Ultra-thin concrete slabs with perforated metal base

This paper presents an innovative approach to the production of thin-walled HPC elements, with a particular focus on ultra-thin horizontally oriented slabs subjected primarily to uniaxial bending. It is a technology designed primarily for design furniture elements such as table tops, counter tops and shelves. The technology consists of casting a thin layer of concrete matrix in a thickness of only a few millimeters on the underlying perforated metal sheet. The metal sheet base provides the bending strength of the element and its perforations grant sufficient cohesion between the metal sheet and the concrete matrix. The result is substantial material savings and also significantly easier handling of the resulting element. The paper presents results of specimens subjected to four-point bending and method of their failure. Specimens without additional reinforcement as well as specimens with the admixture of scattered fiber reinforcement were tested. The article also deals with the possibility of improving the cohesion between the perforated sheet and the concrete matrix. The perforated metal sheet is in this case treated with a surface coating of a polymer matrix with fine quartz sand.