International Conference On Concrete engineering and Technology (2004)

Universiti Malaya

PRECAST REINFORCED CONCRETE SANDWICH PANEL AS AN

A. Benayoune1, Abdul Aziz Abdul Samad2, D.N. Trikha3, Abang Abdullah Abang Ali4,
A. Monayem Akhand5
1
Lecturer, Dept. of MFA, University of Kuala Lumpur-MFI campus
2
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, KUiTTHO
3
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, UPM
4
Professor& Director, Housing Research Centre, UPM
5
Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Universiti Tenega Nasional
Tel: + (603) 8926 2022 Fax: + (603) 8925 8845
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT Malaysia needs to produce affordable quality homes to house the country’s growing population and
meets demands arising from migration of people to economic centres in the urban areas. The country is therefore
looking for suitable alternatives to conventional building systems to provide affordable quality housing to its citizens.
As a part of this effort, the civil engineering department at the Universiti Putra Malaysia, has undertaken extensive
experimental and theoretical investigations to develop a load bearing system using Precast Concrete Sandwich Panel
(PCSP). A description of these investigations is presented in this paper. The paper also concludes with some major
results and a discussion of further research is provided.

1. INTRODUCTION

Housing remains a big challenge for many governments, especially in the developing countries of the world.
The problem is aggravated by fast increasing population, migration of rural masses into the city and industrial
centers and demands for enhanced quality of life. It is difficult to respond to this challenge with traditional
building construction systems, as it is essential to meet the housing demand in a short time without sacrificing
quality. Due to this inadequacy of traditional building construction systems, new building systems started to
appear at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the Western World seems to have largely overcome the
housing shortage, but the problem remains intractable in the developing countries because of financial
constraints and lack of appropriate technologies1.

Industrialised Building Systems (IBS), defined as building systems in which components, prefabricated at site or
in a factory and then assembled to form a complete structure with minimum in-situ construction, are destined to
provide a solution to this multi-dimensional problem, especially since the buildings constructed using this
alternative method of construction have a shorter construction time with the additional advantages of strength,
integrity, durability, indoor thermal comfort and labour saving.. Industrialised construction is carried out in two
stages: manufacture of components in a permanent factory or in a workshop or a temporary casting yard near the
site of construction and assembly and erection of these precast elements at the construction sites. After assembly
of components, they generally require no or only very little finishing. Compared with monolithically cast in-situ
concrete structures, precast concrete allows for relatively simple repetitive handling, so that unskilled and semi-
unskilled labour can produce high quality products. Furthermore, the concern regarding quality control is
transferred from the building site, with all its problems, to the designer’s desk and the factory.

For an industrialised building system to be viable, it must have the following three attributes:

• It must satisfy all structural engineering related requirements such as strength, and integrity under
imposed loads for the intended storey heights.

• It must be generally economical as compared to conventional systems. This entails, not only cost of
materials and labour, but also speed (ease) of construction.
 • It must exhibit superior material properties and thermal characteristics compared to conventional
systems.

The present paper is limited to cover all issues related to the first attribute. It gives a brief description of research
works carried out in Civil engineering department, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The Structural behaviour of
PCSP when used as building element suitable for low-rise walk-up apartments together with the major findings
and recommendations for future research are presented.

2. PRECAST CONCRETE SANDWICH PANEL (PCSP)

Precast concrete wall panel which is currently being used as cladding or curtain walls, does not take any
advantage of the panel’s structural capabilities. Non-load bearing precast concrete cladding is noted for its
diversity of expression as well as its desirable thermal, acoustic and fire resistant properties. However, it is
commonly overlooked that precast concrete elements normally used as cladding applications, such as sandwich
wall panels, solid panels and spandrel panels, possess considerable inherent structural capacity. The mandatory
amount of reinforcement required to handle and erect a precast component is often more than necessary for
carrying imposed loads in case of low or medium-rise structures. Thus, with relatively few modifications, many
cladding panels can function as load bearing elements. As with all precast concrete applications, further
economies can be realized if the panels are repetitive. By making panels as large as possible, numerous
economies are realized: the number of panels is reduced and fewer joints (waterproofing requirements), lower
erection cost, and fewer connections are required.

Precast Concrete Sandwich Wall Panels (PCSP) function as efficiently as precast solid wall panels but differ in
their build-up. Interest in sandwich panels as load-bearing wall panels has been growing over the past few years
because manufacturers are looking for more viable products and architects/engineers are pleased with the
structural and energy performance, and aesthetics of the sandwich panels. In addition, it has been found that the
use of sandwich panels allows the projects to be quicker “dried in” allowing other trades to work in clean and
comfortable environment6. PCSP acting as load bearing elements are structurally efficient providing economical
means of transferring floor and roof loads to the foundations. A PCSP consists of a layer of insulation material
sandwiched between two concrete wythes, which are connected by various types of shear connectors (Figure 1).

