Precast Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel

Precast Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel (PFCSP) has the ability to act as a wall bearing and flooring element that complies with the requirements of structural efficiency of building components. However, the development of housing system remains a major worldwide challenge for construction industries due to financial constraints and lack of appropriate technologies. Also, the current concrete sandwich panels are acting in a semi-composite behavior and considered as heavy structure element. Therefore, a further study to improve the structural composite performance with a proper arrangement of shear connectors is extremely needed. The objective of this study was to determine the parameters related to structural behavior of PFCSP served as load-bearing walls and floor systems. An experimental was conducted and a FEA parametric analysis has been carried out for the purpose of validation. However, the ultimate bearing capacity of the PFCSP was found at least 9 times larger than that required to resist typical two-storey ultimate design loads. Therefore, it is concluded that the developed PFCSP is applicable and safe for load-bearing wall system and has practical use as floor slabs.