ISSN 2348–2370

Vol.11,Issue.04,
April-2019,
Pages:230-234

www.ijatir.org

Building Systems using GFRG Panels

PACHA KALYANI1, A. RAMAKRISHNAIAH2
1
PG Scholar, Golden Valley Integrated Campus, Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India, Email: pachakalyani867@gmail.com.
2
Associate Professor, Golden Valley Integrated Campus, Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India, Email: civilhodgvic@gmail.com.

Abstract: This work gives an overview of research and
development carried out at IIT Madras, using glass fibre
reinforced gypsum (GFRG) panels, to provide an innovative
solution for rapid and affordable mass housing. The GFRG
panels (124 mm thick), made from recycled industrial waste
gypsum (from the fertilizer industry), are prefabricated in 3
m 9 12 m sizes with cellular cavities inside, which can be
filled with reinforced concrete wherever required and can be
used as walls as well as floor slabs. The tests carried out
(over the past 12 years) establish the performance of GFRG
building systems to resist gravity and lateral loads as a load-
bearing system (without beams and columns) in multi-
storeyed buildings up to 8–10 storeys, with adequate
strength, serviceability, durability and ductility. A two-
storeyed four-apartment demonstration building has also
been successfully constructed in the IIT Madras campus and
presently a mass housing scheme (40 apartment units) using
this technology is being demonstrated at Nellore. A
structural design code has also been approved by the Bureau
of Indian Standards, based on the extensive studies carried
out on GFRG building systems.
.
Keywords: Mass Housing, Concrete Infill Load-Bearing,
Earthquake Resistant.
I. INTRODUCTION
Reduction in the use of energy intensive construction
materials and speedy delivery of housing units at affordable
cost are the key challenges faced in the mass housing sector
today. There is significant demand for construction materials
such as cement, steel, bricks and water in order to satisfy the
large demand for housing and other infrastructure Scarcity
and increasing costs of these materials call for alternative
affordable solutions to meet the tremendous housing needs,
particularly for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS)
and Low Income Group (LIG) segments. An innovative
housing technology was recently developed at IIT Madras
through research works carried out on Glass Fibre
Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panels for over a decade in
order to address this issue. The developed technology
promises rapid delivery of quality houses to the masses at an
affordable cost, while also ensuring sustainability by way of
reduced energy consumption and usage of recycled waste as
raw material. GFRG panels (commercially known as
‘Rapidwall’), made of high quality gypsum plaster
reinforced with special glass rovings, were first introduced in
Australia in 1990. These light-weight panels were originally
Copyright @ 2019 IJATIR. All rights reserved.
intended for rapid wall construction as load-bearing walls.
They are now manufactured in India at Rashtriya Chemicals
and Fertilizers(RCF) Mumbai, and Fertilizers and Chemicals
Travancore (FACT) Ltd Kochi, to fixed dimensions of 12 m
length, 3m height and 124mm thickness, with hollow
cavities inside, as shown in Fig1.
Fig1. GFRG panel—elevation and cross-section.
GFRG can be manufactured out of any kind of gypsum
such as flue gas gypsum, mineral gypsum, phosphogypsum
or marine gypsum, the production process requiring
relatively low energy. Natural gypsum was used as the raw
material in Australia. India has almost 64 million tonnes of
stockpiled gypsum waste generated at various fertilizer
plants, with an addition of almost 2.5 million tonnes every
year, and hence in India, the panels are made from processed
phosphogypsum. Thus, GFRG housing in India promotes the
reuse of industrial waste by-products, thereby reducing the
dependence on conventional energy-intensive and
increasingly scarce materials. It is seen that GFRG building
construction entails far less embodied energy (from the
manufacture till the completion of construction), in
comparison with the conventional construction using brick,
reinforced concrete or precast concrete [1]. Hence the United
Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) has
confirmed GFRG as a ‘green’ building material [2].
II. STATE OF THE ART
Studies on GFRG panels were initiated in Australia at the
University of Adelaide, where experimental tests were
carried out mainly for exploring the possibility of use of
 PACHA KALYANI, A. RAMAKRISHNAIAH
GFRG panels as walls resisting gravity and lateral loads. It
was established that infilling the cavities with plain concrete
of low grade enhanced the axial load carrying capacity
significantly. Moreover, addition of reinforcement inside the
cavities was found to increase both the in-plane and out-of-
plane bending capacities [3]. Some limited studies are
reported to have been conducted at the Universities at
Henan, Tianjin, Hong Kong and Shandong in China, and
University of Putra in Malaysia. Studies at Tianjin [4, 5] and
Hong Kong [6] explored the shear behaviour of concrete
infilled GFRG wall panels and the effect of continuous
reinforcement inside the cavities respectively. The test
results established that continuity of vertical reinforcement
