Experimental evaluation of precast, prestressed concrete, three-wythe sandwich wall panels

This paper describes an experimental program designed to verify the behavior of 3-wythe panels under later load and at the time of prestress transfer. The general flexural behavior of the 3-wythe panels was investigated using lateral load tests. Load-deflection behavior, degree of composite action, flexural strength, and horizontal shear of the panels under the action of a uniform pressure over the panel span were evaluated in this study. Fabrication of the panels for the lateral load tests revealed that cracking at prestress transfer was a concern. Thus, additional tests were performed to evaluate stresses at prestress transfer. These tests examine the actual behavior of full-scale, 3-wythe panels under the action of prestress force. Experimental results presented in this paper are compared with FEM analysis results. Descriptions of FEM analyses and models were given in a prior paper, and complete details of the work presented in this paper were provided in 2 other earlier papers.