Mechanical performance of prefabricated lightweight steel-foamed ceramsite concrete wall panels: Experimental and theoretical investigations

Prefabricated construction garnered significant attention in recent years. As a vital component, the performance of wall panels played a crucial role in the overall construction, necessitating focused attention. This paper presented experimental and theoretical investigations into the mechanical performance of prefabricated lightweight steel-foamed ceramsite concrete wall panels. Static and cyclic load tests were initially conducted, considering various shapes and the presence of window opening. Subsequently, finite element (FE) simulations and theoretical investigations were carried out to assess the compressive performance of the wall panels. Furthermore, a prototype house was constructed to evaluate the constructability of the proposed system. The results demonstrated that the proposed wall panels exhibited excellent compressive and seismic performance. The FE models can accurately simulate the failure modes and load-deflection relationships of different wall configurations. Additionally, a modified model was proposed to assess the ultimate load of multi-shaped composite wall panels based on the conventional code, and the calculated values agreed well with experimental results. Moreover, the structural analysis results of the prototype house confirmed that all structural parameters met the design code requirements, showcasing the practicality and reliability of the proposed system.