Steel mesh

Steel truss connector

Insulating
layer

Concrete wythes

Figure 1. Precast Concrete Sandwich Panel

Depending on the degree of composite action achieved, a PCSP may be regarded as fully composite, semi-
composite or non-composite panel. Composite panels are designed and manufactured so that the two concrete
wythes act together as a single unit to resist applied loads till failure. This is accomplished by providing full
shear transfer between the two wythes. A fully composite panel fails either by concrete crushing or steel
reinforcement yielding without failure of the connectors. The fully composite action is reflected in strains
remaining essentially linear across the panel thickness, as shown in Figure 2(a). A PCSP is considered to be
non-composite if its concrete wythes are tied with connectors that do not have the capacity for longitudinal shear
transfer. In this case, the two wythes act independently. The variation of strains across the thickness, in case of
non-composite panels is shown in Figure 2(c). In some cases, the panel is designed such that only one wythe,
called the structural wythe, resists the applied load as shown in Figure 2(d). A PCSP is considered partially
composite if its connectors can transfer only a fraction of the longitudinal shear as required for the fully
composite action. In this case, the connectors fail before concrete crushing or yielding of the reinforcement.
Figure 2(b) describes the variation of strain across the panel thickness in such a case.

Concrete wythe

Bending
Insulation Moment
Layer

Concrete wythe

(a) Fully (b) Partially (c) Non-composite, (d) Non-composite,

Extensive experimental and theoretical studies were carried out in the Civil Engineering laboratory, Universiti
Putra Malaysia1,2,3,4,5. The aim of these studies is to investigate the structural performance of precast concrete
sandwich panels (PCSP) for the development of a load-bearing wall system for use in low-rise buildings. The
strength characteristics of PCSP under imposed loads were investigated and the conditions for achieving
composite behaviour were observed. In order to reduce the number of different types of elements necessary in
the building system, a study on the structural behaviour of PCSP under lateral load was also undertaken so that
PCSP can be used as flooring elements, although it is possible to use any conventional flooring system with
PCSP as walling units. The vertical connections (connections between wall panels) determine the rigidity and
the robustness of the buidng system. Cast-in-situ connections were adopted for investigation.

2.1 PCSP as Wall

The PCSP was examined for its structural performance, as measured by load/deflection behaviour, strain
distribution across the thickness of the panel and efficiency of shear connectors and their role in transferring
loads from one wythe to the other as well as in ensuring the overall stability of the panel. Behaviour under both
axial and eccentric loads was studied. Loads were applied and gradually increased till failure. The influence of
wall slenderness ratio on the ultimate strength of the panels was investigated by varying the height of the walls.
The shear connector rigidity as defined by the diameter of the connector’s bar was also varied to find the
optimum bar diameter which ensured stability and high composite action.

Full-scale tests on PCSP under axial and eccentric loads were conducted to obtain test data to validate the
proposed FEM model for assessing theoretically the structural behaviour of the sandwich panels under axial and
eccentric loads1. The experimental study consisted of twelve specimens with different heights. The test results
were analysed in the context of axial load bearing capacity, load-deformation profiles, load-strain curves,
cracking patterns and mode of failure. As the concrete wythes were relatively thin, they were susceptible to
buckling especially when the shear connectors did not possess sufficient rigidity for composite action of the
panel. The PCSP, therefore, was considered as slender and its analysis had to include the consideration of
stability.

The importance of the stiffness of the shear connectors, as measured by the bar diameter was emphasised by
establishing minimum needs for the composite action. Equation adopted by ACI equation and expressions
proposed by various researchers developed for RC wall strength design were used to analyse the PCSP.
Comparisons between results obtained using the classical expressions, FEM results and results obtained
experimentally were made to verify whether the classical expressions developed for solid wall were also
applicable for PCSP walls.
Opening in the form of doors and windows in the sandwich panels may cause stress concentrations. This effect
and the stress distribution in the panels in the presence of openings were studied by using a 2-D FEM model.
For this purpose, panels with different types of openings at different locations were subjected to typical service
and ultimate design loads as a uniform load at the top edge of the model.

It was concluded that:

• The PCSP can be used safely for low-rise building as their ultimate strength under axial and eccentric loads
was at least four times greater than that required to withstand typical 5-storey ultimate design loads.

• The ultimate strength of the PCSP was found comparable to the strength for full composite panels. The
panels achieved a high composite behaviour at service and acted in partially composite manner at the
ultimate stage.

• The ultimate load was found to decrease with an increase in slenderness ratio (H/t). Under axial load, the
ultimate strength decreased by only 11% when the slenderness ratio increased from 10 to 26. Under
eccentrically applied load however the decrease was more significant. It was found to be 46% for an
increase of slenderness ratio from 10 to 26.

• The strength of the precast reinforced concrete sandwich panels was found to be governed by either
material failure through crushing or buckling. The buckling load could be lower than the crushing load if
the shear connectors did not have sufficient rigidity leading to premature failure. The buckling strength was
affected significantly by the slenderness ratio, the shear connector stiffness and the eccentricity of the load
applied.

• The classical analysis using conventional expressions gives satisfactory results so that the proposed
empirical expressions can be used safely to assess the ultimate load bearing capacity of the eccentrically
loaded panels having H ≤ 25 .
t

• Design guidelines in the form of classical expressions were provided.

