Limit load equations for partially restrained RC slabs

The expertise required in the judicious use of nonlinear finite element (FE) packages for design-assistance purposes is not widely available to the average engineer, whose sole aim may be to obtain an estimate for a single design parameter, such as the limit load capacity of a structure. Such a parameter may be required for the design of a proposed reinforced concrete (RC) floor slab or bridge deck with a given set of geometrical and material details. This paper outlines a procedure for developing design-assistance equations for carrying out such predictions for partially restrained RC slabs under uniformly distributed loading condition, based on a database of FE results previously generated from a large number of