Structural performance of a facade precast concrete sandwich panel enabled by a bar-type basalt fiber-reinforced polymer connector

In this study, a novel diagonally inserted bar-type basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) connector was proposed, aiming to achieve both construction convenience and partially composite behavior in precast concrete sandwich panels (PCSPs). First, pull-out tests were conducted to evaluate the anchoring performance of the connector in concrete after exposure to different temperatures. Thereafter, direct shear tests were conducted to investigate the shear performance of the connector. After the test on the individual performance of the connector, five facade PCSP specimens with the bar-type BFRP connector were fabricated, and the out-of-plane flexural performance was tested under a uniformly distributed load. The investigating parameters included the panel length, opening condition, and boundary condition. The results obtained in this study primarily indicated that 1) the bar-type BFRP connector can achieve a reliable anchorage system in concrete; 2) the bar-type BFRP connector can offer sufficient stiffness and capacity to achieve a partially composite PCSP; 3) the boundary condition of the panel considerably influenced the out-of-plane flexural performance and composite action of the investigated facade PCSP.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel diagonally inserted bar-type basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) connector was proposed for precast concrete sandwich panels (PCSPs). Pull-out tests and direct shear tests were conducted to evaluate the anchoring and shear performance of the connector. The results showed that the bar-type BFRP connector achieved a reliable anchorage system, offered sufficient stiffness and capacity for a partially composite PCSP, and was influenced by the boundary condition for the out-of-plane flexural performance of the investigated facade PCSP.