used many times as shown in Figure below. In some ribbed slabs, the spaces between
ribs may be filled with permanent fillers to provide a horizontal slab

AL-Qasim Green University Page 23 of 26 Design of R.C .Structures

College of Water Resources Engineering MSC. Wissam Nadir
 One Way Slab
The design procedure and requirements of ribbed slabs follow the same steps as those
for rectangular and T-sections explained previously. The following points apply to design
of one-way ribbed slabs:

1. The minimum thickness of ribbed one-way slabs should be equal to the following:

2. Ribs are usually tapered and uniformly spaced at about (400 to 750 mm). Voids are
usually formed by using pans (molds) (500 mm) wide and (150 to 500 mm) deep,
depending on the design requirement. The standard increment in depth is (50 mm).

AL-Qasim Green University Page 24 of 26 Design of R.C .Structures

College of Water Resources Engineering MSC. Wissam Nadir
 One Way Slab
3. The ribs shall not be less than (100 mm) wide and must have a depth of not more than
3.5 times the width. Clear spacing between ribs shall not exceed (750 mm) (ACI Code,
Section 9.8.1).

4. Shear strength, Vc, provided by concrete for the ribs may be taken 10% greater than
that for beams. This is mainly due to the interaction between the slab and the closely
spaced ribs (ACI Code, Section 9.8.1.5)
5. The thickness of the slab on top of the ribs is usually (50 to 100 mm) and contains
minimum reinforcement (shrinkage reinforcement). This thickness shall not be less
than 1⁄12 of the clear span between ribs or (38 mm) (ACI Code, Section 9.8.2.1.1).
6. The ACI coefficients for calculating moments in continuous slabs can be used for
continuous ribbed slab design.
7. There are additional practice limitations, which can be summarized as follows:
 The minimum width of the rib is one-third of the total depth or. (100 mm),
whichever is greater.
 Secondary reinforcement in the slab in the transverse directions of ribs should not
be less than the shrinkage reinforcement or one-fifth of the area of the main
reinforcement in the ribs.
 Secondary reinforcement parallel to the ribs shall be placed in the slab and spaced
at distances not more than half of the spacings between ribs.
 If the live load on the ribbed slab is less than 3 kN/m2 and the span of ribs exceeds
5 m, a secondary transverse rib should be provided at midspan (its direction is
perpendicular to the direction of main ribs) and reinforced with the same amount
of steel as the main ribs. Its top reinforcement shall not be less than half of the
main reinforcement in the tension zone. These transverse ribs act as floor
stiffeners.

AL-Qasim Green University Page 25 of 26 Design of R.C .Structures

College of Water Resources Engineering MSC. Wissam Nadir
 One Way Slab
2
 If the live load exceeds 3 kN/m and the span of ribs varies between 4 and 7 m ,
one traverse rib must be provided, as indicated before. If the span exceeds 7 m, at
least two transverse ribs at one-third span must be provided with reinforcement,
as explained before.

AL-Qasim Green University Page 26 of 26 Design of R.C .Structures

College of Water Resources Engineering MSC. Wissam Nadir