Demountable Connection to Achieve Diaphragm Action

In the Netherlands, government projections for new housing are estimated at 1 million new homes by 2030. There is also a need to limit national carbon emissions by 2030 and for the country to become carbon neutral by 2050. These two tasks are in opposition, as the conventional construction process has a high environmental influence. One possible solution is to reuse whole buildings for multiple lifetimes; however, this is usually not opted for. A second option is to reuse whole structural elements. As there is still limited experience with the reuse of concrete structural elements, this paper aims to aid this process. In the Netherlands, hollow-core slabs (HCS) are the most widely used standardized element type. The large amounts of material mass required and CO2 emissions resulting from manufacturing HCS make them a high-value target for reuse. This paper investigates how HCSs can be reused, with a focus on the connections between elements. Due to the high-strength mortar often used in longitudinal joints between HCS panels, extracted slabs in the Netherlands are often sawn apart, giving them a rectangular cross-section. This means that, without suitable modification, traditional HCS connections are not viable during reuse, requiring alternative solutions. This paper presents the design process of a completely demountable dowel-type connection to provide diaphragm action and its experimental setup, taking into account the new geometry of the extracted HCSs.