Reinforced bubble deck slab is a structural slab that contains high-density polyethene (HDPE) hollow spherical plastic bubble balls forming a slab with less concrete volume compared to the normal reinforced concrete slab. Reducing certain volumes of concrete from 30 to 50% will affect the performance of the slab structure in particular the flexural and shear capacity. Thus, in this research the effect of area loading on the flexural performance of bubble deck slabs is investigated by considering the slabs to be one-way supported slabs. The square deck slabs used were 1200mm by 1200mm for the width and length with a thickness of 230mm. A total of 36 HDPE hollow spherical plastic bubble balls with a 180mm diameter were placed in the bubble deck slab specimens which reduce significantly the structural self-weight. In this paper, the experimental results of the flexural performance of the reinforced bubble deck slab, (BD slab) compared with a conventional reinforced concrete slab, simply supported, subjected to static area loadings, are presented. The effect of the load applied in the experiments on the flexural strength, bending stiffness and load-deflection behaviour of both types of slabs have been discussed including the crack propagation and crack pattern. In general, the conventionally reinforced solid slab, simply supported (SS) has a 60.6% higher resistance against bending deformation than the reinforced bubble deck slab.

The reinforced bubble deck slab or BubbleDeck is a unique system that improves the building design and performance of structures. This slab structure is a reinforced concrete structure that contains high-density polyethene (HDPE) hollow spherical plastic bubble balls with less concrete volume compared to a normal reinforced concrete slab. The system can facilitate up to a 50% longer span compared to a conventional reinforced concrete solid slab. But, eliminating the deadweight concrete may affect the actual performance of the slab structure such as its flexural and shear capacity. Thus, this paper investigates the effect of area loading and punching shear loading on the reinforced bubble deck slab in terms of flexural performance. The square slabs with 1200mm by 1200mm for width and length with a thickness of 230mm were designed as a one-way supported slab. A total of 36 HDPE hollow spherical plastic bubble balls with a 180mm diameter were placed in each bubble deck slab specimen. The high yield steel DA6 BRC reinforcement steel bar meshes and Grade-30 concrete were used for the slabs. The experimental results of the flexural performance of the reinforced bubble deck slab that were subjected to the static area and punching shear loadings are presented. The effect of the load applied in the experiments on the slabs such as flexural strength, bending stiffness and load-deflection behaviour were discussed including the crack propagation and crack pattern.