Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 405410

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

AAC-concrete light weight precast composite oor slab

Yavuz Yardim a,, A.M.T. Waleed b, Mohd. Saleh Jaafar c, Saleh Laseima c
a

Engineering Faculty, Epoka University, Albania

Engineering Faculty, University of Nizwa, Oman
c
Engineering Faculty, UPM, Malaysia
b

h i g h l i g h t s
" We test nine different full scale slabs to nd optimum solution for AAC precast slabs.
" We examine changes in the layout of precast oor and amount of AAC.
" The dead load of the slab can be reduced by using proposed composite slab 32-23 % compeered to solid RC.
" Based on strain monitoring of the test specimens, structures perform in a fully composite manner until the ultimate load.
" Ductility and maximum deection of the all tested slabs are well enough to give warning before failure.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 27 August 2012
Received in revised form 20 September 2012
Accepted 12 October 2012

Keywords:
Composite
Light weight slab
Aerated concrete
Ferrocement

a b s t r a c t
In this study, the use of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) as an in ll material for semi precast panel is
investigated experimentally. The effectiveness of proposed light weight slab is reached by comparing the
behavior of specimens with that of conventional solid precast slab. The comparisons were based on structural performance and total weight reduction. The composite AAC slabs section chosen are one way slabs
with a size of 1m  3m  0.130 m (Width  Length  Depth). The specimens vary in the AAC blocks layouts and total weight reduction ratio. The test results showed that the AAC composite precast panel provides reasonable weight reduction without sacricing the structural capacity.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
A slab structure occupies the biggest percentage of total dead
load and volume for an ordinary residential structure. A simple
load calculation for a residential building shows that approximately 4060% of dead load is self weight of slab structure [1].
Thus approximately 10% of self weight reduction from oor slab
may lead to 5% of self weight reduction of entire building. Moreover, it directly faces the live load and transfers the load to beam
and columns. Clearly, more mass means higher inertia force. Therefore, lighter buildings sustain the earthquake shaking better. Under
horizontal shaking of the ground, horizontal inertia forces are generated at level of the mass of the structure, usually this situated at
the oor levels [2]. These duties increase oor slab signicance and
complexity. The traditional solid precast slab is found to be challenging for large scale projects because of its heavy self weight
which leads to dependency on heavier equipment, transportation
Corresponding author. Tel.: +355 672069 729; fax: +355 2222 117.
E-mail address: yyardim@epoka.edu.al (Y. Yardim).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.10.011

difculties, expensive connections and joints solution. In addition,

heavy precast slabs needs extra temporary supports during construction and larger beam and column size which result in the
escalation of the overall cost [3,4].
In terms of better structural performance and lower cost, the
development of varieties of light weight slab has become a crucial
need. The use of semi precast panels is increasing rapidly due to it
is versatile solution for transportation, handling and effective joint
practice. In the recent past, a large number of semi precast panel
have been developed using either ferrocement or composite cold
steel deck with different type of toping concrete [59]. Insulating
and light weight core panels were then developed which greatly
increased the desirability of this type of construction. The panel
consists of two thin skins high strength layers and elastic moduli
separated by a core thick layer of normally much weaker and lower
material density [1013]. More than 15 different types of precast
slab are being used successfully in construction market. Five general criteria has to be considered for the capacity of ooring units;
bearing capacity, shear capacity, exure; capacity, deection limits, handling restriction [3]. There is no system fullling all of the

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Y. Yardim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 405410

above mentioned criteria. Nevertheless researches are going on to

achieve the best t slab system for different environments and
projects.
The composite slab systems were found structurally effective
with thin layer of precast member taking into account of the benets which include: shorter construction time, less dependent on
heaver equipment on job site, less wastage of material, high quality
smooth surface nish, in situ structural concrete topping and in-ll
forming monolithic structures, eliminates or greatly reduces props,
eliminate convention formworks [1418].
Thinner precast structure of the composite slab could be
achieved with ferrocement technology. Ferrocement provides considerable reduction in cracks number and their spacing (6484%)
was observed. Additionally, it enhances the ductility and energy
absorption properties [1]. Ferrocement is not only an extension
of reinforced concrete but also is now considered a member of
the family of laminated composites, it can be reinforced with steel,
or non-metallic meshes such as ber reinforced polymeric (FRP)
meshes [16]. The addition of bers or micro-bers as secondary
reinforcement in the cement matrix, to improve performance,
makes ferrocement a hybrid composite.

