Investigation of the effect of openings of interior reinforced concrete flat slabs

Installation of building utilities often requires the creation of openings near existing slab–column connections. These openings reduce the concrete area that sustains the shear stresses, thus, the developed shear stresses are increased and contribute to the risk of punching shear failure. In this paper, nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) using a previously calibrated coupled plasticity‐damage model for concrete is performed for interior …