2.2 PCSP as Slab

The investigation was extended to explore the feasibility of PCSP as slab1,2. Many issues related to flexural
behaviour and design of PCSP such as stress estimation in both concrete wythes, composite action desired and
prediction of the forces in shear connectors were addressed.

Two FEM models (2-D and 3-D models) were proposed to simulate the behaviour of PCSP as one-way and
two-way acting slab respectively. The FEM proposed models were first validated by experimental data from
Ellinna2. A parametric study was carried out to study the influence of shear the number of connectors on the
ultimate strength and the compositeness of the PCSP working as slab. The investigation included a study of
strain distribution, degree of composite action at ultimate and elastic stages of the PCSP, their ultimate strength
capacities, load-deflection profiles, and load-stress relationships. A method for the determination of the
interface shear force, required for the design of shear truss-shaped connectors was presented. Different aspect
ratios of slabs were also chosen to study the effect of the placement and the orientation of shear connectors on
the behaviour of PCSP.

• Results obtained by classical elastic theory assuming fully composite action and FEM results were found to
be reasonably accurate in predicting ultimate loads and lateral deflections and were comparable to
experimental results obtained by Ellinna2. In general the computational data were in close agreement with
the experimental results.

• At the linear stage, the developed 2-D FEM model can be used to evaluate the amount of composite
behaviour provided by the panel under service load. An expression to quantify the degree of composite
action was also proposed.
2.3 PCSP Connections

The main objective of this part of the study is to investigate theoretically and experimentally the behaviour of
vertical and horizontal L connections typically used in practice for load bearing wall panels construction. Four
types of connections were analysed namely, connection A, B, C and D, each connection type differing in shape
and length of the anchor steel bar in the connection, which for type A, B, C and D are 105mm, 190mm, 285mm
and 289mm respectively. Type D, however has a closed loop extending from the wire mesh in the reinforced
concrete wythe. The behaviour of typical vertical connections between two precast concrete sandwich panels
under shear and bending using the Finite Element Method was carried out. The non-linear FEM models
simulated the experimental specimens carried out by Pang3. A comparison between FEM results and Pang’s
experimentally obtained results was made. A study on horizontal L connection subjected to combined shear and
bending moment was carried out. Ductility of the connection, strain in anchor steel bars, strain in steel, strains
variations across the critical zone together with crack pattern and mode of failure were observed.

• The FEM proposed models predicted with a high degree of accuracy the general behaviour of the
connections under moment and shear forces.

• All connection types showed brittle manner under pure shear force.

• Connection Type D was found to exhibit superior structural behaviour than other types of connections with
regards to the structural strength, the degree of reserve strength and ductility. Hence this connection was
recommended.

PCSP

PCP
105 105

85

(a) Connection type A (b) Connection type B

All dimensions in mm

85 105 105

95 79

(c) Connection type C (d) Connection type D

Figure 3. Connection reinforcement details of the cast in-situ connections

The following issues are in need of further research:

• Full-scale test of PCSP specimens with different size openings at different locations under axial load is
needed to demonstrate the efficiency of the recommended steel reinforcement details around the
openings.

• Fire rating of the PCSP requires testing of loaded specimen under fire, since the steel shear connectors
can lose a large portion of their strength when exposed to fire or high temperature.

• Analysis and testing of the thermal insulation properties of the panels are needed to prove thermal
efficiency of the system.

• Experiment test on PCSP connections need to be conducted to study the strength and deformation
behaviour of such connections under cyclic loads. This is very significant for the application of PCSP
in seismic regions and/or in strong wind areas.

4. CONCLUSION

The paper presented a description and the numerous advantages of Industrialised Building System (IBS) over
the traditional building construction systems. It emphasized the need to develop an indigenous IBS in order to
meet the shortage of housing demand in a short time without sacrificing quality. The paper also gave a
description of the research work carried out in the department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
to come up with a complete and consistent industrialized building system using PCSP. A presentation of these
investigations together with the major findings was discussed. Further research work in need to be addressed
was provided. Based on these investigations, it can be concluded that PCSP is a viable and economical
industrialised building System.

REFERENCES

1 Benayoune, A., "Precast Concrete Sandwich Panel as a Building System," Ph.D. Dissertation, Department
of Civil Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 2003.
2 Ellinna, S.H.M., “The Behaviour of Precast Concrete Sandwich panel as Slab,” B.E. Report, Universiti
Putra Malaysia, 2000.
3 Pang Siaw Chin, “A Study of In-Situ L-Connections for Precast Concrete Sandwich Panels,” Universiti
Putra Malaysia, MSc., 2002
4 Farah Nora, A.A.A, “Structural Behaviour of Precast Concrete Sandwich Panels with Openings under
axial load,” Universiti Putra Malaysia, MSc., 2002.
5 Lian Shim Wai, “Limit State Design of Pre-cast Concrete Sandwich Panel,” B.E. Report , Universiti Putra
Malaysia, 1999.
6 PCI Committee on Pre-cast Concrete Sandwich Wall Panels, “State of the Art of Precvast/Prestresses
Sandwich Wall Panels,” PCI JOURNAL, V. 42, N0. 2, March-April 1997, pp. 92-133.