Mechanics-Based model for elastic Bending, Axial, thermal Deformations, and asymmetry of concrete composite sandwich wall panels

Abstract Engineers must design load-bearing panels to handle gravity loads, out-of-plane loads and deformations due to thermal bowing. Outside of finite element analysis (FEA), there is currently no codified or well-accepted design or analysis method within the literature that can perform these calculations within the same framework. This paper describes the theory, development, and validation of a new mechanics-based model (MBM) for partially composite concrete sandwich wall panels in the elastic range. Most concrete sandwich wall panels in the United States are designed exclusively in the elastic range. The MBM is suitable for incorporation into a spreadsheet (provided) or computer program and can provide analysis information suitable for practical design. The model is validated based on available experiments with an average measured-to-predicted ratio of 0.98 for deflections in out-of-plane loading and 1.08 for thermal bowing estimation. A parametric study and comparison to FEA is performed to illustrate the robustness of the MBM to handle different situations including openings, eccentric dead loads and asymmetric panels.