Floors

a lecture delivered to the 3th year students

by Radu Pescaru, lecturer tel: +40-232-278680/1419 pescarur@ce.tuiasi.ro

INTRODUCTION
Floors are horizontal or sometimes sloping building elements. They are structural elements of the building and they divide the building into several storeys and (on the other hand) take over the dead and live loads acting on their surface and transmit them to the columns or structural walls.

The general structure of a floor is divided into two parts:

- the loadbearing structure which can be a rigid slab or a less rigid slab resting on a system of joists or beams placed in one or two directions (a system of parallel or cross joists).

- filling in or finishing (materials) - made of elements and materials placed between the supporting members, or on the floor slab, for heat or sound insulating requirements or as floor finishes.

Floor classification
b. According to the position inside the building there are : - ground floors and; - upper floors which can also be: - on the top of the underground spaces, intermediary floor or - under pitch or plate (terrace) roofs. b. Considering the materials used for the structural elements, there are floors: - on timber joists; - with brickwork vaults; - on reinforced concrete beams or plates; - on metallic joists. c. With respect to the fire resistance floors are divided into the following categories: - high fire resistance; - low fire resistance; - combustible; - inflammable.

Functional requirements
a. strength, b. stability, c. durability, d. thermal protection,

e. sound absorption and resistance to sound transmission,

f. fire resistance,

g. economical requirements,
h. other requirements.

Strength The floor structure must be strong enough to safety support the dead loads of the floor and its finishes, partitions and services and also the anticipated

imposed loads in their most unfavourable combination

which can accrue during the lifespan of the building.

The strength of a floor depends on the characteristics of the materials, used for the structure of the floor and the constructive solution.

Stability A floor is designed and constructed to serve as a horizontal surface to support people and their furniture, equipment, or machinery. The floor should

have adequate stiffness to remain reasonably stable and plain under the vertical loads.

The floor should have enough stiffness to provide stability against the horizontal actions (wind, earthquake) and to make all the structural elements support together these actions.

Durability Floors should be durable for the expected life of the whole building and require little maintenance or repair along this time.
Thermal protection A floor should provide resistance to the transfer of the heat where there is normally a significant air temperature difference between the opposite sides of the floor. For this reason the ground floor and the

roof slab require a layer of thermal insulating material to prevent the heat loss through the floor.

Sound absorption transmission

and

resistance

to

sound

The upper floor that separates dwellings, or separates noisy from quiet activities, should act as a barrier to the transmission of the airborne sound. The reduction of impact sound is best effected by a floor covering such as a carpet and the airborne sound can be reduced by different absorbent panel finishes.

UPPER FLOOR CONSTRUCTION

1. Timber floors
Many buildings made earlier or at the beginning of 20th century are constructed with timber floors. Nowadays such floors are used for dwellings, temporary buildings or buildings for tourism on timber structure, built in mountain or rural regions where the wood is available, cheaper and other materials are difficult to transport

The floor is framed with timber joists of fir or oak timber. Joist sections are between 10x19 and 15x25 cm. They span over the shorter side of the room and they are fixed over the long side, on loadbearing walls, at a spacing of 60 to 120 cm. This type is named single joisted floor and the maximum span of the joist is 4.9 m, because over this limit the depth required for timber joist makes them uneconomic.

Benefits: the timber floors are easy to build.

They are lightweight and require little energy consumption and work to fabricate.

Disadvantages: they are less durable have low

fire and moisture (dampness) resistance. In addition, timber floor is less rigid and present lower bearing capacity than one made of reinforced concrete or steel.

When the span is larger, cross-beams are introduced to carry the ends of the joists. The beams can be of steel, timber, or reinforced concrete and are disposed parallel to the short side of the room disposed at 3 to 5 m with the joists (as secondary beams) across it.

When the span is larger, cross-beams are introduced to carry the ends of the joists. The beams can be of steel, timber, or reinforced concrete and are disposed parallel to the short side of the room disposed at 3 to 5 m with the joists (as secondary beams) across it. For stability, the end of the floor joists must have adequate supports at the wall or beams. Timber floor joists that are built into walls should rest at least 20 cm on a wall plate of timber or metal. As a

precaution against the possibility of decay due to unforeseen moisture penetration, it is wise to create a ventilated space of 35 cm between the wall and the joist.

Floors in timber: a., b., c.- with visible joists, e.-with hallow (clay) fill in elements, f.- with plaster boards fill in elements, g.- with double joists; 1 (1)-timber joists, 2-flooring timber board, 3-plastering and skin coat for ceiling, 4-fill in material, 5-hollow lightweight element, 6- plaster board, 7-parquet, 8- batten, 9- sound insulation material.

