Axial-flexural behavior of FRP grid-reinforced geopolymer concrete sandwich wall panels enabled with FRP connectors

• Published in: Journal of Building Engineering Vol. 47; p. 103907
• Main Authors: Kumar, Sushil, Chen, Binqi, Xu, Yuye, Dai, Jian-Guo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.04.2022
• Subjects: BFRP reinforcement; Eccentric axial load; Geopolymer concrete; GFRP connector; Sandwich wall panel; Theoretical second-order analysis; Theoretical second-order analysis; Eccentric axial load; Sandwich wall panel; GFRP connector; Geopolymer concrete; BFRP reinforcement
• ISSN: 2352-7102; 2352-7102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103907

This paper presents experimental and theoretical investigations conducted on a novel precast concrete sandwich wall panel (SWP) subjected to eccentric axial loading. The proposed SWP is composed of geopolymer concrete wythes which were embedded with basalt fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars/grids. Hollow Glass FRP (GFRP) tubes were used as connectors. Nine such SWPs were prefabricated and tested. The key design test parameters considered were slenderness ratio of the SWP, load eccentricity, and type of longitudinal reinforcement (FRP bar or grid) in wythes. The failure modes, load-deformation behavior, and load-strain behavior were studied and reported. It was found that the axial load capacities of the eccentrically loaded SWPs subject to load eccentricity-to-sectional thickness ratios of 0.15, 0.45, and 0.63 were reduced by 35%, 75%, and 85% (average of the load capacity values for the slender and squat SWPs), respectively, compared to their counterpart concentrically loaded SWPs. A second-order theoretical analysis was also conducted to obtain the axial load-moment interaction curves of equivalently assumed sections, and the outcomes were compared with the experimental ones to validate the modeling. •A new type of sandwich wall panel (SWP) consisting of BFRP-reinforced geopolymer whythes and FRP connector was studied.•The SWPs with different slenderness and load eccentricity were subjected to axial loading.•The load-deflection curves and strain development in BFRP and concrete were carefully investigated and discussed.•A theoretical second-order analysis was conducted to predict the M − N envelopes of the SWPs.