Light weight semi precast composite slab systems have been

practicing mostly for roof panel. Weight reduction is achieved by
replacing the core of panel with low density concrete and some other
type of light weight inll blocks [19,20]. Different types of composite
roof panel with low density inll as core element have been practiced [21,22]. Composition of light weight aerated concrete and ferrocement in sandwich structure shows effective load carrying
performance in some applications [23]. Compared to other conventional wall and roof systems, AAC composite panels reduce energy
consumption of buildings signicantly with its excellent insulation
qualities. It is considered as environmental friendly, no pollutants
or toxic by AAC products are released that could affect indoor air
quality [24,25]. Moreover, AAC can be obtained in any dimension,
it is easy to handle which increase the construction speed, and it is
widely practicing and available in construction marked.
However, there is no signicant experimental works has been
recorded for semi precast slab with ferrocement precast layer
and AAC as in ll material where ferrocement work as precast layer
and AAC as efcient thermal insulator and light weight core
element. Therefore, this paper presents one of the attempts to
develop a light weight composite oor system to address these

In situ Concrete
AAC

Projecting steel
from Beam
Tie Steel

Precast Slab
Precast Slab
Precast Beam

Precast Slab
Wire mesh
Steel Bar for connection
Fig. 1. FerrocementAAC composite Slab.

a
ba
a 6x or 6y
L 3a or 150mm whichever is larger

b
x

Additional 2 layer wire mesh for

additional resistance during testing
Fig. 2. Detail test sample for tension test of wiremesh.

Steel
Reinforcement

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Y. Yardim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 405410

requirements. This study introduces a semi-precast oor slab system; ferrocementAAC composite slab to address some of the
above listed shortcomings in existing systems. The new system
consists of a bottom ferrocement skin, AAC masonry and in situ
mortar ribs (Fig. 1). The ferrocement layer is the precast part of
the composite slab, which consists of a wire mesh and steel reinforcement, required to resist the tensile stresses. The thickness
and reinforcement of this layer will depend mainly on the span
of the slab. The AAC layer and the in situ ribs provide the necessary
resistance to the compressive forces developed due to bending. The
two layers are interconnected using interlocking and rough surface
between precast and cast in situ layers. The advantages of this system, amongst others, are its relatively lighter weight compared to
R.C which will reduce the load transferred to the beams/walls. The

masonry AAC act as light, effective insulation material and at the

same time resisting partially the compression forces developed
due to bending of the composite. On site, the construction of the
composite slab does not require heavy equipments to handle the
ferrocement layer. Furthermore, the construction does not need
any formwork since the bottom layer of ferrocement is a precast
unit that can be easily xed in position, using simple crane, to provide a platform that acts as a formwork for the brick layer and the
in situ concrete ribs. This experimental study is limited to investigate the structural performance of one way ferrocementAAC composite slab subjected to two-lines loading. The study highlights the
effects of AAC layout on its overall structural response in terms of
loaddeection characteristic, ductility, strain distribution, composite action and failure load.

Table 1
Experimental test program for precast composite slab and weight reductions of the specimens.
Group

a
b

ID

Ferrocement layer (mm)

Self weight%
Precast

AAC

In situ

Number of La. Rib

Number of Tb. Rib

Reduction in weight
compared with solid R.C%

AS (21)
AS (22)
AS (23)

30
30
30

66.55
66.94
67.31

16.43
15.46
14.52

17.02
17.60
18.15

2
2
2

1
2
3

34.02
32.67
31.30

AS (31)
AS (32)
AS (33)

30
30
30

67.87
68.16
68.44

13.12
12.39
11.68

19.01
19.44
19.87

3
3
3

1
2
3

29.16
28.00
26.83

AS (41)
AS (42)
AS (43)

30
30
30

69.02
69.23
69.43

10.23
9.69
9.17

20.74
21.07
21.38

4
4
4

1
2
3

24.30
23.34
22.36

L: Longitudinal.
T: Transverse.

