Structural Behavior of Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum Walls

Glass fiber reinforced gypsum (GFRG) walls are prefabricated large gypsum panels with hollow cores. This new building material was developed in Australia in the early 1990s. The technology was introduced to Malaysia in 1997, and subsequently to other countries such as China and India. GFRG walls are usually used to provide habitable enclosures for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. A new concept of construction has been developed using GFRG walls, where it is used both architecturally and structurally as walls and slabs, and no columns and beams are used. The GFRG panel itself is a composite material composed of gypsum plaster and glass-fiber. When the cavities are filled with reinforced concrete (RC), the interaction between the RC and GFRG panels produce another composite action. As a result, the structural behavior of GFRG walls and its building system are more complicated than other conventional structural systems.Extensive structural investigations have been undertaken by the author to study the axial, flexural and shear behavior of GFRG walls. This paper reports the results of the investigations, as well as the structural design considerations for GFRG walls and its associated building system. The latest developments of the technology in China and India are also reported.