2. Masonry arched and vaulted floors

Arches or vaults were employed in Mediaeval and Renaissance buildings whenever it was necessary to provide a floor stronger and more solid than could be obtained by the use of timber. The advent of steel and reinforced concrete, materials in which tensile strength can be developed, has today almost eliminated the arch as a form of flooring.

When arches are applied in flooring, they give a curved or vaulted ceiling to the room beneath. The floor itself must be formed on a level above the highest point of the arch. A bulky infilling is thus required above the springing.

3. Metallic floors
Metallic floors especially for rooms with large spans and important loads e.g. in industrial buildings or multi-storied civil buildings. The floors are made of metallic structural elements and infilling materials or elements. The structural elements are beams of hot rolled structural

steel with joist section (I), T section or channel section (U),

placed after one or two directions according to the value of the loads and the nature of the infilling elements.

Prefabricated plates fixed on metal joists

slab that has to support the floor finishing in filling materials.

joists can be imbedded in the concrete

The metal

4. Reinforced concrete floors

The reinforced concrete floor is often used for offices, large blocks of flats, factories and large public buildings because it can safety support the imposed loads, it has a

good resistance to damage by fire and a great rigidity and durability.

The disadvantages of these materials used for floors are floors need temporary shuttering to concrete while it is still wet and plastic. support the

the great self-weight and the reduced power of thermal and sound insulation. In addition, the monolithic concrete

4.1. Monolithic reinforced concrete floor

A monolithic reinforced concrete floor is one unbroken solid mass, between 80 and 300 mm thick, cast in site, and reinforced with mild steel reinforcing bars. To give the required form to the element while concrete it is still wet and plastic temporary shuttering is necessary. In addition, the shuttering offer the necessary support of the element for minimum 7 to 10 days after concrete has been cast.

4.1.1 Solid concrete floor slabs

Solid slab floors are used in buildings with brickwork or concrete

structural walls with a maximum span of 45 m. The monolithic reinforced concrete floor slabs are usually between 80 and 100 mm thick. They lie with each end on the supporting walls on a 150200 mm reinforced concrete straps or flanges (continuous contour beam-type members).

4.1.2 Floor plate with beams along one direction

If the floor surface is greater than 25 m2 or the span is greater than 5 to 6 m, or it has to support heavy loads, it may be found that a simple slab floor becomes uneconomic (too thick and heavy). A lighter construction can be obtained by forming intermediate beams; to reduce the span over which the slab has to act. The beams are made of the same concrete as the floor slab, with rectangle section, and the distance between beams is 3 to 5m.

4.1.3 Floors with main and secondary cross beams

floor slab has to span over large surfaces, it is designed with main beams parallel to the short side of
Where the

the floor at 3 to 6 m intervals. Across the

main

beams are disposed secondary beams to sustain the

floor plate. Usually the space between the secondary beams is 1.5 to 2.5m but it can rise to 4m.

4.1.4 Floors with close ribs and hollow blocks

Hollow blocks or pots are laid on the stuttering end to end in parallel rows, spaced apart at about 7.5 to 10 cm. The reinforcement is placed in these spaces created between the block rows. Then concrete is poured to fill these spaces and cover the blocks and to form a series of tee-beams. The resulting floor consists of a close mesh of reinforced concrete tee-beams with strips of hollowed concrete or clay blocks fixed between them. The blocks are 30 cm long and 25 or 30 cm wide and 7.5 to 20 cm high.

4.1.5 Grid reinforced concrete floor

This is a development of a two-way spanning slab in which the two sets of reinforcement are concentrated in ribs. In situ ribbed floor is cast on channel steel moulds supported by beams and props. This type of floor is particularly suitable for heavily loaded floors and is economic over relatively wide spans where the weight of the solid slab would be excessive.

4.1.6 Flat slab floors

At this floor, the slab has uniform thickness without projecting beams and is known colloquially mushrooms construction because of the expanded or flared columns heads capes. The column cape can be square or circular depending upon the shape of the column.

The slab is reinforced on both directions and on the line of columns grid the reinforcement bars are more closely spaced forming column bands.

4.2. Precast concrete floors

Precast concrete floors are designed primarily to eliminate shuttering and wet concrete pouring processes that make the construction of an in situ cast reinforced floor a slow procedure.

The advantage of the completely precast floor is that it can be

constructed rapidly and readily it provides a platform from which further work on the building can immediately go on.
A disadvantage is that it is less easy to provide a rigid

connection between the precast unit and the supporting beams or wall. The precast beam or the precast rib and filler block
construction must act together as a single unit to horizontal actions (wind, earthquake).

