I-Corps: Innovation Corps Teams Program: Innovative Insulated Wall Panel Connector

隔热墙板是夹在外部和内部混凝土层之间的一层隔热泡沫。抗剪拉杆在混凝土的外部和内部层之间建立物理连接。这种物理连接增加了墙板的强度，而不增加混凝土的量;然而，物理连接也允许热量直接从外部混凝土层传递到内部混凝土层，完全绕过隔热泡沫，这种现象称为热桥。为防止热桥接，扎带必须由非导电材料制成。目前，由非导电材料制成的系材缺乏必要的强度来经济地提高绝缘墙板的容量。此外，这些系材系统经常遭受制造困难，增加了劳动力成本，并限制了最终产品提供的质量保证。拟议的项目将有助于发现一种新型绝缘墙板连接器的商业潜力，该连接器为建筑物提供了防爆和耐热外壳。拟议的努力将使团队能够识别市场、消费者和制造方法。这项工作还将使产品的改进和原型开发的原始设计概念。该团队设想，概念验证演示将提供修改后的连接器的全尺寸原型。原型将安装在桌面尺寸的墙板模型中。将确定材料选项，并评估和提交连接器的制造和供应计划。该小组将进行初步的市场评估，以检查市场的规模，并确定一个粗略的价格点和潜在的利润率。工程原理将与支持实验和数值测试数据进行说明。设计示例将说明连接器如何在标准风荷载环境和极端爆炸荷载环境中使用。

An insulated wall panel is a layer of insulating foam sandwiched between an exterior and interior layer of concrete. Shear ties make a physical connection between the exterior and interior layers of concrete. This physical connection increases the strength of the wall panel without increasing the amount of concrete present; however, the physical connection also allows heat to pass directly from the exterior concrete layer to the interior concrete layer, completely bypassing the insulating foam in a phenomenon known as thermal bridging. To prevent thermal bridging, ties must be made of a non-conductive material. Currently, ties made from non-conductive material lack the necessary strength to economically improve the capacity of the insulated wall panel. Additionally, these tie systems often suffer from fabrication difficulties increasing the cost of labor and limiting the quality assurance provided by the final product.The proposed project will facilitate discovery of commercial potential of a novel insulated wall panel connector that provides a blast and thermally resistant envelope for buildings. The proposed effort will allow the team to identify markets, consumers, and manufacturing methods. The effort will also enable product refinement and prototype development of the original design concept. The team envisions that the proof-of-concept demonstration will provide a full-scale prototype of the revised connector. The prototype will be installed in a table top size wall panel mock-up. Material options will be identified and a manufacturing and supply plan for the connector will be assessed and presented. The team will conduct a preliminary market assessment to examine the size of the market and to determine a rough price point and potential margins. The engineering principles will be illustrated with supporting experimental and numerical test data. A sample design will illustrate how the connector can be used in a standard wind load environment and in an extreme blast load environment.