Title

Testing and Analysis of Trimmer Brackets (Headers) Incorporated Within Hollow Core Floors’

Authors

David F. Hodge, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Brian O'Rourke, Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
John J. Murphy, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Joseph R. Harrington, School of Building & Civil Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8131-4762

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering | Structural Engineering

Publication Details

ACI Structural Journal

© American Concrete Institute 2016

Abstract

One method of forming large openings within hollow-core (HC) floors is to use steel trimmer brackets (headers). These brackets span between slabs on either side of an opening, thereby providing support for a shorter slab. These brackets are referred to in design documents such as the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Manual for the Design of Hollow Core Slabs, but no clear guidance is given on their design. While it is clear that the bracket has to support the self-weight of the slab, it is unclear what level of additional live load is supported by the bracket once the concrete keyway joints between the slabs are filled and have gained strength. This paper details a testing program and an extensive finite element (FE) analysis study that have been undertaken to establish the magnitude of live loads applied to the brackets together with the load-transfer interaction at the slab bracket interface.

Recommended Citation

David F. Hodge, B. D. O., John J. Murphy, and Joseph R. Harrington (2016) ‘Testing and Analysis of Trimmer Brackets (Headers) Incorporated within Hollow-Core Floors’, ACI Structural Journal, 113(6). doi: 10.14359/51689016.