Fire Tests on the Pre-cast Concrete Sandwich Walls with GFRP Connectors

摘要

Precast concrete sandwich panels are known for their inherently good thermal, acoustic and structural properties. When using glass fibre reinforced polymeric (GFRP) connectors coupling the concrete layers, excellent thermal properties and high structural stiffness can be achieved. However lack of knowledge on fire resistance of sandwich panels and fire bahavior of GFRP connectors remain an important issue limiting their wider use in the construction. This paper presents results of fire tests performed on real size sandwich walls in terms of fire behavior of the GFRP connectors and its impact on fire resistance of the entire walls. All the three tested sandwich walls met the REI 120-M criteria for load-bearing fire walls. The connectors showed in general good fire resistance and did not contribute to fire spread. The tests delivered important information on structural behaviour of sandwich walls with GFRP connectors loaded with fire and vertical eccentric and impact load.