ABSTRACT
Precast concrete sandwich wall panels (PCSWPs), consisting of two reinforced concrete (RC) wythes, a core insulation layer, and connectors, have widely been adopted in engineering practice owing to their high structural and thermal efficiency. This chapter presents an innovative PCSWP system in which environmental-friendly geopolymer concrete was used to produce two RC wythes, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar was used as a replacement for steel rebar to improve durability, and a tubular glass FRP (GFRP) connector was used to enhance the composite action of the PCSWP. This chapter is mainly focused on: (1) the development and performance characterization of GFRP connectors; (2) the structural performance of RC one-way geopolymer concrete slab; (3) the flexural behavior of the proposed PCSWP system; and (4) the fire and post-fire residual performance of the proposed PCSWP system. The proposed PCSWP was found to have better performance characteristics than the traditionally used PCSWPs, which confirms its potential for use in building envelopes in the precast industry.
