ABSTRACT
In this study, an experimental investigation on the punching shear strength and behavior of flat plates is performed. The use of flat plate is popular for medium rise buildings especially for hotels, shopping centers and office buildings. The plate-column connections are the most critical parts. The brittle and sudden type of failure, called punching, is very dangerous and special attention must be paid to prevent this type of failure. In Turkish Reinforced Concrete Code the use of punching reinforcement is advised and it is stated that the capacity of the connection must be determined by experimental studies. The results of a test series on the punching behavior of slabs with different punching reinforcements are presented. Totally four specimens representing an interior column-slab connection was modeled and tested. Specimens were provided different shear reinforcement arrangements except for the specimen SRO which is a reference specimen and tested to see the reference behavior and capacity. The other four specimens include different punching reinforcement configurations. The plate concrete was in the normal strength concrete range. The load was applied to the column stub concentrically and flexural reinforcement ratios were kept constant for all specimens. The loaddisplacement curves as well as the load-rotation curves were presented in this study. Also Turkish Reinforced Concrete Code capacity predictions were compared with the test results.
