Ribbed flat slabs or more popularly known nowadays as waffle slabs are used extensively in the construction industry. However both the BS 8110 and ACI 318-89 code recommends the analysis and design of this type of structure be the same as for solid flat slab. Several studies have shown that waffle slabs behave differently compared to solid flat slab. This paper deals with an elastic analysis using the grillage analogy of an edge panel waffle slab. The bending moment and shear force distribution along the critical section of the slab were obtained using a finite element package known as PAFEC. An increase in solid section surrounding the edge column and rib width along the free edge was found to reduce the bending moment and shear force at the critical section. A comparison of the strip moments of the slabs using the grillage analogy were made with the strips moment from the code coefficients. Both the BS 8110 and ACI 318-89 seems to provide sufficient strength in the hogging and sagging region of the slab.

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