The use of precast concrete sandwich panels has increased significantly in the last few years due to their superior thermal and acoustic insulation properties. New load carrying panels are composed of two reinforced concrete layers separated by a layer of rigid foam insulation. They rely on the composite action between the layers that is achieved using continuous diagonal bent bars made from fibre reinforced plastics that enforces a truss mechanism to develop. This paper aims to investigate the influence of various supporting conditions that depend on the stiffness of the supporting system on their behavior and modes of failure. A newly developed mathematical model is used in this study, which accounts for cracking, tension-stiffening, nonlinear softening of the concrete in compression, yielding of the steel reinforcement, and rupture and buckling of the shear connectors. The results explain the structural behavior under various stiffnesses of the supporting system, and provide recommendations for their design.
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