was essential to generate the full capacity in flexure
(applicable in the case of short walls in high rise buildings).
In the case of single or two-storeyed buildings, where the
lateral shear demand is relatively low, provision of ‘starter
bars’ (at the wall base, connected to the RC plinth beams
below) were found to be sufficient to generate the desired
shear capacity in the panels. A 5-storeyed model building,
with GFRG walls and reinforced concrete slabs, was built at
Shandong University, and tested under cyclic lateral loads.
The test showed that the integral performance of the
structure was very good and the building had enough lateral
load-carrying capacity under seismic loading. The maximum
displacement at the top storey and the maximum storey drift
were found to be well within limits [7]. Thermal comfort
studies on the GFRG buildings done at the University of
Putra established improved thermal performance, as
compared to conventional buildings [8]. The initial research
works in India were carried out at SERC (Structural
Engineering Research Centre) Chennai, primarily using their
shake table facility [9]. Single-storeyed GFRG model houses
were constructed with different infill configurations (number
of concrete infilled cavities) and were subjected to shaking.
It was seen that the buildings did not experience any failure
under shaking of intensity equivalent to that of zone-V in
India. Since 2003, a team of researchers of the Civil
Engineering Department of IIT Madras has been constantly
engaged in research and development of a building
technology solution making use of GFRG panels, for
application in India as an affordable mass housing solution.
In Australia, several buildings had been built using the
Rapidwall technology, where the panels were used only as
walls, resisting gravity loads.
The floors were made of conventional RC (reinforced
concrete) slabs. In India, unlike Australia, we need to deal
with earthquake resistant design, as more than 50% of our
population lives in seismically prone areas of moderate to
severe earthquakes. Hence, the GFRG building system had
to be designed to meet the requirements of the prevailing
standards of seismic resistance in India. Extensive studies
had been conducted on the use of these panels as structural
members for all components of the building, including
earthquake resistant design and detailed design
methodology had been developed. The IITM research
(contributed J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A by 5 PhD studies)
International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research
Volume. 11, IssueNo.04, April-2019, Pages: 230-234
extended the application of this product for the entire
building system—including floors, roofs and staircases, with
reinforced concrete embedded in every third cavity, along
with a layer of 50 mm thick screed concrete on top, thus
significantly reducing the consumption of reinforced
concrete in such construction. The use of GFRG panels for
walls, floors and staircases, appropriately designed for
composite action with reinforced concrete, with tie beams at
all the wall-floor junctions, provided for a complete GFRG
building system.
III. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Some of the important mechanical properties of GFRG
building panel (for both unfilled panels and panels filled
with concrete) are summarised in Table 1, based on tests
conducted at IIT Madras.
IV. CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS USING GFRG
The foundation for GFRG buildings can be based on
conventional methods,depending on the local site conditions.
For low-rise GFRG buildings, it is sufficient to provide
simple masonry spread footings with a network of reinforced
concrete plinth beams on top, above which the GFRG wall
panels can be placed (with ‘starter bars’ embedded in the
plinth beams). If the depth of foundation is high, the plinth
beams can be framed to reinforced concrete pedestals that
are provided with small isolated footings, properly designed.
In the case of taller GFRG buildings, it is desirable to
provide reinforced concrete walls below the plinth beams,
with a suitable spread footing or raft below. Panels can be
quickly installed with the help of cranes. The location and
spacing of the starter bars need to match with the
reinforcement in the wall panel cavities. Only minimal grade
of concrete need to be infilled in the reinforced cavities. The
left-over cavities can be filled with quarry dust mixed with
5% cement and water to provide solidity, facilitating nailing
on the walls. In the case of GFRG slabs, every third cavity
needs to be reinforced with a hidden reinforced concrete
beam and the entire system topped with 50 mm screed
concrete, as indicated in Fig. 2. This acts as a hidden T-beam
system, which can be designed as a one-way system for the
required strength for a given span and live loading. The span
of the GFRG slab is typically limited to 5 m, thereby
covering the requirements of residential buildings.
The GFRG building system has a number of advantages
when compared to conventional system:
 High speed of construction;
 Less built-up area for the same carpet area;
 Recycling of industrial waste gypsum results in less
embodied energy and carbon footprint;
 Significant reduction in the use of cement, sand, steel
and water;
