Experiment on compression performance of steel frame composite wall sheathed with concrete and plasterboard

Abstract:

In order to improve the assembly efficiency and protection performance of traditional cold-formed thin-walled steel composite wall, a steel frame composite wall sheathed with concrete and plasterboard (referred to as “composite wall”) was proposed, where the main skeleton consists of channel-shaped beams framed with cold-formed thin-walled C-steel column, the external wall is cast-in-place concrete panel reinforced with steel mesh, the inner side is covered with plasterboard, and the thermal insulation material is filled inside between the external and internal panels. Four composite walls were tested, and the compression behavior of the walls was studied. The effects of concrete panel and the size and positions of the opening on the bearing capacity of the walls were investigated. The failure modes of walls with different configurations under vertical load were identified. A finite element analysis model of the wall was established, and the factors affecting the structural performance of the wall were analyzed, including the thickness of the concrete panel, the steel reinforcement ratio, the type of inner wallboard, the screw spacing of the wallboard, the strengths of both concrete and steel sections, and the size of the opening. Research results show that compared with the wall which has no external concrete panel, the wall with concrete panel possessed higher vertical bearing capacity, and the openings in the wall such as door and window had greater impact on the bearing capacity of the composite wall. The failure of the wall began with the local buckling of the column on the inner side of the wall, causing the wall to lose stability to the inner side along the connecting line of the buckling parts of each wall column. The reinforcement ratio of concrete panel, the type of wallboard, and the screw spacing had little influence on the vertical bearing capacity of the composite wall. It is suggested that the spacing of steel mesh should be 50 mm and the distance of screws of plasterboard should be 150 mm.