Rapidwall Product Overview

Introduction

Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG), commercially known as Rapidwall, is a light-weight load-bearing precast panel technology, that offers cost effective and fast building solutions for many residential, commercial and industrial applications. Rapidwall has been developed in Australia since 1990 by M/s Rapid Building System PTY Ltd (RBS) who own the world-wide patent for the technology. Horizons Industrial Development Co. L.L.C. (HIDC) is the company with exclusive manufacturing rights of Rapidwall for Oman and UAE.

Rapidwall is manufactured in a moulding process, from high grade gypsum plaster and glass-fibre rovings to a size of 12 metres long by 3 metres high by 124 millimetres thick. The hollow sections, or voids, have 250 millimetre centres. The panels are cut in the factory to design specifications to a maximum tolerance of 5 millimetres. After cutting, the panels are loaded onto collapsible frames called stillages ready for transport to the building site. Up to 500m² of Rapidwall can be transported on one truck, as it just weighs 40 kg/m2. For installation, the panels are lowered into position using a small crane and supported by props until the structure is completed. The formed cells can be filled with insulation for increased thermal performance or with concrete for increased load-bearing structural capacity.

Rapidwall Uses

Rapidwall panels are generally used structurally in six ways:

As a lightweight load-bearing walling product in cottage construction- the panels can be used with or without non-structural core-filling such as insulation, sand, polyurethane or lightweight concrete;
As prefabricated permanent-formwork for high capacity vertical and shear load-bearing structural walling- the panel’s cores are filled with concrete, either reinforced or not, to provide load-bearing walls in medium-rise residential constructions of up to twenty storeys;
As partitions- the panels can be insulated for use in hospitals and offices;
As fencing- the panels can be used from ground level with inserted SHS structural posts embedded into the ground. Alternatively, the Rapidwall panels can be trenched and filled with sand without a need for foundations;
As cladding- for industrial buildings or sports facilities, etc.
As suspended slab formwork- used in this way the panels become the flush plaster ceiling.

Rapidwall Advantages

Affordable cost & quick construction
Durable & long-lasting
Scientifically tested
Withstands fire
High savings in embodied energy
Environment friendly green building material
Good thermal insulation leading to cooler homes and lower bills
Excellent acoustic properties

Property name : Unfilled Rapidwall® panels

Uni-axial compressive strength φRu : 100 kN/m

Note : Strength obtained from longitudinal compression/tension tests with ribs extending in the longitudinal direction
Uni-axial tensile strength φRu : 28.8 kN/m

Note : Strength obtained from longitudinal compression/tension tests with ribs extending in the longitudinal direction
Out-of-plane flexural rigidity EI, rib parallel to span : 3.5×1011 Nmm2/m
Out-of-plane flexural rigidity EI, rib perpendicular to span : 1.7×1011 Nmm2/m
Unit weight : 40 kg/m2
Thermal expansion coefficient : 12×10-6 mm/mm/°C
Water absorption : 5%

Notes : Water absorption by weight % after 24 hours of immersion

Property name : Rapidwall® panels filled with 25 MPa concrete in all the cores

Uni-axial compressive strength φRu : 890 kN/m

Notes : Obtained from longitudinal compression tests with ribs in the longitudinal direction

Out-of-plane flexural properties of unfilled Rapidwall® panels

	Ribs parallel to span :	Ribs perpendicular to span :
Design moment capacity φM	1.6 kNm/m	3.5 ×1011 Nmm2/m
Flexural rigidity EI	0.7 kNm/m	1.7×1011 Nmm2/m

Shear strength of vertical Rapidwall® panels

Application	Shear Capacity φR (kN/m)
Unfilled Rapidwall® Panel	10.5
Rapidwall® Panel Filled with 25MPa Concrete	28.5

Sound Transmission Class (STC) values of various forms of Rapidwall® construction

Construction	STC
Single leaf Rapidwall® unfilled	28
Single leaf concrete-filled Rapidwall®	45

Thermal Resistance (R) values of various forms of Rapidwall® construction

Construction	R (m2K/W)
Single leaf Rapidwall® unfilled	0.36
Single leaf Rapidwall® filled with 20MPa normal concrete	0.25
Single leaf Rapidwall® filled with light weight concrete	0.6

Fire Rating

As per above Oman Civil Defence certificate:

4-hour fire rating for concrete-filled Rapidwall
2-hour fire rating for insulation-filled Rapidwall