Slab types
Membrane, Plate or Shell
Three-dimensional analysis of building structure is a very complex problem and solution of this
problem is often obtained via finite element method. This technical note presents a set of finite
elements used for the modelling of planar elements: membrane, plate or shell, taking into
account a set of rules and conditions.
Theoretical background
• Membrane
Membrane-type behavior: only in-plane membrane stiffness is provided for the section.
• Plate
Plate-type behavior: only out-of-plane plate bending stiffness is provided for the section.
• Shell
Shell-type behavior: both in-plane membrane stiffness and out-of-plane plate bending
stiffness are provided for the section.
If a slab is defined as a Membrane, it will have no out-of-plane stiffness; therefore it cannot
contribute to resist bending moment. On the other hand, if it is defined as a Plate section, it will
have full out-of-plane stiffness, therefore it will be subjected to bending moments, but it will
have no in-plane stiffness to receive horizontal loads.
The Shell type will combine the rigidities from both Membrane and Plate.
Analysis in ADVANCE Design
• Strain on slabs
The load which is applied to a membrane object is transferred directly to the supporting structural
objects, whereas meshed shell objects have bending stiffness and therefore resist a portion of the
load through flexural deformation. As a result, less load will be available to transfer to beams
located under a shell, while 100% of the load will transfer through a membrane.
Three analysis sets for the example building are considered using different modelling techniques
of the slabs:
– Slab defined as a “Membrane”
– Slab defined as a “Plate”
– Slab defined as a “Shell”
Membrane:
Plate and Shell:
Influence of the slab types on supporting structural elements
As a result of no contribution from the membrane, the beams from the membrane assignment
model have bigger bending moments than in others. Also, the thicker the slab, the lesser
bending moments in shell or plate model beams.
Membrane:
Plate:
Shell:
Global influences of the slab types on the structure
When defining a slab as a membrane, because it only has in-plane stiffness, it also causes the
Building global stiffness reduced. As a result, the displacements, story drifts and period of a
Membrane model are also larger than a Shell model.
The typical structural model of the example building is shown in Figure 1 and column and beam
cross-section dimensions and the slab thickness are given in Table 1.
The cross-sections of the vertical structural members are assumed constant over the entire
height. The building has three storeys with a typical storey height of 4.00 m. Reinforced
Concrete of grade C25/30 is used for structural members. The storey masses are formed using
appropriate distribution of the slabs loads. The slab loads are composed of self-weight (G) and
live load of 5 kN/m2 (Q).
1 Columns (mm) 500x500
2 Beams (mm) 300x600
3 Slab thickness (mm) 150
Two analysis sets for the example building are considered using different modelling techniques
of the slabs:
1. Slab defined as a “Membrane”
2. Slab defined as a “Shell”
For each set of the above models, slabs internal forces are computed for earthquake loading in
X direction (EX), the modal masses being obtained by combining static loads (1G + 0.4Q).
Displacements
Membrane Shell
Storey drifts
• Membrane:
• Shell:
Period of vibration
Membrane Shell
Notes: The Membrane is used to transfer the loads to the beams without considering the
strength contributed by the slab. It distributes the loads in a yield like manner, for
example trapezoidal and triangular loads to the beams. The membrane will work if
there are beams on the slab’s contour.
For cases where we know the Membrane will not work and we wish for our design
philosophy to be constant (for example, ignoring the slab strength), the Membrane
can be replaced with a windwall with the “Rigid Diaphragm” property active, as it
handles complex geometry and non-supporting edges.
