• Remy, Olivier
• Kadi, Michael El
• Kapsalis, Panagiotis
• Wastiels, Jan
• Tysmans, Tine
• Vervloet, Jolien
• Munck, Matthias De

Abstract

Using large lightweight insulating sandwich panels with cement composite faces offers great possibilities for the renovation of existing dwellings. To guarantee the structural performance of these lightweight panels, it is necessary to quantify the impact of varying weathering conditions in the long term. Therefore, this study investigates sandwich beams with textile reinforced cementitious composite faces subjected to heat-rain, heat-cold and/or freeze-thaw cycles to simulate the different weathering conditions. To separate the degradation effects at the sandwich element level from the degradation mechanism related to the face material level, also textile reinforced cementitious composite plates were subjected to identical environmental loading. The observations at the material level did not match the observations at the element level. While the structural performance of the textile reinforced cementitious composite plates was strongly affected by the durability cycles, the sandwich panels showed a non-degraded mechanical response after environmental loading.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• composite
• cement
• durability