Screw Anchors Used as Post-Installed Shear Reinforcement in Flat Slabs

More restrictive requirements of new codes, increasing of imposed loads connected with usage change of the existing structures, errors in design process or during execution can lead to necessity of the strengthening of the existing buildings. In paper, the new and modern strengthening system of flat slabs against punching shear using screw anchors is presented. Screw anchors are installed from lower face of the slab into vertically drilled boreholes. After the installation, the screw anchors operate as punching shear reinforcement. The advantages of the system are significant resistance and deformation capacity increment of the flat slab as well as easy and fast installation with no need to drill through the whole slab thickness and access the upper face of the slab. System is suitable for strengthening of office buildings, since removal of the flooring is not needed or in parking garages, where the water resistance is not disturbed by the system. Moreover, paper deals with special problems that are connected with design of the presented strengthening system e.g. considering of load (deformation) level of the slab at the moment of strengthening, performance of the screw anchors in cracked and non-cracked concrete and anchorage conditions improvement of the screw anchors by application of glue or mortar into the borehole prior the screw installation.