Numerical study on RC flat plates subjected to combined axial and transverse load

This paper presents a numerical study on the flat plates in deep basements, subjected to floor load and in-plane compressive load due to soil and hydraulic lateral pressure. For nonlinear finite element analysis, a computer program addressing material and geometric nonlinearities is developed. The validity of the numerical model is established by comparison with existing experiments performed on plates simply supported on four edges. The flat plates to be studied are designed according to the Direct Design Method in ACI 318-95. Through numerical study on the effects of different load combinations and loading sequence, the load condition that governs the strength of the flat plates is determined. For plates under the governing load condition, parametric studies are performed to investigate the strength variations with reinforcement ratio, aspect ratio, concrete strength, and slenderness ratio. Based on the numerical results, the floor load magnification factor is proposed.