End-colloquium Anne Derks

Axial load-bearing capacity of sandwich panel walls in residential buildings

Sandwich panels can serve as load-bearing walls due to their high stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight ratio. Using them as load-bearing walls can save material as the load-bearing structure, facade, and insulation become one. However, these panels must withstand axial and horizontal wind loads, different from those used for roofs and facades that only resist perpendicular loads. Besides, failure of the floor-wall connection could become critical. During this research, the eccentric axial load-bearing capacity of a sandwich panel wall combined with out-of-plane loading in a residential building was studied and presented in this end colloquium.