Yield line analysis and testing of reinforced concrete rectangular slabs with primary and secondary beams

The application of yield line analysis to carry out strength design of reinforced concrete (RC) slab systems is mostly limited to solid slabs without beams. In an earlier paper on isolated rectangular beam-slab systems, the authors had demonstrated that such analysis, considering plastic hinges in the beams along with yield lines in the slabs, can result in rational and economical designs. In this paper, it is shown that such yield line analysis can be further extended to beam-slab systems with secondary beams, and the predictions have been validated by tests carried out on four rectangular RC beam-slab systems (each comprising four symmetric grid units), supported at the four corners on pillars. Six possible collapse mechanisms have been investigated. It is established that the critical collapse mechanism is governed primarily by the beam-slab relative strength. It is shown how an economical and rational design can be achieved, making use of the proposed yield line analysis.