Embedded steel plate supports in concrete tilt-up precast walls

Tilt-up construction has been proven to be a preferred construction method for many low- to mid-rise buildings and is used around the world, typically in commercial applications. The behaviour of embedded steel plates in precast tilt-up construction has, however, rarely been studied and is not well understood. In this work, six concrete panel specimens, each with an embedded steel plate in the centre, were designed and cast following American Concrete Institute (ACI) procedures, and tested until failure. The ACI code equations for the design of embedded steel plates were found to be too conservative. Furthermore, the results indicate that across-the-board code equation standardisation is unrealistic. The finite-element computer program Abaqus was used to develop a numerical model for tilt-up wall specimens. The model successfully simulated the behaviour of the tested specimens. The numerical model can therefore be used as an accurate design method for embedded steel plate supports that directly accounts for all the parameters that influence the behaviour.