Study on Flexural Performance of a New Exterior Prefabricated Composite Wall Panel

This paper develops a new exterior prefabricated composite wall panel composed of light-gauge steel studs, profiled steel sheet and steel fiber-reinforced concrete. To investigate its structural performance, static loading tests are conducted on five wall panel specimens. The failure modes, load–displacement curves and cross-sectional strain distributions of the specimens under uniformly distributed loads are obtained and analyzed. The influences of stud spacing, wall panel section configuration and loading patterns on the flexural performance of the composite wall panels are systematically examined. Relevant finite element models are established and comparative analyses are conducted between the test results and the numerical simulation results. A theoretical analytical model is developed for the composite wall panels and an approximate method for calculating deflection is proposed based on the principle of minimum potential energy.