Some handy tips to work out the dead load of RCC slab

This is a very useful video tutorial for civil engineering students. In this video you will learn how to measure dead load of RCC slab. It is important for designing a RCC slab.

The tricks can also be applied for determining the dead load of column and beam.

Suppose, the length of the slab is 10 meter and width 5 meter. The thickness of the slab is taken as 150 mm or 0.15 m.

The perfect weight of the slab is determined with the following formula :-

Density for any object = Mass / Volume
Here, density stands for dead load.
Density of steel = 7850 kg /m³
Volume of RCC slab = Length x Breadth x Thickness

After putting all the values, we get the following result :-

10 x 5 x 0.15 = 7.5 m³

Volume of steel :-

The requirement of steel in a slab is roughly 0.5 to 1.5%. So, the average requirement will be roughly 1%.
The weight of steel = 1/100 x 7850 (as density of steel = 7850 kg/ m³)
So, in 1 meter the weight of steel = 78.50 kg/m³

Now, it is required to determine the volume of concrete as follow :-

Volume of cement concrete (cc) = Volume of RCC – Volume Of Steel = 7.5 – 0.075 = 7.425 m³
Now, volume of steel = 78.50 /7850 = 0.01 m³
78.50 x 7.5 (requirement of steel in 1m³ = 78.50 and volume of RCC = 7.5)
= 588.75 kg
So, weight of the steel = 588.75 kg

Now, the weight of steel is converted to volume as follow :-
= 588.75/7850 = 0.075 m³
The weight of cement concrete in slab = Volume of concrete x Density of concrete = 7.425 x 2400 = 17884.8 kg
Total self weight of RCC slab = The weight of cement concrete + The weight of steel

After putting all the values, we get the following result :-
17884.8 + 588.75 = 18473.55 kg
It is also defined as dead load.

Video Source: CE&T-Civil Engg & Technology