Abstract
Glass-fiber-reinforced cement (GRC) is a widely used decorative material for wall facades. Conventional GRC products have poor crack resistance, low construction efficiency, poor integration, and few environmental benefits, hence failing to meet the requirements of building industrialization. To realize an integrated composite wall made from GRC and precast lightweight concrete (PLC) with a lasting anticrack effect, the anticracking properties of GRC material as well as the connection mode of GRC and PLC layers were studied. Through long-term shrinkage test, the influence of fiber content, rubber powder content, and expansion agent content on the crack resistance of GRC material was systematically analyzed. At the same time, the influence of connection mode on the crack resistance of the GRC layer after compositing with precast lightweight concrete (PLC) was analyzed. The results showed that adding fiber can effectively improve the flexural strength of the GRC and reduce drying shrinkage, whereas adding rubber powder can effectively improve its toughness and crack resistance. The addition of U-type expansion agent (UEA) can impart the cement mortar with a certain degree of microexpansion performance and help improve the drying shrinkage of the GRC. Compared with other compounding methods, the smooth connection of the GRC and PLC can effectively reduce the shrinkage of the GRC surface layer and improve its crack resistance. So, the new GRC material has good crack resistance performance and facade effect. These research studies provide an experimental basis for the large-scale application of the panel, and it has great advantages in improving the efficiency of prefabricated building construction.
Highlights
Most external walls of modern buildings use external insulation and lacquer material. e exterior walls typically deteriorate in approximately five years, bringing security risks [1]
Raw Materials. e main materials used in the experiment were Glass-fiber-reinforced cement (GRC) cement mortar and precast lightweight concrete. e GRC material was made on the experimental site, and raw materials of GRC were cement; sand; water-reducing admixture; fiber; rubber powder, and U-type expansion agent
In the preparation process of GRC materials, some experimental studies have shown that their fluidity and shrinkage are affected by the contents of glass fiber, rubber powder, and expansion agent [26,27,28,29,30,31]
Summary
Most external walls of modern buildings use external insulation and lacquer material. e exterior walls typically deteriorate in approximately five years, bringing security risks [1]. A GRC-PLC-integrated composite panel (Figure 1) can effectively ensure wall insulation and reduce the generation of waste, waste gas, and wastewater in buildings. When the stress exceeds the tensile strength of the GRC, the GRC layer will produce cracks, which affects the overall facade effect of the decorative, integrated precast concrete component. It was studied from three aspects: reducing GRC material shrinkage, improving the tensile strength of GRC materials, and determining the most effective connection method for the GRC and PLC layers. Considering the temperature and humidity, the effects of fiber content, rubber powder content, expansion agent content on the crack resistance of the GRC surface layer were systematically studied. Findings from this research contribute to the application of GRC-PLC composite panels and promotion of prefabrication
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