Analysis of precast concrete sandwich wall panels

Abstract

Precast concrete sandwich panels are commonly used on building exteriors. They are typically composed of two concrete wythes that surround rigid insulation. They are advantageous as they provide both structural and thermal resistance. The structural response of sandwich panels is heavily influenced by shear connectors that link the wythes together. The analysis of the panels can be done using various softwares but this can be uneconomical for the small scale industries. Therefore, an approach is made by analysing the same using excel. Also the use of Precast Concrete Sandwich Wall Panels is not yet studied quite well in our country and no such codes are available for this only some guidelines are provided by the PCI committee. There are various problems related with the use of fully composite and fully non-composite panels, therefore an approach for the use of partially composite panels is made. Keywords: sandwich panels, wythes, precast, partially composite panel.