Title:
Punching Shear Design Methods for Reinforced Concrete Slab-Wall Connections
Author(s):
Graeme J. Milligan, Maria Anna Polak, and Cory Zurell
Publication:
Structural Journal
Volume:
122
Issue:
6
Appears on pages(s):
23-38
Keywords:
column aspect ratio; design codes; elongated supports; finite element analysis; punching shear; rectangular columns; reinforced concrete slabs; slab-wall connections
DOI:
10.14359/51746718
Date:
9/1/2025
Abstract:
Due to lateral load considerations, reinforced concrete flat plates—where the slab is directly supported on columns—are usually combined with other structural elements, such as shear walls. In such structures, the slab-column connections are typically designed to resist gravity loads only and the shear walls are designed to resist both gravity and lateral loads. Therefore, the shear walls and the slab-wall connections (SWCs) are part of both the gravity and lateral force-resisting systems. While past research has demonstrated that punching shear failures of SWCs can occur, the related research is limited; therefore, design codes typically do not include specific punching shear provisions for SWCs. In this paper, a punching shear design method for interior SWCs subjected to gravity load only, developed from finite element analysis results, is presented. The presented design method is an extension of those developed for interior rectangular slab-column connections.
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