Axial Compression Behaviour Analysis of Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) Wall Panel with Fibre Cement Board

Nowadays, one of the fastest growing technique is an Insulated Concrete Form (ICF). It has advantages like cost-effective, less maintenance, soundproof, energy-efficient, waterproof and disaster-resistant. ICF wall panels are made by interlocking Fibre Cement Board (FCB) sheet which poured in placed concrete. In this study, the behaviour of the ICF wall panel under axial compression is examined with experimental and analytical methods. ICF wall panels cast with various thickness and dense FCB are tested under axial compression. ICF panels with 1.2gm3/cm dense FCB with changing width of 6mm and 10mm were casted for experimental analysis. The experiments were carried out in an universal testing machine with the capacity of 600 kN. The maximum peak load of 540 kN is observed in FCB of 10mm thick and the maximum displacement of 13mm is observed in FCB80 at the peak load. An analytical investigation is carried with Euler’s crippling load equation and an average variation of 12% is observed between analytical and experimental results. It is concluded that the ICF system of construction provides desirable plastic behaviour against axial compressive loading. Hence ICF is recommended for construction to get the maximum benefits of the wall while it reaches ultimate strain.

Shake Table Tests of a Novel Low-rise Bolt-Assembled Precast Concrete Sandwich Wall Panel Structure

A novel low-rise bolt - assembled precast concrete sandwich wall panel structure for rural residential houses was proposed, in which the connections between wall and wall, and wall and floor were connected by high strength bolts and steel plates. The bolt joints can be easily installed and disassembled. They are replaceable to make the precast structure demountable and reassembled. All the components are connected together by the novel bolted connectors. This paper presents the shake-table tests of a full-scale two-story bolt-assembled precast concrete sandwich wall building. The results indicated that the proposed structural system had good seismic performance and remained in the elastic stage with no damage after 9-degree rare earthquake excitation for the Model-1. The Model-2 exhibited excellent capacity and performed satisfactorily under the excitation up to 0.8 g. Cracks were observed at the wall openings and the base of walls and columns, which was similar to that of a cast-in-situ structure. The damage statuses were mainly light damage and moderate damage. The bolt connection joints were not anti-seismic weak places and had good seismic performance. Equivalent base shear method is suitable for estimating the seismic demand of the proposed precast concrete sandwich wall panel structure.

SEGMENT OF WALL PANEL FOR TIMBER STRUCTURES UNDER VERTICAL LOAD

The subject of this paper is an experimental and numerical analysis of the stability of the wall panels with one-side board sheathing for timber structures. The reinforcement of the panel is provided using glued timber composite I-shaped element consisting of a web made of a wood-based desk embedded into flanges of solid timber. The mechanism of the behaviour of these panels, mode of the failure and reliable procedure to determine the buckling load-bearing capacity not been fully explored so far. This work describes the behaviour of the wall panel under vertical load and the method of failure using experimental and numerical analysis. The reduction coefficient kJ was determined, which can be used for a simple calculation of the buckling capacity of a wall panel.

Comparative Analysis of Surface Pressure Fluctuations of High-Speed Train Running in Open-Field and Tunnel Using LES and Wavenumber-Frequency Analysis

The interior noise of a high-speed train due to the external flow disturbance is more than ever a major problem for product developers to consider during a design state. Since the external surface pressure field induces wall panel vibration of a high-speed train, which in turn generates the interior sound, the first step for low interior noise design is to characterize the surface pressure fluctuations due to external disturbance. In this study, the external flow field of a high-speed train cruising at a speed of 300 km/h in open-field and tunnel are numerically investigated using high-resolution compressible LES (large eddy simulation) techniques, with a focus on characterizing fluctuating surface pressure field according to surrounding conditions of the cruising train, i.e., open-field and tunnel. First, compressible LES schemes with high-resolution grids were employed to accurately predict the exterior flow and acoustic fields around a high-speed train simultaneously. Then, the predicted fluctuating pressure field on the wall panel surface of a train was decomposed into incompressible and compressible ones using the wavenumber-frequency transform, given that the incompressible pressure wave induced by the turbulent eddies within the boundary layer is transported approximately at the mean flow and the compressible pressure wave propagated at the vector sum of the sound speed and the mean flow velocity. Lastly, the power levels due to each pressure field were computed and compared between open-field and tunnel. It was found that there is no significant difference in the power levels of incompressible surface pressure fluctuations between the two cases. However, the decomposed compressible one in the tunnel case is higher by about 2~10 dB than in the open-field case. This result reveals that the increased interior sound of the high-speed train running in a tunnel is due to the compressible surface pressure field.

Portrait of an Etruscan Athletic Official: A Multi-Analytical Study of a Painted Terracotta Wall Panel

The Getty’s Etruscan painted terracotta wall panel, Athletic Official, recently has been speculated to be associated with a Caeretan wall panel depicting a Discobolus based on a shared iconography. To better understand the materials and techniques used to create the Getty panel and investigate its relation to extant Etruscan painted terracotta panels, a multi-analytical study was conducted, using broadband visible, IR, and UV imaging, along with scanning MA-XRF, FORS, Raman, SEM-EDS, and XRD analytical techniques. The analytical results together with PCA analysis suggest the clay support of the Getty panel is most similar in composition to that of panels from Cerveteri. A manganese black was identified in the decorative scheme; not commonly employed, this appears to be an important marker for the workshop practice in Cerveteri. Most significantly, the use of MA-XRF scanning allowed for invisible ruling lines on the Athletic Official, presumably laid down at the earliest stages of the creation of the panel, to be visualized. Taken together, the results of this study provide new insights into Caeretan workshop practice as well as provide a framework for better understanding the design and execution of Etruscan polychromy.

Strengthening of Un-Reinforced Brick Masonry Walls Using Epoxy Mortar

This study is carried out to investigate the effectiveness of using externally applied epoxy mortar on joints of masonry wall panels to enhance their load carrying capacity under axial compressive and lateral loads. A total of six 113 mm thick masonry wall panels of size 1200 x 1200 mm were constructed for this study. Four out of six walls were strengthened using locally available CHEMDUR-31 epoxy mortar on joints. The remaining two walls were tested as control specimens. The control and strengthened wall panels were tested under axial compression and lateral loads. In axial compression test, out of plane central deflection and vertical strain at the center of wall panel were recorded while in lateral load test, in-plane lateral displacement of wall and horizontal strain at the center were recorded at each load increment. Failure pattern of each wall panel is also studied to notice its structural behavior. The results of this experimental study showed an increase of 45% and 60% in load carrying capacity under axial compression and lateral bending, respectively by the use of strengthening technique employed in this study.