 Excellent finishes of prefabricated GFRG panels for all
the walls, floors and staircases, eliminating the need for
additional plastering;
 Lower cost of structure due to savings in materials;
 Less energy consumption for heat-regulation of interior
of buildings;
 Building Systems using GFRG Panels
 Less CO2 emission, compared to other conventional
 building materials;
 Significantly less building weight, contributing to
savings in foundation and reduction in earthquake
loading in multi-storeyed construction;
Table1. Mechanical properties of GFRG panels [10–12]
* All cavities of the panel were infilled with M20 concrete
** With an improvement in formulation, current panels have
water absorption\2 %
Fig2. GFRG floor slab with hidden reinforced concrete
T-beam.
The applications of GFRG panels include the following:
• Light-weight load bearing walls capable of resisting
• gravity and wind loads;
• Infill/partition walls for framed structures;
• Compound walls;
• Shear walls resisting earthquake load;
• Floor/roof slabs.
The design details of GFRG panels as shear walls for
earthquake resistant design of GFRG buildings under
different seismic zones, as well as the structural design of
floor/roof slabs are available in the Design Manual published
International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research
Volume. 11, IssueNo.03, March-2019, Pages: 230-234
by Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council
(BMTPC) [10]. Research and Development Works at IIT
Madras The initial R&D works at IIT Madras included
assessing the strength and behaviour of GFRG panels under
concentric and eccentric axial loads, and in-plane monotonic
and cyclic lateral loads. Tests were carried out on unfilled,
concrete infilled and RC infilled slender GFRG wall panels
(of 3 m standard height) to arrive at the axial load carrying
capacity of the panels under both ends pinned boundary
condition. Failure invariably occurred by buckling in
concrete and RC infilled slender wall panels and crushing at
top and bottom in unfilled panels, and hence only minimal
grade of concrete needs to be infilled inside the cavities. It
was seen that the infilling concrete inside the cavities
increased the axial load capacity significantly while the
addition of reinforcement did not have any effect. An
improved method was proposed that accurately predicted the
axial load carrying capacity of panels [11]. The test results
are summarised in Table 2. RC infilled GFRG wall panels
were also tested under in-plane lateral loads (and varying
levels of axial compression) to assess their behaviour under
shear and flexure.
Design charts for axial load-moment interaction curves
were developed, which could predict the in-plane bending
capacity realistically, under various axial loads. These design
charts help in the structural design and detailing of
longitudinal reinforcement in the GFRG wall panels (of
various lengths) in multi-storeyed buildings, provided they
satisfy the shear demand requirements [11]. Detailed studies
on the cyclic lateral load tests on GFRG wall panels showed
excellent ductility characteristics of GFRG panels,
comparable to RC shear walls [12, 13], thus rendering them
suitable for multi-storeyed constructions in seismic prone
regions. It is seen that the presence of axial loads enhances
the shear strength considerably. But change in axial load
does not have any effect on the shear strength, because of the
longitudinal joint and weakness present inside the wall. The
cyclic load test results are summarised in Table 3. Studies
were also conducted on the use of RC infilled GFRG panels
as slabs subjected to gravity loads. The tests revealed that
although it is conservative to ignore the contribution of
GFRG in the structural design of the reinforcement in the
slab, the composite action enhances the flexural strength by
at least 10%, besides enhancing the stiffness significantly
(satisfying serviceability limits).
A typical room of a GFRG building was constructed, and
subjected to lateral cyclic loads at the roof level to assess the
behaviour of the wall-slab connection under seismic loading
[14]. The test revealed the capacity of the connection to
resist lateral loads of high intensity without any joint failure,
rendering such connections suitable for constructing
buildings up to 10 storeys in moderate seismic zones.
Presently, studies are being conducted at IIT Madras,
exploring the possibility of open ground storey construction
in GFRG buildings to facilitate open parking spaces, which
is in high demand in urban environments. In this regard,
experimental as well as numerical investigations are
 PACHA KALYANI, A. RAMAKRISHNAIAH
currently being carried out to study the behaviour of the
interaction of RC frame at the ground floor and GFRG
panels for the upper floors.
Table2. Results of axial load studies Cavity infill
Eccentricity,
Table3. Results of lateral cyclic load studies
Durability studies on GFRG panels revealed that a special
primer needs to be applied on the GFRG panel surfaces in
order to enhance the abrasion resistance and hardness of the
panel material to withstand extreme exposure conditions,
and that the panels applied with this primer can ensure
prolonged life of the buildings. Based on the research work
carried out at IIT Madras and the research reported
elsewhere (Australia and China), Building Materials and
Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), Government of
India, has accorded approval of GFRG panels for
construction in India. However, to facilitate such
construction, it was felt necessary to bring out appropriate
design and construction manuals that meet the statutory
requirements of relevant Indian Standards, and this work had
been entrusted to IIT Madras. A ‘‘GFRG/Rapidwall
Structural Design Manual’’, prepared by IIT Madras, was
published by BMTPC in 2011 for practising Engineers [10].
Subsequently, a ‘‘Manual of Waterproofing of GFRG/ Rapid
wall Structures’’, describing the methodology of
waterproofing to be adopted for GFRG buildings and
‘‘Schedule of Items and Rate Analysis for GFRG
Construction’’, for use by various Departments of the
Government for GFRG building construction, were
published by BMTPC [15, 16]. Further, a draft BIS (Indian
Standard) code titled, ‘‘Code of practice for design of Glass
Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) Panels for buildings’’ has
been approved, and expected to be published soon.
International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research
Volume. 11, IssueNo.04, April-2019, Pages: 230-234
The entire superstructurewas completed and rendered it fit
for occupation within 29 days after the laying of the
foundation. Use of GFRG panels facilitated not only fast
construction but also reduced labour requirements. A
comparison of the cost of this building with a conventional
building of the same plan showed that the demo building
was 25% cheaper when compared to the latter. The thermal
performance of this GFRG demo building was analysed
through field measurements. In situ thermal measurements
showed that GFRG demo building was around 2 _C cooler
when compared to a just adjacent conventional building
during the harsh summer.
GFRG Demo Mass Housing Construction at Nellore: In
order to demonstrate the application of the technology to
mass housing, a new project involving the construction of 40
units of housing in five two-storeyed blocks, sponsored by
BMTPC, is presently under construction (Fig. 4). The design
and construction is being supervised by IIT Madras
Fig3. Construction of GFRG demo building at IIT
Madras campus.
GFRG buildings provide a viable solution, addressing the
urgent need to provide affordable mass housing in India. The
material is environmentally friendly, as it utilises industrial
waste and the construction minimises the usage of scarce and
energy intensive materials such as cement, sand, steel and
water. This technology developed by IIT Madras has been
well demonstrated and the design procedure is now being
codified. With increased production of GFRG panels across
the country, this technology can serve as a sustainable
solution for the ‘housing for all’ mission of the Government
of India. Acknowledgements The authors would like to
thank Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Department of
Science and Technology, Government of India, Indo-French
Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR),
India, Building Materials and Technology Promotion
Council (BMTPC), India, Rashtriya Chemicals and
Fertilizers (RCF) Ltd., Mumbai, India, FACT-RCF Building
Products Ltd. (FRBL), Kochi, India and Rapid Buildings
Systems (RBS), Australia, for their continued support
throughout this research work.
 Building Systems using GFRG Panels
V. REFERENCES
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Approaches in the Construction Industry (Master of
Economics Thesis), Faculty of Economics, University of
Regensburg, Regensburg, 2002
[2] AMS-III.BH, Small-Scale Methodology - Displacement
of Production of Brick and Cement by Manufacture and
Installation of Gypsum Concrete Wall Panels (United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2013),
pp. 1–13
[3] Y.-F. Wu, M. P. Dare, J. Compos. Constr. 8, 569 (2004)
[4] K. Liu, Y.-F. Wu, X.-L. Jiang, Mater. Struct. 41, 649
(2008)
[5] X.-L. Jiang, Y. Gu, in Ninth Can. Conf. Earthq. Eng.
Ottawa (Ontario, Canada, 2007), pp. 1234–1242
[6] Y.F. Wu, Eng. Struct. 26, 1633 (2004)
[7] Z. Kaozhong, X. Zhang, T. Wei, Full-Scale Model Test
Research on the Performance of a Five-Storey Fiber Plaster
Board Building (Jinan, China)
[8] M.P. Davis, S. Shanmugavelu, N.N. Azian, A.S.N.Y.
Abdullah, R. Pitt, S. Wong, A New Building System for the
Construction of Thermally Comfortable, Energy Efficient
Houses in the Malaysian Humid Tropics (Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, 2000)
[9] K. Muthumani, N. Lakshmanan, S. Gopalakrishnan, T.S.
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Sree Kala, S. Avinash, Evaluation of Seismic Performance
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[10]Indian Institute of Technology Madras, GFRG/
Rapidwall Building Structural Design Manual (Building
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Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India,
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[11] R.L. Sreenivasa, Strength and Behaviour of Glass Fibre
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Technology Madras, 2010
[12] M. Janardhana, Cyclic Behaviour of Glass Fibre
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Technology Madras, 2010.

International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research

Volume. 11, IssueNo.03, March-2019, Pages: 230-234