Affordable Rapid Mass Housing Using GFRG Panels

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General:
Reduction in the use of energy-intensive construction materials and speedy delivery of
housing units at affordable cost is 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. 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.

Fig 1. Demonstration building being built using GFRG Panels

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

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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. Hence, the United Nations Framework on
Climate Change (UNFCC) has confirmed GFRG as a ‘green’ building material

1.2 Glass fibre reinforced gypsum (GFRG) panel

GFRG or Rapid wall is a modern building element devised by the GFRG Building
System for mass-scale construction of houses in a very short span of time. A GFRG
panel is basically calcined gypsum plaster, reinforced with glass fibers which when
filled with reinforced concrete in an appropriate proportion becomes strong enough to
act as a load-bearing and shear wall.

GFRG panels can even resist the lateral loads due to earthquakes and wind. Not only the
walls, but the roofs, floors, sunshades and boundary walls can be also made using GFRG
panels. Looking at its success and innumerable advantages, the technology spread like
wildfire and is being adopted heavily throughout the construction industry.

GFRG panels are originally white in color (due to gypsum) and have a smooth finished
surface. They can be whitewashed or painted without cement plastering the walls,
therefore, providing some scope of creativity for the client.

The typical dimension of a GFRG building panel is 12 x 3 x 0.127m which weighs

around 1.6 tons. It is provided with 4 cavities within 1 meter of the panel.

Fig 2. GFRG panel - elevation and cross-section

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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, 3 m height and 124 mm thickness, with hollow cavities
inside, as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig 3. Details of a GFRG Panel

1.3 Manufacturing of GFRG Panels

1) The manufacture of GFRG panels is done in a semi-automatic plant using the
slurry obtained by heating the calcined raw gypsum.
2) The Calcined raw gypsum(plaster) is mixed with water, white cement and certain
chemicals like D50(retarder) and BS94(water repellant) in a mixer.
3) Different layers of slurries are then spread over a table and are interspersed with
glass fibers and aluminum plugs (for creating hollow cavities).
4) After half an hour or so, the aluminum plugs are removed and the panels are sent
to a dryer.

Fig 4. Manufacture of GFRG Panels

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GFRG panels can be easily transported from the factory to the site via trucks or trailers.
It must be ensured that the panels are put in a vertical position (using stillages) to avoid
any damage during transportation

1.4 Mechanical Properties

The mechanical properties of GFRG panels, for both empty panels and panels filled with
M20 concrete in all cavities are given in Table I, based on tests conducted at IIT Madras

Table I: GFRG Panels: Mechanical properties

Sl.
Mechanical Property Characteristic Value
No.
i Unit weight 0.43 kN/m2
160 kN/m (empty panel)
ii Uni-axial compressive strength
1310 kN/m (filled panel)
21.6 kN/m (empty panel)
iii Ultimate shear strength
61.0 kN/m (filled panel)
iv Water absorption 1% in 1 hour, 3.85% in 24 hours*
2.30-hour rating (empty panel)
v Fire resistance 4.0-hour rating (filled panel) -
withstood 900-1000°C
vi Coefficient of thermal expansion 12 x 10-6 mm/mm/°C
* Current GFRG panel’s water absorption is less than 2 percentage with
improved formulation

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1.5 Construction with GFRG Panels

1) The construction process up to the plinth level remains similar to the
conventional method. No special foundation is required for the installation of
GFRG panels.

Fig 5. Plinth beam with starter bars

2) Concrete belts are built at the plinth area with protruding iron rods which are
meant to strengthen the interlocking with the cells of the panel.
3) GFRG panels are placed at the appropriate positions using mechanical means,
preferably a crane, and external supports are provided to maintain the verticality.
Necessary cuts for doors, windows, sanitary fittings, vents, etc. are made as per
the design.
4) The hollow cavities are filled with concrete and reinforcement as per the
requirement to strengthen the panels. Generally, concrete is filled in every third
cavity of the panel and the remaining cavities can be filled with waste materials
like quarry dust.
5) Finally, waterproofing treatment is carried out for the roofs and floors of the
building.

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Fig 6. Wall panel being installed using a crane, wall panels supported by
lateral props

Fig 7. Insertion of reinforcement and concreting of lintel cum

sunshade (cast-in-situ), concreting of wall panels

Fig 8. Placing of roof panels over the support system

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Fig 9. Concreting of roof slab panels

 Staircase
GFRG panels can be used for the construction of staircase waist slabs also. All the
top flanges of panels shall be cut open and reinforcement cage is to be inserted.
This can be concreted after providing appropriate support. The steps can be
constructed with either concrete or bricks as shown in Fig. 10

Fig 10. GFRG panels used for staircase

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1.6 Advantages and Applications of GFRG Buildings

The GFRG building system has several advantages when compared to the conventional
system:
1) High speed of construction;
2) The less built-up area for the same carpet area;
3) Recycling of industrial waste gypsum results in less embodied energy and carbon
footprint;
4) Significant reduction in the use of cement, sand, steel and water;
5) Excellent finishes of prefabricated GFRG panels for all the walls, floors and
staircases, eliminating the need for additional plastering;
6) Lower cost of the structure due to savings in materials;
7) Less energy consumption for heat-regulation of the interior of buildings;
8) Less CO2 emission, compared to other conventional building materials;
9) Significantly less building weight, contributing to savings in foundation and
reduction in earthquake loading in multi-storeyed construction;
10) No need for beams and columns in buildings up to 8–10 stories, which can be
designed using the GFRG load-bearing system, where the walls (infilled with
reinforced concrete) act as shear walls.

