Within the EC funded project smart elements for sustainable building envelopes, carbon textile reinforcement was incorporated into reactive powder concrete, namely textile reinforced reactive powder concrete (TRRPC), to additionally improve the post-cracking behaviour of the cementitious matrix. This high-performance composite material was included as outer and inner façade panels in prefabricated and non-load bearing sandwich elements along with low density foamed concrete (FC) and glass fibre reinforced polymer continuous connecting devices. Experiments and finite element analysis (FEA) were applied to characterize the structural performance of the developed sandwich elements. The mechanical behaviour of the individual materials, components and large-scale elements were quantified. Four-point bending tests were performed on large-scale TRRPC-FC sandwich element beams to quantify the flexural capacity, level of composite action, resulting deformation, crack propagation and failure mechanisms. Optical measurements based on digital image correlation were taken simultaneously to enable a detailed analysis of the underlying composite action. The structural behaviour of the developed elements was found to be highly dependent on the stiffness and strength of the connectors to ensure composite action between the two TRRPC panels. As for the FEA, the applied modelling approach was found to accurately describe the stiffness of the sandwich elements at lower load levels, while describing the stiffness in a conservative manner after the occurrence of connector failure mechanisms.

A systematic testing and modelling program has been developed for the verification of the structural performance of facade sandwich elements to take structural aspects into consideration in the SESBE research project, focusing on the development of "smart" facade elements. The present paper mainly focuses on the verification of the mechanical performance of the glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) connectors of the novel type of facade element composed of reactive powder concrete (RPC) panels with foam concrete insulation between them. Because of the reduced thickness of the large facade elements, the performance of the connectors is critical for the entire structural concept. The first series of the testing and modelling programme concerning connector performance are presented here. The results suggest that sufficient strength and ductility of the connectors can be ensured using GFRP in the proposed thin lightweight facade elements.

As a part of the SESBE (Smart Elements for Sustainable Building Envelopes) project, non-load bearing sandwich elements were developed with Textile Reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete (TRRPC) for outer and inner facings, Foam Concrete (FC) for the insulating core and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) continuous connectors. The structural performance of the developed elements was verified at various levels by means of a thorough experimental program coupled with numerical analysis. Experiments were conducted on individual materials (i.e., tensile and compressive tests), composites (i.e., uniaxial tensile, flexural and pull-out tests), as well as components (i.e., local anchorage failure, shear, flexural and wind loading tests). The experimentally yielded material properties were used as input for the developed models to verify the findings of various component tests and to allow for further material development. In this paper, the component tests related to local anchorage failure and wind loading are presented and coupled to a structural model of the sandwich element. The validated structural model provided a greater understanding of the physical mechanisms governing the element’s structural behavior and its structural performance under various dead and wind load cases. Lastly, the performance of the sandwich elements, in terms of composite action, was shown to be greatly correlated to the properties of the GFRP connectors, such as stiffness and strength.

<p>The SESBE research project aims to develop novel smart sandwich façade elements with high insulating capabilities while providing a reduced thickness in conjunction with superior mechanical and durability properties. The present paper mainly focuses on the verification of the mechanical performance of the glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) connectors in the façade element composed of reactive powder concrete (RPC) panels with foam concrete insulation between them. Because of the reduced thickness of the large façade elements, the performance of the connectors is critical for the entire structural concept. A description of structural performance and results based on experimental methods and finite element (FE) analysis are presented.</p>

<p>The paper gives an overview of some relevant technical aspects related to temporary stands. Since these kinds of structures are often used by a large number of people, consequences of structural failure could be significant. However, the effort put into their design and maintenance is often less than in case of permanent structures. Furthermore, it is not always clear who bears the responsibility if accidents happen. The current study concludes that the structural behaviour of these systems is much more complex than one might think; therefore clear regulations, guidelines and approaches are needed. A major concern is the requirements for validation of structural performance by numerical modelling and testing. Improvements in standardisation also require further research in several areas, such as e.g. structural dynamics, nature of loads, requirements, human-structure interaction.</p>