ABSTRACT
The application of post-tensioned concrete to flat slab construction originated in the USA, and is now also widely used in Australia, Europe, the Far East and Southern Africa. Although its use in the UK has been uncommon until recently, the economic advantages of this form of construction are now more widely appreciated. Most examples utilize uniform-depth slabs with draped tendons, but an interesting development is the use of variable-depth slabs with straight tendons. Extra shear strength is often provided around the columns in the form of a thickening of the slab, or drop panel, or by increasing the column perimeter in a column ‘head’.
