Development of sandwich panels combining Sisal Fiber-Cement Composites and Fiber-Reinforced Lightweight Concrete

The behavior of the sandwich panels in four-point bending test is described, and the various failure mechanisms are reported. Mechanical properties of both SiFCC and PFRLC were obtained, which were also used in the numerical simulations. Pull-off tests were performed to evaluate the bond strength between the outer SiFCC layers and the core PFRLC. The results revealed that the long sisal fibers were more effective in terms of providing to the panel higher flexural capacity than when using short sisal fibers, long fibers ensured the development of a deflection hardening behavior followed by the formation of multiple cracks, while short sisal fibers promoted a softening response after cracking.