Composite concrete masonry systems for residential architecture
Date
1992
Authors
Dietrich, Douglas Dwight
Major Professor
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Shank, Wesley
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Abstract
The thermal resistance is one of the primary advantage of composite concrete masonry cavity wall construction. Concrete has a low thermal resistance which has limited its use in energy efficient structures. By placing a core of insulation between two concrete wythes, the thermal resistance of the wall section can be greatly improved. The designer can obtain the beauty and simplicity of both an exterior and interior concrete surface while not sacrificing the thermal resistance of the building. The architect can use the structural capacity of the concrete masonry while not having to provide extra fire protection for the insulation or connector. The thermal resistance of the wall section can be increased by providing a core material with a higher thermal resistance or increasing the thickness of the insulation in the core. Present design and construction of insulated cavity CMU wall assemblies focuses on the use of metal connectors to attach the exterior and interior wythes. The emphasis of this thesis is to demonstrate that concrete web and metal connectors compromise the thermal efficiency of the wall assemblies. This investigation was undertaken to design and evaluate the use of FCP connectors in insulated composite cavity CMU wall assemblies. The particular FCP connectors studied were hypothetically made of glass fibers and vinyl-ester resin. The investigation focused on the application of the glass fiber-reinforced composite plastic connectors as an alternate to the standard concrete web and to steel connectors in composite cavity wall construction.
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thesis