Influence of Insulation Type on In-plane Shear Behavior of Insulated Concrete Sandwich Panels (ICSP) with GFRP Grid Shear Connectors

This paper reports the experimental results to evaluate in-plane shear performance of insulated concrete sandwich panel (ICSP) with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) grid shear connectors. The variables considered in this study are the grid size (35 and 53mm) of GFRP shear connectors and the types of insulation (expanded polystyrene, EPS and extruded polystyrene with special slots, XPSS). For loading in-plane shear force to interface between inner and outer wall of ICSP system, the ICSP specimens were supported vertically at the bottom edge of the two concrete outer walls by steel blocks. The test results indicate that ICSP with XPSS developed higher shear flow strengths in ICSP with EPS when 35mm spacing of GFRP grid is used. Also, the test results indicated that as the grid spacing of GFRP shear connector decreases, the shear flow strength of ICSP with XPSS insulation was higher, but the shear flow strength of ICSP with EPS insulation was lower.