Fig. 3. Stages of construction in cross-section view.

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Y. Yardim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 405410

Fig. 4. Test set up for simply supported two line load test series.

2. Material

Load-Deflection

Load (kN)

36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

AS (21)
AS (31)
AS (41)

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34

Load-Deflection

36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

AS (22)
AS (32)
AS (42)

Deflection (mm)

Load (kN)

Load (kN)

For both topping and ferrocement layer, Ordinary Portland cement in accordance with Type I and natural sand (10 mm maximum size) were used for concrete
in the ratio 1:3 with water/cement ratio of 0.5. The mortar mix was designed to give
28-day cube strength of 30 N/mm2.
Welded steel wire mesh of opening size 12.7 mm  12.7 mm with an average
wire diameter of 1.1 mm was used. Tension test on the specimens were carried
out on the Universal Testing Machine Zwick/Roell Amsler HB1000. Load was ap-

plied in increments of 10 N. Tests were performed for direct tension on the wire
mesh and embedding a rectangular coupon of mesh in mortar. Dimensions of the
tensile test specimen of wire meshes were designed based on ACI 549 recommendation (Fig. 2.). The tensile strength of the mesh and steel bar were found 250 N/
mm2.
Based on specications in BS 8110 for quality control of AAC (BS8110-2 1998
clause 6.4.2), twelve 100  100  100 mm were tested to determine compressive
strength of AAC. The density of aerated autoclaved concrete was found as 5.8 kN/
m3 and saturated compressive strength of from 12 specimens is 6 N/mm2.

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34

Deflection (mm)
Load-Deflection

36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

AS (23)
AS (33)
AS (43)

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34

Deflection (mm)
Fig. 5. Load deection curves for the tested specimens.

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Y. Yardim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 405410

Table 2
Ultimate moment, deection and ductility of the specimens.
Ultimate load (PULT) (kN)

AS21
AS22
AS23
AS31
AS32
AS33
AS41
AS42
AS43

Ultimate moment, MU (k Nm/m)

Theor.

Exper.

Theor.

Exper.

24.37
24.37
24.37
25.23
25.23
25.23
25.74
25.74
25.74

20.5
23.0
24.0
25.2
26.5
27.4
31.2
33.0
34.2

11.39
11.39
11.39
11.79
11.79
11.79
12.03
12.03
12.03

9.57
10.73
11.20
11.76
12.37
12.79
14.56
15.40
15.96

M U Expt
M U Theor

Yielding deection
oy (mm)

Ultimate load
deection ou (mm)

Ductility (ou/oy)

Mode of failure

0.84
0.94
0.98
1.0
1.05
1.08
1.21
1.28
1.33

9.6
7.6
6.5
9.1
7.9
7.1
8.1
7.3
14.8

23.74
20.63
18.55
27.68
26.68
24.53
33.51
31.7
29.53

2.48
2.71
2.85
3.04
3.38
3.45
4.14
4.34
4.61

Flexural
Flexural
Flexural
Flexural
Flexural
Flexural
Flexural
Flexural
Flexural

2.1. Specimen preparation and testing

In order to determine the behavior of composite slab under exural, one way
slab specimens with size of 1m  3m  0.130 m (W  L  D) have been chosen
for investigation. Precast layouts are designed based on, previous experimental
and literature investigation. [2628]. Table 1 contains dimension description and
weight reductions percentages of exural specimens.
The constructions of the specimens can be summarized in three stages: preparation of precast layer, placing of AAC blocks and lling of cast-in situ topping
(Fig. 3).
The slab specimens have been cast on the level oor of the heavy testing structural laboratory. Flexural tests were carried out on simply supported 2800 mm clear
span under two line loads (Fig. 4).
During exural test, strains on the specimen were carefully studied to observe
the composite behavior of the slab panel. The electrical strain gauges and demec
points were installed along the depth, at the bottom and top surface of the specimens on critical locations to monitor the strain throughout the experiment. The
points on top of the specimens were placed in such way that relative strain or displacement could be monitored. Strain gage were placed on main steel bars at mid
span to observe yielding stage.

