BEHAVIOUR OF MINERAL WOOL SANDWICH PANELS UNDER BENDING LOAD AT ROOM AND ELEVATED TEMPERATURES

This paper presents a parametric study for the bending stiffness of mineral wool (MW) sandwich panels subjected to a bending load. The MW panels are commonly used as wall panels for industrial buildings. They provide excellent insulation in the case of fire. In this research, the performance of sandwich panels is investigated at both ambient and elevated temperatures. To reach that goal, a finite element (FE) model is developed to verify simulations with experimental results in normal conditions and fire case. The experimental investigation in the current paper is a part of STABFI project financed by Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS). The numerical study is conducted using ABAQUS software. Employing simulations for analysis and design is an alternative to costly tests. However, in order to rely on numerical results, simulations must be verified with the experimental results. In this paper, after the verification of FE results, a parametric study is conducted to observe the effects of the panel thickness, length and width, as well as the facing thickness on the bending stiffness of MW sandwich panels at normal conditions. The results indicate that the panel thickness has the most significant effect on the bending stiffness of sandwich panels.