08-10-2014, 04:39 PM
The inertia generated during earthquake shaking are transmitted through the floor slab to the different lateral load resisting elements such as walls and frames. Thus, the floor slabs provide the critical in-plane action. In the past, numerous studies have been conducted on the in-plane behavior and characteristics of castin- situ floors. However, the in-plane diaphragm behavior of precast floors is still not understood. Most of the seismic design codes either assume floors to be rigid or attempt to make them rigid. But, efforts to make precast system resemble a cast-in-situ system may take away the economic advantage for the precast systems. Two full-scale specimens of the precast plank and joist floor systems developed by the Central Building Research institute, Rorkee, are tested under in-plane monotonic loading to study their in-plane diaphragm behavior. The in-plane stiffness and relative displacements in the slab system and the performance of joints between the precast elements and between the slab and walls are investigated. The specimens are tested both the orth