Wall connections designed for disassembly

Wall connections designed for disassembly

Project idea and objective

The reuse of structural concrete elements is an important part of a more sustainable future for the building industry. Here, precast concrete elements are often looked to as a good source for reuse. Naturally, precast concrete elements are produced in standardised sizes and shapes that can be easily fitted to other use cases. However, today the reuse of structural concrete elements is difficult because the original elements were not designed for such re-use. It is often required to sawcut the connections and construct new types of connections between the precast elements. These connections can be time-consuming to produce, or they can change the intended structural behaviour of the element.

In the future, we need to ensure that it becomes easier to reuse. Therefore, this project proposes a new design for wall connections between precast concrete wall elements that are designed for disassembly and reuse. In precast concrete buildings, the connections play an important role in ensuring structural continuity.

The connection is designed with so-called wall shoes in the vertical connection between the wall elements. Subsequently, the connection is grouted with mortar and the threaded bars are tightened.

The structural behaviour and failure mechanism are analysed by state-of-the-art measuring equipment in the SDU Structures lab, e.g. with use of Digital Image Correlation. On the basis of the experimental programme and the theory of plasticity, an analytical model will be established.

Participants SDU
Project Leader; Henrik Brøner Jørgensen, University of Southern Denmark

Participating companies

Peikko Danmark

Fårup Betonindustri

NCC

COWI A/S

Rambøll A/S

Kroghs A/S

Financing: We Build Denmark, Uddannelses- og Forskningsstyrelsen og medvirkende partnere

Period: September 2023 – Juli 2024