ABSTRACT
Low ductility welded wire mesh (Class L) with a uniform elongation as low as 1.5% and a strength to yield stress ratio of only 1.03 is currently being specified and used in floor slabs in Australia. Such slabs fail by fracture of the reinforcement in a brittle and catastrophic manner and, as a consequence, many of the assumptions implicit in the design rules in AS3600-2001 are not applicable. Slabs containing Class L steel lack robustness and cannot absorb the energy required to resist significant impact or blast loading. This paper describes the behaviour of a variety of reinforced concrete one-way slabs containing low-ductility (Class L) reinforcement which were tested to failure under controlled laboratory conditions. The failure of each slab was characterized by relatively little plastic deformation prior to collapse, with small rotational capacities of the critical regions and, consequently, little moment redistribution.
