Design Limits for Precast Concrete Sandwich Walls Subjected to External Explosions (PREPRINT)

The use of precastprestressed concrete and tilt-up concrete for exterior walls is common practice in the United States. This form of construction provides an economical, rapid, and high quality building technique making it ideal for military and government facilities. In most cases these building systems must be designed against a potential explosive demand. Current design recommendations are very restrictive when using precast concrete components due in large part to the lack of experimental research data. To address this issue, a series of over 50 experiments were conducted to assess the failure modes and load and deformation capacity of wall panel systems. Single span and multispan panels were examined. Foam type, tie type, and reinforcement were varied to provide a thorough understanding of the effects of these variables on the failure modes of the panels. The response of the systems was found to be sensitive to the insulation foam used and the failure mode of the shear ties. The results indicate that insulated precast concrete panels exceed the current response limits used by the Army for Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection ATFP applications.