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000563
2026-06-01

Design and Evaluation of Locally Supported Slabs Using Various Calculation Programs

The bachelor thesis deals with the punching shear design of reinforced concrete slabs and compares the manual calculation according to the 1st and 2nd generation of Eurocode with the results of the software RFEM 6, SCIA Engineer 25, and FIN EC 2026. While both generations of the standard lead to the same number of shear elements, the 2nd generation shows a higher design ratio. Engineering programs allow for a more economical design compared to manual calculation, and the structural analysis further shows that increasing the board thickness is more effective for increasing the punching shear capacity than increasing the column dimensions.
Author
Michaela Rotterová
University

Abstract

Abstract This bachelor thesis deals with the design and assessment of locally supported reinforced concrete slabs against punching shear. The main objective is to compare different methods and tools for punching shear assessment and shear reinforcement design, followed by an illustrative analysis of the influence of slab thickness and column dimensions on punching shear. The calculations are performed on a specified reinforced concrete structure.

On this structure, a comparison is made between the manual calculation according to the 1st and 2nd generation of the Eurocode (ČSN EN 1992-1-1) and the outputs from the engineering software RFEM 6, SCIA Engineer 25, and FIN EC 2026. The comparison of the manual calculation according to the 1st and 2nd generation of the Eurocode (ČSN EN 1992-1-1) shows that although the resulting number of shear rails and studs is identical, the results obtained by the manual calculation according to the 2nd generation exhibit a higher degree of utilization. This difference is a consequence of the different theoretical approach of the two standards. The calculation in the engineering software was performed only according to the 1st generation of the Eurocode, as the 2nd generation had not yet been implemented into the programs. The comparison of the results from the manual calculation (according to the 1st generation of the Eurocode) and the engineering software shows that a more economical design can be obtained using the engineering software.

In the next part of the thesis, an illustrative analysis of the influence of slab thickness and column dimensions on punching shear capacity for elements without shear reinforcement was performed. The results show that increasing the slab thickness, for example in the form of drop panels, has a more significant effect on the capacity than increasing the column dimensions.

The overall evaluation shows that engineering software provides savings in shear reinforcement compared to the manual procedure. The illustrative analysis shows that adjusting the slab thickness represents a more effective solution for increasing the punching shear capacity than increasing the column perimeter.

This bachelor thesis is entered in the Dlubal Talent ČVUT 2026 competition.


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