4.2.1 Floors made of beams lying side by side

The simplest form of precast concrete floor consists of a number of units,

each in effect a beam, lying side by side, and each spanning more or less independently between supports. These floors are fixed simply by laying
the units in position and then are connected together as a slab with a layer or concrete topping. The cross section of the elements is designed to provide (by apposition) a plane surface only on the upper face (for industrial buildings) or both upper and bottom faces (of dwelling buildings).

4.2.2 Precast Concrete strip floors

Hollow beams - The solid units are relatively narrow and heavy, and developments in form or hollow beam sections of grater unit width, and much the same weight, enable floor areas to be laid more quickly. Each beam is reinforced in the bottom corners and in some types in the top corners. The sides are splayed or shaped to form a narrow space between the beams. This is filled with grout to assist the units to act together in some measure, the adjacent faces of the beams being grooved or castellated to provide mechanical bond. Continuity over supports is obtained by the insertion of reinforcement rods in the joints prior to grouting. These should be welded to steel beam if they are to serve as the anchors to the precast units required in buildings over four storeys high.

Channel beams - Precast reinforced concrete channel units are laid with edges touching slightly, and covered with a layer of concrete toping. The channel section slab units are reinforced with common reinforcement rods for short span and prestressed reinforcement foe larger span. Channel beams are used especially for industrial building floors or roofs giving an aspect of ribbed ceiling. In this type of buildings channel has standard dimensions: the simply reinforced units are 1.5 to 3 m wide and 3 to 12 m long and the prestressed units can reach a length of 12 to 18 m.

4.2.3 Floors with precast ribs and filler

Solid reinforced pretension beams of minimum B250, generally shaped like an inverted T, are used. The beams are placed at 0.4 to 1 m (centres) with their ends resting on walls. Hollow blocks or plates of concrete, plaster, are then placed to fill the space between the beams. Then the floor is finished with a layer of constructional concrete tapping.

4.2.4 Large precast floor panels

Sometime it is more practical to use large floor units with the dimensions of a whole room (10 to 20 m2) or of half room. The hollow beam floor has been developed in the form wide slabs, which can be as wide as 2.70 m, the width of any particular span being dependent on the lifting capacity of the crane available. The large precast floor slabs are designed with toes and projected steel bars in order to provide a stiff joint between elements. The concrete plates are reinforced on cross directions with steel roods or networks.

4.2.5 Prestressed reinforced concrete floors

Pre-stressing of the reinforcement can be applied to many types of concrete floors. This is advantageous where wide spans are imposed because it reduces the thickness and dead weight. It is economic the combine prestressed precast elements with in situ concrete.
One type is the rib and filler floor which uses prestressed planks of clay or concrete supporting filler blocks. In situ concrete is cast between and over the fillers to form a rib having the prestressed plank as the tension zone.

Another type uses prestressed concrete planks placed close together side by side without filler blocks to form permanent slab shuttering. The edges are grooved to provide a dovetail key for the in situ concrete structural topping in addition to the natural bond between the rough top of the plank and the toping. Prestressed precast tee-sections may be used in composite construction either in rib and filler block combination or placed close together to form a flat soffit and filled over with solid in situ cast concrete.

5. Ground floors particular characteristics

Almost all the types of upper floor can be used for the construction of ground floor. However, in the case of ground floor design consideration of the level at which the floor shall be placed relative to the surrounding ground is important. A number of factors determine the adoption of the floor level, including the nature of the site and the form of the floor construction. According to the level of the floor, the problems of isolation against heat loss or water penetration through the floor are solved in different ways.

The upper part of the fill is a bed of well-consolidated suitable hard material known as hardcore which is generally pot down under the ground floor slab. It consists of brick or concrete rubble, broken stone or other inert, coarsely graded material such as hard, well-burnt furnace clinker. The in fill is lied to a minimum thickness of 10 cm and is usually ashes or other fine material before the concrete is laid. The concrete slab is not less then 10 cm thick and the top surface is finished with a power float or is shaped finished to a screed according the floor finish to be applied.

It is also important to incorporate a damp-proof membrane in the floor structure. Materials that may be used for membranes are mastic asphalt, bituminous felt, hot-applied pitch or bitumen, cold-applied bitumen solution, pitch or bitumen/rubber emulsion and polyethylene sheeting. To prevent heat loss through solid ground floors especially near the edges a layer of thermal insulating materials is required. Materials suitable for floor insulation are dens resin-bonded mineral or glass fibre slabs and polystyrene and cork slabs. These should be placed above the damp-proof membrane and be turned up at the edges of the floor slab to prevent heat loss though the all. The insulation at the edges is necessary to brake the potential cold bridge and avoid condensation at the floor edges. The horizontal insulation is always necessary in conjunction with floor heating.