EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF PRECAST LIGHT-WEIGHT CONCRETE SANDWICH PANELS

J. Daniel Ronald Joseph, J. Prabakar, P. Alagusundaramoorthy

Abstract: Use of light-weight structural elements in buildings is becoming popular in the recent years. This paper presents the experimental and numerical studies carried out to understand the flexural behavior of prototype precast light-weight concrete sandwich panels under four-point bending. In the experimental study, two prototype panels were cast and tested. Transverse deflections of the panels were recorded during testing and the results are presented and discussed. Numerical studies were carried out using the general purpose finite element software ABAQUS. 8-noded linear brick element and 2-noded linear truss element were used to model the wythes and mesh reinforcements, respectively. Saenz model is used to model the behavior of concrete in compression. It is observed from the tests that, the panels behaved as composite elements until failure. Experiments indicate that the thickness of the panel affect the load carrying capacity of the concrete sandwich panel significantly. The load-deflection curves of the panels determined using numerical studies are comparable to that of the experimental results.

Keywords: Precast, Sandwich Panels, Light-Weight Panels, Expanded Polystyrene, Self Compacting Concrete

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2015.0425069