Numerical analysis of the behavior of light concrete panels with variations of thickness and door opening position in resisting static monotonic loads

This study covered numerical analysis models of lightweight concrete panels with a variety of thicknesses and door opening positions. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of the dimension of lightweight concrete nonstructural panels with door openings in resisting static lateral loads. The lightweight concrete became generally used since its’ effectiveness in reducing gravity loads. Therefore, the lateral deformation of buildings due to the earthquake became smaller. However, the behavior of the lightweight concrete panels as non-structural elements still needed to be explored, especially under influence of structural elements when an earthquake occurred. There were three variations of the door opening positions on the panels. The varied thicknesses were 40 mm, 50 mm, and 60 mm with and without the addition of wire mesh reinforcement. The panels were subjected to increased static monotonic loads until the panels were collapsed. The analysis results were the relation curves of loads and deformations, and the shapes of deformation that occurred on each model. The analysis results of each panel showed different behaviors and values. In general, the variation of thickness resulted in the conclusion that the thickest panels were able to resist higher loads. The use of wire mesh affected significantly panel behavior. The panels with wire mesh became more rigid so that the resisted loads were higher, but the deformation became smaller, and vice versa while the panel without a wire mesh resisted lower loads but the deformation became larger.