3. Result and discussions

In these experiments, ultimate exural capacity of the proposed
system with different AAC layout and amount, therefore different
weight reduction, was investigated. Moreover, composite action
between concrete and AAC, and ductility of the specimens were
studied. The crack pattern shows that the system gives enough
warning before fail. Full composite behavior was observed for the
proposed system until ultimate load. The specimens show classical
reinforced concrete slab exural failure characteristics and cracks
were observed between two line rods.
Load deection curves of specimens which are having the same
number of transfer ribs but different numbers of longitudinal ribs,

are shown in Fig. 5. The effect of longitudinal ribs could be seen

clearly in the gure. Reductions of weight as compared to solid
RC slab for AS (22) and AS (42) are 32% and 23% respectively, however ultimate load capacities were 23 kN and 33 kN respectively.
Therefore, 30% of the ultimate load capacity of the proposed slab
could be upgraded with considerably small increase of weight by
adding more longitudinal ribs.
Table 2 summarizes the deections measured at the yielding
and ultimate load and the ductility of each specimen. The ductility
(dened as the ratio of deection at ultimate load to the deection
at yielding load) of each precast specimen is calculated and presented in the same table. All the specimens show satisfactory ductility above 2.4. The number of the longitudinal ribs has a
signicant effect on the ductility as the specimens with four longitudinal ribs show 61% and 29.5% increase in ductility compared to
the slab specimens with two and three longitudinal ribs
respectively.
The proposed structure contains three layers: ferrocement, masonry and concrete. Therefore, the strain depth relationship is one
of the important indicators of the structure behavior. The compression zone of the composite slab is combination of AAC and toping
concrete. Careful strain inspection proves that the strain at the top
surface of the composite slab is equal for both the toping concrete
and masonry unit.
Strain measurements of all the slabs were carried out. Similar
results were obtained for the all specimens; only one specimens
(AS32) strain results were presented to illustrate the behavior.
Due to the load caring capacity a stronger structure bears more
load with same strain. The top strains of the specimens were found
to be same (Fig. 6). AAC composite structures strain along the
depth relation is recorded as in Fig. 7. The result were found similar

1000

130

1.5 KN

Insitu layer with

AAC

900
800

14 KN
19.5 KN

700

500
400

Width (mm)

600

26.5 KN

120
110
100
90
80
70

Precast Rip with

AAC

60
50

300

40

200
100
0
-0.0045

-0.0035

-0.0025

-0.0015

-0.0005

0.0005

Strain
Fig. 6. Load-top ber strain diagram for AS32.

30

Ferrocement
layer
-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001

20
10
0

0.001

0.002

0.003

Strain
Fig. 7. Strain along the depth of slab AS32.

0
0.004

Depth (mm)

ID

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Y. Yardim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 405410

with assumptions are drawn from early experimental results and

literature for different light weight composite slab [21]. Based on
careful inspection of the intersection joints between composite
layers; there was no evidence of a horizontal defect such as cracks,
spoiling or chipping. The proposed systems behave as a full composite slab.
The strain of the compression zone was carefully observed by
demec point placed top bers of the composite. Fig. 6 shows that
the structures strain responses at the compression zone are perfectly equal until possible service load. Strain on the concrete
and AAC were found to be the same at the same amount of loading.
Slight changes were observed while getting closer to the ultimate
load. After yielding of steel, the nal failures took place by gradually crushing of both concrete and AAC at the extreme top ber.
4. Conclusions
The proposed composite slab can be used as a structural oor
for residential buildings. The dead load of the slab can be reduced
by using proposed composite slab 3223% compared to solid RC.
The number of the longitudinal ribs has a signicant effect on
the ductility as the specimens with four longitudinal ribs show
60% and 28.4% increase in ductility compared to the slab specimens
with two and three longitudinal ribs respectively. Based on strain
monitoring of the test specimens, structures perform in a fully
composite manner until the ultimate load. There were no horizontal cracks observed between the two layers of the composite slabs
at any stage of loading. All the slab specimens show ductile behavior. Ductility and maximum deection of slabs are well enough to
give warning before failure.
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