Durability and long term behavior of FRP/foam shear transfer mechanism for concrete sandwich panels

• Precast concrete sandwich panels can provide the shear transfer mechanism.
• Quality of fabrication can affect the shear strength of the panels.
• Design strength should be 30% of the sustained loads ultimate shear capacity.
• The EPS panels are more susceptible to aging effect compared to the XPS panels.

This paper presents an experimental program to evaluate the effect of sustained loading and outdoor exposure on the shear strength of precast concrete sandwich panels connected with FRP grid/rigid foam insulation as shear transfer mechanism. CFRP and GFRP grids were considered in this study along with EPS and XPS foam. The experimental program is comprised of three different studies with a total of 26 test panels using different combinations of FRP grid and foam insulation.