Brick-and-Concrete Prefabricated Slab Structure

The brick-and-concrete prefabricated slab structure is a hybrid structural system where load-bearing is shared by brick walls and reinforced concrete beams, slabs, and other components. The vertical load-bearing elements are constructed from bricks or blocks, while the horizontal elements utilize prefabricated hollow slabs.

Advantages:

1. Simple Construction: Prefabricated hollow slabs can be manufactured in advance at factories and installed directly on-site, reducing the amount of wet work and shortening the construction period.
2. Low Cost: The material costs for bricks and prefabricated slabs are relatively low, and the construction process is straightforward, resulting in lower labor costs and overall economic efficiency.
3. Easy Access to Materials: Materials such as bricks, cement, and steel are widely available and easy to obtain, making this structure suitable for regions with limited resources.
4. Good Durability and Fire Resistance: Brick walls and concrete components are resistant to corrosion and aging, and bricks, being non-combustible, provide a high level of fire resistance.
5. Sound Insulation and Thermal Insulation: The thick brick walls effectively block sound transmission, while the hollow structure of the prefabricated slabs can be filled with insulation materials to enhance thermal performance.

Disadvantages:

1. Poor Integrity: The connections between the prefabricated slabs and walls or beams are weak, relying solely on local anchoring, which makes it difficult to form an integrated load-bearing system and results in insufficient resistance to deformation.
2. Weak Seismic Performance: Under seismic action, the prefabricated slabs are prone to detachment due to poor connections, and walls in stairwells and other areas are susceptible to collapse, posing safety risks.
3. High Self-Weight: The high density of bricks and concrete results in a significant self-weight of the structure, imposing higher demands on the foundation's bearing capacity and potentially increasing foundation costs.
4. High Labor Intensity: Although prefabricated slabs reduce some on-site work, bricklaying and component installation still require substantial manual labor, with a considerable amount of wet work (such as mortar mixing).

Application Limitations and Improvements:
This structure is typically limited to buildings of six stories or less. The overall integrity can be enhanced by incorporating structural columns and ring beams. However, since 2008, the country has gradually phased out prefabricated slabs and promoted cast-in-place slabs to improve seismic performance. Old buildings constructed from the 1970s to the 1990s often adopted this structure, which, while addressing housing needs at the time, has inherent deficiencies by current standards. These buildings require reinforcement and renovation (such as adding structural columns and ring beams or replacing with cast-in-place slabs) to meet safety requirements.