SEU, a program provided by SE Solutions, LLC

Accurate Long-Term Deflection Predictions for Concrete Structures

Speaker:
Jonathan Hirsch, P.E., Bentley Systems
Date:
January 11, 2012
Session Details

Today’s slab designers face a quandary – economic efficiency demands the use of very thin slabs; however, the deflection performance of these slabs is difficult to predict. With long-term deflection becoming a critical design criterion, accurate deflection prediction is an important aspect of slab design. The many factors that influence long-term deflections and their interdependence as well as variability in material strengths and characteristics make this a challenging problem. Most building codes and standards provide methods and formulae to account for these factors, although the predictions are sometimes crude.

This presentation looked at predictions of several deflection calculation methods and then compared them to actual measured deflections. The variability of deflections and the reasonable range of predictions was also discussed along with recommendations for design practice.

Session Length: 1.5 hours

Current SE University subscribers can access the recording in their SEU Resource Center account. Please use the link below to view the session page in the SEU Session Library.