Experimental study on shear, tensile, and compression behaviors of composite insulated concrete sandwich wall

A new type of composite insulated concrete sandwich wall (ICS-wall), which is composed of a triangle truss steel wire network, an insulating layer, and internal and external concrete layers, is proposed. To study the mechanical properties of this new ICS-wall, tensile, compression, and shearing tests were performed on 22 specimens and tensile strength and corrosion resistance tests on 6 triangle truss joints. The variables in these tests mainly include the insulating plate material, the thickness of the insulating plate, the vertical distance of the triangle truss framework, the triangle truss layout, and the connecting mode between the triangle truss and wall and the material of the triangle truss. Moreover, the failure mode, mechanical properties, and bearing capacity of the wall under tensile, shearing, and compression conditions were analyzed. Research results demonstrate that the concrete and insulating layer of the ICS-wall are pulling out, which is the main failure mode under tensile conditions. The ICS-wall, which uses a graphite polystyrene plate as the insulating layer, shows better tensile properties than the wall with an ordinary polystyrene plate. The tensile strength and bearing capacity of the wall can be improved effectively by strengthening the triangle truss connection and shortening the vertical distances of the triangle truss. The compression capacity of the wall is mainly determined by the compression capacity of concrete, and the bonding strength between the wall and the insulating plate is the main influencing factor of the shearing capacity of the wall. According to the tensile strength and corrosion resistance tests of Austenitic stainless steel, the bearing capacity of the triangle truss does not decrease after corrosion, indicating good corrosion resistance.