Wednesday, August 26, 2009
CarbonCast in Carbon Fiber Gear blog
Monday, August 10, 2009
Wall panel test video
Under the supervision of Dr. Sami Rizkalla and Gregory Lucier at the Constructed Facilities Laboratory at
Reverse-cyclic lateral loads were applied to simulate the effects of wind pressure and suction. The panel was subjected to nearly 4,000 cycles of reverse-cyclic fatigue at 45% of the factored lateral load. Following the fatigue regime, lateral loads on the panels were increased to failure.
In general, the tested panel behaved elastically to load levels close to the factored design load of 1.6W. A high degree of composite action was observed at all load levels, and beyond the elastic stage, the panel exhibited a very ductile load-deflection response. The carbon fiber grid shear transfer mechanism proved effective in maintaining the structural integrity of the panel even at high levels of overstress.