ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNIQUES OF GFRC TO CREATE A BETTER BUILDING ENVELOPE IN

GURGAON/NCR

-ARJUN GAIND

SSAA 5-C

Thin-walled glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels are being used as the primary cladding
material on many landmark buildings, especially in the last decade. GFRC is an ideal material for
building envelopes because it is durable, it can resist fire and the environmental impact is low
compared to other materials because the base materials used in the production of GFRC are widely
available throughout the world. Thin-walled GFRC was initially developed as a cladding material in
the 1970s and 1980s where the majority of the available research lies. The introduction of 3D CAD
software has enabled the design of buildings with complex shapes that, in the past, would have been
rationalized to meet budget and time constraints. However, when GFRC has been proposed for
buildings with a complex freeform geometry it has been replaced with alternative materials such as
glass reinforced plastic (GFRP) due to the high cost and time required to fabricate suitable GFRC
panels using conventional manufacturing methods. The literature showed that empirical
performance characterization of GFRC had not been researched in detail regarding the limits of
functionality or any systematic approach to understanding their use in complex geometry building
envelopes. As a first step the key architectural demands, the main barriers and limitations in the
manufacture of complex geometry thin-walled GFRC were identified by interviewing and visiting
manufacturers, designers and key buildings. This identified the key barrier to be the process of
producing the mould for casting the complex geometry GFRC panels. Solutions to resolve them were
tested over several stages for each of the main production methods most suited for the manufacture
of thin-walled GFRC, namely; the automated premixed method, the premixed method and the
sprayed method. The results from the laboratory testing over all the stages, and the prototype
structure manufactured with the identified solution from the testing, answered the main research
question: How can the manufacture of complex geometry thin-walled GFRC be advanced to meet
today’s architectural demands?

The building envelope is the physical separator between the interior and exterior of a building.
Components of the envelope are typically: walls, floors, roofs, fenestrations and doors.
Fenestrations are any opening in the structure: windows, skylights, clerestories, etc.

I would like to further research and come to a conclusion of how GFRC can be utilised to create a
better building envelope.

I would really like for you to guide me through this topic.