Parametric Study of Non-Load-Bearing Sandwich Wall Panels for Blast Mitigation

Abstract

Sandwich wall systems provide resistance over a large deformation range, making them useful for blast resistance. This paper analyzed three sandwich panel systems: walls with symmetric concrete layers (SW), unsymmetric concrete layers (NSW), and symmetric concrete layers with prestressed reinforcement (PSW). Nonlinear three-dimensional (3D), finite-element (FE) modeling, and single degree of freedom (SDOF) analysis were performed to analyze the static and dynamic response of these wall systems. The numerical models showed good correlation with the experimental results. A parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of several parameters such as concrete compressive strength, symmetric and asymmetric steel reinforcement, tie-connector type, and pretension force value. It was found that asymmetric reinforcement has approximately the same action as symmetric reinforcement, and increasing the compressive strength did not increase significantly the blast resistance of the panel. Moreover, glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) pins provided the maximum composite action and blast resistance of the different tie-connector types investigated.