37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 167TECHNICAL - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF STEEL FIBRESREINFORCED CONCRETE FLAG SLABS. A REALBUILDING APPLICATIONAitor Maturana, Ricardo Sánchez (2) , Javier Canales, Aimar Orbe, Rubén Ansola, EstrellaVegueríaDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of the Basque Countrye-mail: aitor.maturana@ehu.es(2) LKSBizkaia Technology ParkKey words: steel fibres reinforced concrete, flag slabAbstractA real building constructed with Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) is presented in thispaper, together with general information on its location, basic geometry, and economic cost.Consideration is given to a widely applied structural solution that uses flag slabs that rest oncolumns. This initial solution consists of conventional passive reinforcement, in the form oflongitudinal rebars that resist the bending moment, as well as transverse rebars in the slabsthat support the area upheld by the columns, in order to prevent punching-shear. The quantityand economic cost of the steel in this solution are then compared with those in the actualstructural solution, which substituted most of the passive rebars in the slabs with Steel FibreReinforced Concrete (SFRC). This unique solution, applied to bi-directional slabs, has beenpioneered in Spain, where no similar national trials exist. The main objective of thealternative structural solution is to reduce costs that are directly associated with passive rebarpreparation and handling. Replacement of the rebars that are placed on site with metallicfibres added in the concrete manufacturing plant reduces passive rebar preparation, handlingand placement at the building site. Moreover, SFRC implies the total elimination of concretevibration. All these factors have a direct impact on the cost of the structure. Its use also entailsfurther benefits, such as longer durability and improvements to the mechanical properties ofthe concrete.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 106