Effect of Lapping in Reinforcement in One-Way Reinforced Concrete Slabs with Welded Wire

This paper investigates the effect of lapping in reinforcement under pure bending in welded wire-reinforced (WWR) slab panels in comparison with slabs reinforced with 10 mm dia conventional deformed rebar. Six one-way simply supported slabs with a span of 2.133 m, width of 0.762 m and reinforced with 6 mm dia WWR, 8 mm dia WWR, and 10 mm dia conventional deformed rebar were experimentally evaluated to compare the flexure capacity. The results show that 6 mm dia WWR and 8 mm dia WWR specimens with and without lapping in reinforcement exhibited similar load-carrying capacity in terms of flexural strength. But in case of 10 mm dia conventional deformed rebar, flexural strength is a little higher for the slabs reinforced with lapping in reinforcement. Although each of the slab panels were designed using equivalent reinforcement and similar grade, a higher load-carrying capacity of the slab panels was recorded due to increase in diameter and ductility class of rebars. One of the major characteristics of WWR is uniform crack distribution which is decreased considerably due to the addition of lapping in reinforcement. Conventional 10 mm dia deformed bar does not exhibit uniform crack distribution during application of load. Each of the slab panels conformed to the allowable deflection criteria at the serviceability limit state. Based on the experimental findings of this study, lapping in reinforcement of one-way RC slabs reinforced with WWR has insignificant effect on flexural capacity but the uniform crack distribution property of WWR is significantly reduced due to lapping in reinforcement.