Rana, JS; (2016) Structural Behaviour of Twinwalls. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text Structural Behaviour of Twinwalls.pdf - Accepted Version Download (7MB) | Preview

Abstract

The construction industry is relentlessly aiming to achieve inventive methods for more economic and sustainable construction. This quest has resulted in the development of hybrid concrete construction (HCC) which combines the benefits of in-situ and precast concrete. Twinwall panels are a relatively new form of HCC consisting of two reinforced precast concrete biscuits which are connected by shear connectors in the form of 3-dimensional triangular steel lattices, partially embedded in the inner faces of the biscuits. The void between the biscuits is then filled with in-situ concrete. Thus, the overall aim of this project was to develop a deeper understanding of the structural behaviour of twinwall panels. Push-out tests were performed on twin wall specimens to investigate the effect of (1) surface roughness (2) strength of concrete and (3) embedment depth of connectors on interface shear strength. It was found that the interface shear strength increases with increasing surface roughness and the strength of the concrete used in the outer biscuits but was unaffected by the strength of the concrete used in the core. Shear strength also initially increased with increasing embedment depth of connectors but then levelled off. The results further showed that the provisions of clause 6.2.5 of Eurocode 2 can be used to make conservative estimates of the interface shear strength of twin wall elements. The twinwall panels were also subjected to four point bending flexural tests. Results confirmed that using lattice shear connectors, increasing the depth of the lattice shear connector and introducing a concrete core increased the flexural failure load, stiffness and degree of composite action of the twinwall test specimens. All twinwall test specimens also behaved in a partially composite manner. A Finite Element (FE) model was also developed using the ABAQUS software. Comparison of the experimental and FE results confirmed the FE model developed can be used to simulate the behaviour of twinwall panels. As the diameter of the dowel bar increased, the failure load, stiffness and degree composite action increased. The FE results suggest that single trusses can be used instead of double trusses in twinwalls. The failure load and stiffness increases as the overall thickness of the specimens increase but the degree of composite action decreases with increasing thickness.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item