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 by Building Materials and
Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC)

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1.7 Limitations of GFRG Panels

1. The panels are required to be handled with extreme care and specific machinery
is needed for their movements.
2. The contractor or an architect may require skilled workers to handle the
installation and work with these panels is slightly complex than all other
materials.
3. The panels cannot be used for walls with circular or higher curvature.
4. The panels need to be neatly stacked in order to avoid abrasion.
5. The clear span is limited to 5m for residential buildings.
6. GFRG panel requires a lot of detailing and design that can increase construction
costs, so always consult your architect to get a quote for the panels you may need
to use.
7. As it is manufactured from fiber materials, it is fragile and needs to be taken care
of while transporting or loading it.
8. Specific instruments are required to chop GFRG panels.

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CASE STUDY
2.1 Two storeyed GFRG demo Building
A 2-storeyed GFRG building was constructed inside the IIT Madras campus to
demonstrate GFRG technology developed. The total built-up area of this building is
1981 sq. ft, shown in Fig. 11. This model house apartment, houses four flats (two for the
Economically Weaker Section of carpet area of 269 sqft each and two for the Lower
Income Group of carpet area of 497 sqft each), which can be replicated for mass housing,
horizontally and vertically. The entire building was completed in 30 days.

Fig 11. Two storeyed GFRG demo Building at IITM

2.2 Mass housing project

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 (Fig. 12). The design and construction is being supervised by and the project
is successfully completed in 3 months.

Fig 12. A mass housing project at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

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2.3 GFRG buildings in Asian countries

The use of prefabricated lightweight GFRG panels for the entire building system
facilitated a substantial reduction in building self-weight, construction time and
workforce requirement. So far, more than 300 buildings are constructed in India, most
of them are individual residential buildings. These panels can be used not only for
residential buildings but also for industrial and institutional buildings. This building
system gains popularity in few Asian counties also like Oman, China, Saudi Arabia, etc.
Buildings from few Asian countries are shown in Fig. 13

Fig 13. GFRG buildings in Asian countries

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2.4 COMPARISON

Comparative study of Rapid wall building and conventional 2storey 1500 sqft Building:

Rapid wall Conventional

Materials/ items Saving in %
Building Building
Cement 16 tons 32.55 tons 50.8
Steel 1800 kg 2779 kg 35.2
Sand 20cum 83.37cum 76
Granite 38cum 52.46cum 27.56
Bricks - 57200 -
GFRG panel 500sqm - -
Water 50000ltr 200000ltr 75
Labour 389 man-days 1200 man-days 67.59
Construction time 21 days 120 days 82
Wt. of the
170 tons 490 tons 65
superstructure
Construction cost Rs 13.25 lakhs Rs 18.27 lakhs 61.5

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SUMMARY

1) GFRG panels can be effectively used for the entire superstructure of buildings,
including all walls, slabs, staircases, parapets, etc. This building system has
many advantages over conventional buildings.
2) GFRG buildings have the potential to meet the challenge of providing rapid
affordable mass housing. This is an eco-friendly and sustainable building
system, making use of recycled industrial waste gypsum or natural gypsum and
minimising the use of cement, steel, sand, water and labour input. This
technology is now gaining acceptance in India and other Asian countries
3) 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.

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REFERENCES

1) R. Omahen, Ecologically Sustainable Development: Approaches in the

Construction Industry (Master of Economics Thesis), Faculty of Economics,
University of Regensburg, Regensburg 2002.
2) R.L. Sreenivasa, Strength and Behaviour of Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum
Wall Panels, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 2010
3) M. Janardhana, Cyclic Behaviour of Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum Wall
Panels, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 2010
4) M. Janardhana, P. Robin Davis, S.S. Ravichandran, A.M. Prasad, D. Menon,
Earthq. Eng. Eng. Vib. 13, 347 (2014).
5) K. Muthumani, N. Lakshmanan, S. Gopalakrishnan, T.S. Krishnamurthy, B.
Sivarama Sarma, K. Balasubramanian, N. Gopalakrishnan, K. Sathish Kumar,
B.H. Bharat Kumar, R. Sree Kala, S. Avinash, Evaluation of Seismic
Performance of Gypcrete Building Panels (Chennai, India, 2002)
6) Indian Institute of Technology Madras, GFRG/Rapidwall Building Structural
Design Manual (Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council, Ministry
of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, 2011)
7) R.L. Sreenivasa, Strength and Behaviour of Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum
Wall Panels, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 2010
8) Indian Institute of Technology Madras, New Building System for Affordable
Mass Housing Using Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) Panels - A
Project Report Submitted to the Department of Science and Technology (2016).

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