Performance of Industrial Concrete Slab on Ground in Particular Edge Effects

The design of warehouse slabs on grade is often controlled by deformation requirements and in particular, floor tilts and curvatures. These deformations can be experienced by the slab either due to the imposed loads and/or reactive soil movements.

In this paper, the authors discuss measures around the building edges typically adopted to control shrink-swell movements and present some field survey data showing the shrink-swell movements on the warehouse slabs internally. The ability of rigid pavements (e.g., concrete pavements) and flexible pavements (e.g., bituminous pavements) to act as effective seals to mitigate the shrink-swell effect on the edge of these warehouse slabs is discussed. Further the paper shows examples where failure to provide an effective seal can result in slab performance outside the typically required range, especially in more sophisticated racking systems such as the Automated Storage and Racking System (ASRS). The paper also discusses the importance of maintenance of the external pavement of a building (e.g., sealant and joints) throughout the life of the building to limit water ingress to the subgrade and to achieve an effective “seal” to mitigate the shrink-swell effect on the edge of these warehouse slabs.