In-floor radiant heating in topping slab

[bbartlet]

We are designing a dorm with 8" precast slabs and the mechanical engineers want to use in-floor radiant heating in the topping slab.

Does anyone have any experience with this or know where I could find any information on whether or not the topping slab can still be considered a composite topping? We are told that the o.d. of the tubing is roughly 5/8" - 3/4". We are looking at using a 4" topping, but don't know how the in-floor tubing will affect it's ability to be considered a composite topping.

 

[LECT12]

check with the mechanical engineer to see if he needs foam insulation. ask them to run a number for heat loss. the presence of a foam layer will mean you get no composite action at all.

 

[BAretired]

Without foam insulation, the bond should not be affected by either the presence of the tubing or the heat given off. The precast slabs need to be intentionally roughened.

BA

 

[bbartlet]

There is no foam insulation. I am not exactly familiar with the installation procedure for the infloor piping, but we could see the tubing being installed directly on top of the precast and the topping poured over it. If this is the case, would the bonding be impaired even with the standard roughing of the precast? So we just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this situation. I appreciate your replies.