Crack Resistance of Insulated GRC-PC Integrated Composite Wall Panels under Different Environments: An Experimental Study

Dong Chen,Baoquan Cheng,Pengkun Li,Baojun Zhao,Qiong Wang,Huihua Chen

doi:10.3390/cryst11070775

Abstract

GRC-PC wall is a new type of integrated composite exterior wall with decorative and structural functions. It is formed by superimposing GRC surface layer on the outer leaf of prefabricated PC wall. Due to the complexity of indoor and outdoor environment and the difference of shrinkage performance between concrete and GRC materials, GRC surface layer in GRC-PC wall is prone to shrinkage and cracking, among which, the connection modes between GRC layer and PC layer and change of temperature and humidity have the greatest influence. Therefore, GRC material formula was adjusted, and seven experimental panels were produced. In view of the temperature and the humidity changes in different indoor and outdoor environments, the influences of different connection modes between GRC layer and PC layer on the material shrinkage performance were studied, and a one year material shrinkage performance experiment was conducted. The results show that, in indoor environment, the shrinkage of GRC layer and PC layer is relatively gentle due to the small range of temperature and humidity change. Compared with the indoor environment, the changes of outdoor temperature and humidity are more drastic. The shrinkage changes of GRC layer and PC layer show great fluctuations, but the overall strain value is still within a reasonable range, and there is no crack. At the same time, this suggests that smooth interface is more conducive to crack resistance of GRC surface layer compared with different interface types between GRC layer and PC layer. The research provides an experimental basis for the large-scale application of the wall panel, and it has great advantages in improving the efficiency of prefabricated building construction.

Highlights

A glass-fiber-reinforced cement (GRC) is a type of composite building material made of cement and glass fiber as the main components while including white sand, metakaolin, and fly ash [1]
S1 to S6 did not crack during the monitoring period, and it can be concluded that the new GRC-precast concrete (PC) composite wall panel met the crack resistance requirements
(2) By studying the shrinkage performance of GRC-PC composite wall panels with different types of interfaces, we can conclude that the shrinkage deformation amplitude of the composite wall panel with a smooth interface is lower than that of the composite wall panel with a rough interface in both indoor and outdoor environments

Summary

Introduction

A glass-fiber-reinforced cement (GRC) is a type of composite building material made of cement and glass fiber as the main components while including white sand, metakaolin, and fly ash [1]. A GRC-PC exterior wall is a new type of prefabricated wall formed by a composite GRC surface layer on the outer leaf layer of a precast concrete (PC) wall panel, as shown, which ensures the structural bearing capacity of the members and plays a decorative role The use of this wall panel significantly reduces pollution, shortens the construction period, and improves the construction efficiency, thereby integrating the building, the structural, and the decorative elements through fabricated systems. It has great advantages in improving the structural optimization of the conventional PC industry [4,5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion