AU2017201652B2

AU2017201652B2 - Building panel

Info

Publication number: AU2017201652B2
Application number: AU2017201652A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Stephen Walker
Original assignee: CSR Building Products Ltd
Current assignee: CSR Building Products Ltd
Priority date: 2014-09-09
Filing date: 2017-03-10
Publication date: 2018-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 2034-09-09
Also published as: AU2015100609A4; AU2015101468A4; AU2015101468B4; AU2014221303A1; AU2014221303C1; AU2017201652A1; AU2014221303B2; AU2017201652C1; AU2015101468C4

Abstract

An extended length reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete building panel has a thickness of about 50mm and a length from about 2.2m to about 2.55m and a width of 5 up to about 600mm. The extended length panel is reinforced with a mesh arrangement comprising a multitude of lengthwise extending reinforcing elements interconnected with a multitude of transversely extending reinforcing elements to enable the panel to be manufactured and to impart sufficient inherent robustness and integrity to be used having a length greater than about 2.2m. The reinforced building io panel is made with sufficient robustness and integrity to be safely manhandled and installed to form an external wall of a building without undue flexing or cracking despite the thickness being only about 50mm. The advantage of the extended length of the building panel is that a single panel only is used to extend between the foundation of a building and the eaves or roof or roofline of a building so as to avoid the need to 15 measure and cut a short length panel to fill the gap between the top of the standard size panel and the roofline and to finish the join between the panels. 8821567_1 (GHMatters) P97923.AU.3 52 FIGURE 1

Description

2017201652 10 Mar 2017

ABSTRACT

An extended length reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete building panel has a thickness of about 50mm and a length from about 2.2m to about 2.55m and a width of up to about 600mm. The extended length panel is reinforced with a mesh arrangement comprising a multitude of lengthwise extending reinforcing elements interconnected with a multitude of transversely extending reinforcing elements to enable the panel to be manufactured and to impart sufficient inherent robustness and integrity to be used having a length greater than about 2.2m. The reinforced building io panel is made with sufficient robustness and integrity to be safely manhandled and installed to form an external wall of a building without undue flexing or cracking despite the thickness being only about 50mm. The advantage of the extended length of the building panel is that a single panel only is used to extend between the foundation of a building and the eaves or roof or roofline of a building so as to avoid the need to is measure and cut a short length panel to fill the gap between the top of the standard size panel and the roofline and to finish the join between the panels.

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' FIGURE 1

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-1 BUILDING PANEL

FIELD

The field of technology of the present application relates to building components generally, and to methods of their installation when forming buildings from the building components.

In one form, the building component is a building panel, typically an exterior building io panel for use as cladding or external covering on the outside of a building.

In one form, the building panel is used to form the exterior surface of a building such as the exterior wall of a domestic dwelling, particularly on a single story building or on the ground floor or upper floor or floors of a two-story building or multi-story building.

In one form, the building panel is made from autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) which is lighter than conventional concrete.

The building panel is primarily used as one section of an external wall of a building in

0 which multiple similar building panels are arranged in side by side abutting relationship to one another to form the external wall of the building in which the panels have an extended length to extend from the base of the building to the eaves or roof or roofline of the building.

Although embodiments of the building panel will be described with reference to one or other form of the building panel, it is to be noted that the scope of protection sought is not limited to the described embodiments, but rather the protection extends to include other forms and variations of the building panel and to the different methods of their installation.

BACKGROUND

Building panels have been used as the exterior wall of buildings or as the covering for the exterior walls of buildings including cladding for forming the exterior walls of buildings, such as for example, the external walls of domestic houses, particularly

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-2single story dwellings. One form of the building panel is made from autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) which is a lighter weight concrete product that can be used in some applications as a substitute for concrete because of its lighter weight and improved durability. To date, building panels are usually provided in the form of rectangular prisms or solid parallelepipeds or similar rectilinear shapes having a length and a width as well as a thickness.

Although such panels are available in a variety of thicknesses, one popular thickness of the panel is a 50mm thick panel. Panels having a thickness of 50 mm are popular amongst builders of lightweight constructions such as domestic dwellings because of their lower purchase cost and the relative ease with which such panels can be manhandled and installed due to their lighter weight. Such thin panels have many of the desirable properties of the thick panels but without the disadvantages of higher initial cost, higher installation costs and requiring the use of heavier duty equipment to is lift and position the panels within and at the desired locations of the building. Thus, there is an increasing desire to use such 50mm thick panels.

Notwithstanding the desirability of using 50mm thick panels of AAC there are some disadvantages to using such panels which have restricted their more widespread

0 adoption. One reason for not using the panels relates to the length of currently available panels which are limited to a maximum of 2.2 meter.

Many domestic houses have exterior walls of a height of greater than 2.2 meters so that when 2.2m long panels are being used in a vertical orientation to form the exterior wall of the house the panels need to be joined or spliced together in edge to edge relationship along their short sides or transverse sides, one above the other such as by splicing the two separate panels to one another about their respective facing edges. When one 2.2m long panel is located on the exterior side of a building frame and fixedly attached thereto (the main panel), there is a gap between the upper edge of the main panel and the top of the exterior wall owing to the length of the panel not extending to the full distance between the base of the building and the roof or ceiling of the building. This gap required filling or covering with a short section of panel to completely cover the exterior of the frame to complete the external wall. The splicing together of two panels requires cutting of the building panels to size to form the short sections which cutting process is time consuming and expensive as the length required

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-3of each short panel needs accurate measuring before cutting. After being measured and cut the short section then needs installing above the main panel in edge to edge relationship with the main panel. Even after the short section is installed, the join between the upper short section and lower main section requires finishing including filling, smoothing, painting, meshing and other treatments to make the join weatherproof and to disguise the join aesthetically so as to present a desirable smooth and continuous appearance. These additional work operations increase the cost of forming the exterior wall and increase the time taken to complete the building project. Therefor there is a need for extended length panels to reduce costs and the time for io construction of the building.

To date, 50 mm thick AAC building panels have been manufactured with a maximum length of 2.2 meter due to a number of factors. One factor relates to the inherent robustness and rigidity of the panels. Another factor relates to transportation of the panels by shipping containers in which a length of 2.2m maximises shipping container usage when transporting 2.2m long panels. Another factor relates to the perception of a tendency of the panel to flex, deflect, bend or flop because of the relative flexibility of the panel due to the extreme thinness of the panel. It is thought that if the 50mm thick panel is made longer than 2.2m there is a risk that the panel would bend or flex

0 sufficiently to distort or break into two or more pieces as it bends, flexes or cracks along a line of weakness such as a fold line at some point along the length of the panel. The perceived inherent instability resulting from the flexibility of the panel conspired against the panel being made in lengths greater than 2.2m. Further, it was thought by the manufacturers and suppliers that such extended length panels would cause more problems than they would solve perhaps resulting in additional warranty risks due to possible structural failure.

Accordingly, because of the thickness of the panel being only 50 mm thick, it is not generally possible to merely extend the length of the panels since such extended length panels would have an even greater tendency to flex, bend, flop, distort or crack as well as requiring more care in handling during installation of the extended length panels so as not to damage the panel which would require even further remedial work to fix the panel.

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-4Also, some countries, such as New Zealand and parts of Australia, have significant seismic activity and ground instability which demands building codes and regulations to counter the adverse effects of such events. In such areas, lightweight claddings, such as AAC, are preferred as recommended by the New Zealand Building Codes and

Regulations. If panels could be made to extend directly from the eaves or roof or roofline to the foundation without joins between the panels of a building, such buildings would be more resistant to damage by having wall structures which contribute to the strength of the buildings, since the panels would directly tie the roof to the foundation by a single panel to produce a stronger wall of the building and hence provide an io improved building construction and method of constructing a building.

Therefore, there is a need to provide building panels having a thickness of 50mm with a length greater than 2.2 meters so that a single panel can be used to extend the entire height of the external wall of the building to avoid having to cut an additional panel is and/or finish the two panels about their respective join.

Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a panel having a thickness of about 50mm with a length greater than about 2.2m.

0 Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a medium weight or lightweight building panel having a thickness of 50mm and a length of greater than 2.2m, preferably a length from about 2.2m to about 2.55m.

Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide an autoclaved aerated

5 concrete (AAC) building panel having a thickness of 50mm and a length of greater than

2.2m for use as a building panel for making an external wall of a building to extend the entire height of the external wall of the building.

Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a reinforced AAC building panel of a thickness of about 50mm having sufficient internal rigidity, robustness, and/or structural integrity to be used as a single section for forming the external wall of a building.

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-5SUMMARY

According to one form of the present invention, there is provided a building panel in the form of a substantially rectangular prism having a longitudinally extending axis and a transversely extending axis, the panel having generally an obverse face, a reverse face, a first end, a second end, a first side, and a second side, the building panel comprising a nominal thickness between the obverse face and reverse face of about 50 mm, a nominal width between the first side and the second side of at least about 270 mm, and a nominal length between the first end and the second end of greater io than 2.4 meter, the building panel having a body of autoclaved aerated concrete and an internal reinforcing arrangement, the internal reinforcing arrangement having at least one longitudinally extending reinforcing element extending between about or near to the first end and about or near to the second end and at least one transversely extending reinforcing element extending between about or near to the first side and is about or near to the second side, wherein the longitudinally extending reinforcing element is connected to the transversely extending reinforcing element to form an interconnected array of reinforcing elements, and the interconnected array of reinforcing elements is embedded within the body of the panel.

According to one form of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming an exterior wall of a building using a building panel, the building panel having a length greater than about 2.2 meter, a width of at least about 270, and a thickness of about 50mm, the method comprising locating a building panel at a desired location with respect to the building and attaching the building panel to a substrate forming part of the building using at least one connector wherein the length of the building panel corresponds to the height of the exterior wall of the building so that the building panel can be installed as a single panel extending to the entire height of the external wall so as to avoid having to use part of a second building panel or short panel to form the full height of the wall by joining the part of the second building panel or short building panel to the building panel to form the wall.

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-6BRIEF DESCRIPTION

It is to be noted that all measurements of the panel and the reinforcing array are nominal measurements and/or are taken from centre line to centre line of the reinforcing members or elements.

In one form, the building panel is a medium weight building panel or a lightweight building panel.

io In one form, the approximate combined mass of the building panel is less than about 40kg/m² which is considered to fall within the medium weight cladding classification of the New Zealand building code, which classification is defined as being less than 80kg/m² as defined by NZS3604:2011.

More typically, the dry density of the building panel is from about 400kg/m² to about 510kg/m³.

In one form, the building panel is an autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) building panel. Preferably, the building panel is manufactured by CSR Building Products Limited (CSR) and marketed under the name HEBEL POWERPANEL , more typically under the name HEBLE POWER PANEL 50 which is a designation of the nominal or actual thickness of the panel being 50mm.

Manufacturing tolerances of forms of the panel include the following:

Length ±5mm

Width ±1.5mm

Thickness ±1.5mm

Diagonals (Max) 5mm

Edge Straightness Deviation (Max) 1.5mm

In one form, the length of the panel having a thickness of 50mm, is greater than about 2.2 meter, typically greater than about 2.4 meter, more typically greater than about 2.5 meter, and preferably about 2.55 meter. In one form, the AAC building panel has a

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-7length of 2550mm ± 10mm, preferably about 2550 ± 5mm, more preferably about 2550mm ± 1.5mm.

In one form, the width ofthe building panel is variable over a range of from about

270mm to about 600mm. Forms of the panel have widths of about 270mm, about

300mm, about 400mm, about 500mm, and preferably about 600mm. In one preferred form, the AAC building panel has a width of 600mm ± about 3mm, preferably about 600 ± 1.5mm.

io In one form, the thickness of the AAC building panel is about 50mm plus or minus about 2mm, typically about 50mm ± 1.5mm.

In one form, the sides or edges of the panel, including the longitudinal sides or edges and the transverse sides or edges are straight, more typically the opposite edges are is parallel to each other. Forms of the panels have a diagonal manufacturing tolerance of up to about ±10mm, preferably up to about ±5mm. forms of the panels have an edge straightness deviation up to 3mm, more typically about 1.5mm.

Whilst it is more usual that the panels are mounted vertically to extend from the eaves

0 or roofline to foundation, in some applications, the panels can be mounted to extend horizontally, other suitable or desirable orientation.

In one form, the AAC building panel is a reinforced building panel containing internal reinforcement.

In one form, the reinforced building panel is reinforced with a mesh arrangement, typically a mesh arrangement having more than one longitudinal or lengthwise extending reinforcing member and more than one transverse or widthwise extending reinforcing member.

In one form, the mesh arrangement is a mesh array of longitudinal members and transverse members interconnected together, typically interconnected together in a generally rectilinear array or a rectangular array in which the longitudinal members are generally perpendicular to the transverse members.

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-8ln one form the longitudinal members are in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship to one another and the transverse members are in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship to one another

The array includes at least one inner pair of lengthwise extending reinforcing elements, and at least two outer lengthwise extending reinforcing elements wherein the spacing between the two individual reinforcing elements forming the inner pair of reinforcing elements is less than the spacing between one of the pair of inner reinforcing elements and one ofthe outer lengthwise extending reinforcing elements.

io

In one form, there are four lengthwise extending reinforcing members in the form of rods or bars which are referred to as long rods and extend in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship to one another from, at, or towards one end to, at, or towards the opposite end.

In one form, the reinforcing members are transversely extending rods or bars which are referred to as cross rods and extend in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship to one another to extend from one side of the building panel to the opposite side of the building panel. In one form, the array is a grid-like array in which

0 the long rods and cross rods are substantially perpendicular to each other. Typically, there are four long rods and eleven cross rods or bars.

In one form, the reinforcing members are cylindrical rods or bars having a diameter of about 4mm, however other suitable sizes can be used such as for example, the long rods and crossbars can have a diameter in the range of from about 2.5mm to about 8mm, more typically in the range of about 3mm to about 5mm, more typically about 3.15mm, 4.0mm or the like. Forms ofthe rod include rods having the following diameters: 5mm ± 0.05mm, 6mm ± 0.06mm, 7mm ± 0.16mm, 8mm ± 0.06mm, and 4mm ± 0.08mm, such as in the range 3.92 to 4.02mm. Forms of the rod have a tensile strength of 500 - 800 MPa.

In one form the rods are pretreated or treated to be corrosion inhibiting, such as by having a corrosion resistant coating applied to the rods. One form of the coating is an acrylic coating. In one form the corrosion resistant coating does not react or is inert to the AAC. One form of the protective or corrosion inhibiting coating is FENTAK™

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-9TC0380 or FENTAK™ TC0624. The anti-corrosion coating is a water based acryliccorrosion paint which forms a cross-linked polymer during the autoclaved process during manufacture of the panels or when applied on site.

In one form, the mesh arrangement of long bar and crossbar is a symmetrical arrangement of generally equally spaced apart bars extending in both the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction.

In one form, the mesh arrangement of long bars and crossbars is an asymmetrical io arrangement in which there is different spacing between respective different long bars and different spacing between respective different crossbars so as to form an irregular array having sections of irregular spacing.

In one form where there are four long bars, there are two inner long bars forming a pair of inner long bars and a first long bar along one outer edge of the mesh arrangement, and a second long bar along a second outer edge of the mesh arrangement.

In one form, the spacing between the two individual long bars of the inner pair of bars being the intra spacing of the long bars is less than the spacing between one o reinforcing element of the inner pair and one of the outer reinforcing bars, the interspacing of the bars.

In one form, the interspacing between one outer long bar and the adjacent bar of the inner pair of long bars is about 180mm, whereas the intra spacing between the two long bars of the inner pair of long bars is about 120mm.

In forms of the panel, the spacing apart of the transverse rods can vary from about 200mm to about 300mm between the nearest transverse rods.

In one form, the spacing between adjacent crossbars is the same so as to form a regular array, or is different so as to form an irregular array, or is a combination of sections of regular spacing and different spacing. In one form where the array has eleven cross rods, there are eight sections of spacing between adjacent crossbars having the same spacing as each other, and two sections of spacing having the same spacing as each other, but a different spacing to the spacing of the eight other

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- 10sections. In one form, the spacing of the two spacings is smaller than the spacings of the eight spacing.

In one form, the spacing of the eight regular sections is about 257mm, whereas the two smaller sections have a spacing of about 202mm.

In one form, the mesh arrangement is symmetrical about the transverse central axis, or is symmetrical about the longitudinal central axis or is symmetrical about both the transverse and longitudinal central axes.

io

In one form, the reinforcing array includes three or four cross rods located towards each end of the building panel in order to provide additional support to the end portions of the panel against the ends bending, flexing or breaking due to the extended length of the panels. In one form of the panel, there are three cross rods interconnected to four longitudinal rods whereas in other forms there are different numbers of long rods and cross rods.

In one form, the mesh arrangement is located centrally within the building panel whereas in other forms, the mesh arrangement is located off-center towards one o longitudinal side of the building panel such that the spacing between the outer long rod on one side of the panel and the edge of the building panel at the same one side, is about 35mm, whereas the spacing between the outer long bar on the other side of the mesh arrangement and the other longitudinal side of the building panel, is about 85mm.

In one form, the spacing between the outer crossbar at the end of the building panel, and the transverse end of the building panel at the same end is about 20mm.

Typically, the spacing is about 20mm at either opposite end of the panel.

In one form, the length of the long bars is about 40-50mm shorter than the length of the building panel.

In one form, the length of the long bars is less than about 2.40m, typically less than about 2.45m and preferably less than about 2.5m and most preferably less than about

2.55m so as not to extend the entire length of the panel but to finish just short of the

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- 11 ends of the panel to remain embedded in the panel. Preferably, when the length of the panel is 2.55m long, the long bars have a length of 2500mm and are 4mm in diameter.

In one form, the length of the transverse crossbar is less than about 400mm, typically 5 less than about 450mm, and preferably less than about 500mm and more preferably less than about 600mm so as to extend almost the entire width of the panel but not to the very edge so as to remain embedded within the panel. Preferably, the cross bars are 4mm in diameter and are slightly less than about 500mm in length for a 500mm wide panel, and are slightly less than about 600mm for a 600mm wide panel.

io

In one form, the mesh is arranged centrally within the building panel such as at the same distance from the front or obverse face as from the reverse or rear face. In one form the distance between one face and the mesh closest to that face is about 21mm, more typically about 21mm from both the obverse and reverse faces.

In one form, the diameter of each rod is 4mm so that the thickness of the mesh is about 8mm in which the crossbars and the long bars are in side-by-side interconnected abutting relationship to each other such that one set of bars overlies the other set of bars. Typically, the diameter of each long bar or rod and each cross bar or rod is

0 about 4mm. In one form, the rods are made from steel, typically the grade of steel is 450 MPa.

In one form, the periphery of the mesh arrangement is such that the ends of the crossbars extend beyond the line of the outer long bars at the longitudinal edges of the panel and the ends of the long bars extend beyond the line of the outer crossbars at the short ends of the panel.

In one form, the amount of extension of the end of a bar beyond the intersection of the bar and a perpendicular bar is up to about 20mm or more, typically 20mm, more typically, 10mm.

In one form, the extension beyond the interconnected bar is about 10mm for the transverse bar past the longitudinal bar and 20mm for the longitudinal bar past the transverse bar.

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- 12Typically, the width of the building panel is 600mm ± 2mm, preferably ± 1.5mm.

It is to be noted that all dimensions and sizes referring to the mesh arrangement and to the long bars and crossbars refer to nominal centre to centre bar spacing.

In forms of the panel, the edges are smooth, i.e. not provided with a profile along one or more edges. However, other forms of the panel are provided with profiles in the form of interlocking elements along the side or edges of the panel to allow two adjacent panels to be interlockingly connected to one another in side by side relationship, such io as to form part of the external wall of the building. Typically, the interlocking element is a pair of complementary elements, such as a complementary tongue and groove arrangement in which the tongue of one panel is received within the groove of an adjacent panel to interlock the panels together.

is In one form the tongue and groove are located along the opposite longitudinal edges of the panel. However, forms of the panel can have the tongue and groove along the short edges or ends either as a substitute for the longitudinal edges or in addition to being along the longitudinal edges.

0 Forms of the panels are provided with surface treatments or decorative effects such as coatings, architectural features or embellishments including surface patterns or shapes, such as for example formed from routing the obverse or outwardly facing face of the panel.

5 DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Forms of embodiments of the building panel will now be described by way of example to illustrate forms of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic side perspective view of one form of a building having a panel of a length of 2550mm attached as one section of the external wall of the building.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one form of a building panel having a length of

2550mm showing one form of a reinforcing mesh embedded therein;

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Figure 3 is a plan view of the form of the building panel of figure 2 showing the placement of one form of the reinforcing mesh embedded within the panel;

Figure 4 is a side cross section view of the form of the building panel of Figure 2 showing one form of the placement of the reinforcing mesh;

Figure 5 is a plan view of another form of a panel showing another form of reinforcing mesh.

io

Figure 6 is a plan view of another form of a panel showing another form of the reinforcing mesh.

Figure 7 is a plan view of another form of a panel showing another form of the reinforcing mesh.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One form of the building panel will now be described with reference to Figures 2 to 4 of

0 the drawings. Building panel, generally denoted as 10, is of a regular rectangular prism type shape or a generally solid parallelepiped shape having two opposed faces being an obverse face 12, and a reverse face 14, two longitudinally extending sides or edges 16, 18 and two transversely extending ends or edges 20, 22.

One preferred form of the building panel is a reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete building panel. A preferred size of the building panel has a length of 2550mm extending from one end 20 to the other end 22, a width of 500mm or 600mm extending from one long side 16 to the other long side 18, and a thickness of 50mm extending from obverse face 12 to reverse face 14.

Building panel 10 has a reinforcing mesh arrangement, generally denoted as 24, comprising in one form four longitudinally extending reinforcing elements in the form of four long rods or bars 26 made from metal, typically mild steel, such as for example a 450 MPa grade of steel extending from one end 20 of panel 10 to the opposite end 22

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- 14in space apart substantially parallel relationship to each other to form the long rods of the grid arrangement of mesh 24.

Building panel 10 has eleven transversely extending reinforcing elements in the form of cross rods 30, extending transversely from one longitudinal side 16 to the opposite longitudinal side 18 in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship to each other.

Although the size and spacing of long rods 26 and cross rods 30 forming reinforcing mesh 24 may be of any suitable form, one particularly preferred form is of 4mm io nominal diameter rod and bar having a pattern or arrangement of an inner pair of long rods 32 and two outer long rods, one on either side of the inner pair of the long rods.

The transverse rods 30 are arranged to define ten sections bounded by a transverse rod on either side in which there are four sections having the same width or spacing apart of the transverse rods forming that section at either end of panel 10 and two sections of equal spacing located at or towards the center or midpoint of the panel in which the width or spacing of the two central sections is less than the width or spacing of the remaining eight end sections. However, it is to be noted that any suitable pattern or arrangement of sections of suitable width or spacing is possible. A preferred o spacing of the four sections of each end is 257mm and the preferred spacing of the two central sections is 202mm.

In one form, the reinforcing mesh, including both long rods and cross rods and the interconnection joins between the long rods and cross rods are treated to reduce or eliminate corrosion, by a corrosion inhibiting treatment, such as a surface treatment. One surface treatment is to coat the reinforcing mesh with a protective coating or similar. One form of the protective coating is an acrylic coating, typically an acrylic coating containing an acrylic polymer, glycol ether and water. Typically, the protective coating is a paint, such as a FENTAK™ anti-corrosion paint including FENTAK™

TC0380 and FENTAK™ TC0624.

Typically, the corrosion inhibiting coating inhibits or prevents carbonation of the AAC material from which the panel is manufactured therefor reducing or eliminating degradation of the panel due to weathering or reaction with the atmosphere to which the panel is exposed.

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Another form of the panel is shown in Figure 5 in which there are 4 long rods 26 extending from one end 20 to the opposite end 22 and eight cross rods 30 extending from one side edge 16 to the opposite side edge 18 in a different array to that of the panel of Figures 2 to 4. In the panel of Figure 5 there are 3 cross rods 30 located at or towards either end to strengthen the ends of this form of panel and the spacing between cross rods at or towards the center of the panel is greater than the spacing between the cross rods at the ends of the panel.

io A further embodiment having a different pattern of reinforcing elements is illustrated in Figure 6 in which there are 2 cross rods located at or towards either end of this form of the panel and the remaining cross rods 30 located at more regularly spaced apart locations between the two end sections.

A still further reinforcing arrangement is illustrated in Figure 7 where there are 4 long rods and eight cross rods in which 3 cross rods are located in the end sections of the panel to strengthen the panels against flexing or bending and the remaining 2 cross rods being located more centrally in the panel. In this form of the panel, side edge 16 is provided with a tongue 36, and side edge 18 is provided with a groove 38 for

0 interlockingly connecting two panels to each other.

In use of panel 10, a house 50 is constructed from a suitable substrate in the form of a framework system of a stud wall comprising metal of timber studs 52 to which suitable connectors in the form of top hat sections 56, preferably a cold rolled perforated top hot

5 section of a minimum thickness of 0.42mm BMT, are attached to extend perpendicularly with respect to studs 52, typically horizontally with respect to vertically extending studs 52 of the stud wall. Top hat section 56 is attached to studs 52 by a suitable fastener, such as a Tek screw, a bugle headed screw or the like.

A reinforced panel 10 is positioned with one end, the lower end, against the base of house 50 or adjacent the foundation of house 50, generally denoted as 60, either above or below the damp proof course, depending upon the style and type of house being constructed. Panel 10 is tilted or otherwise maneuvered into place to extend from foundation 60 to eaves line, roof or exterior roofline 62 so that it can be attached directly to top hat sections 56 by suitable fasteners in the form of Tek screws or similar

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- 16to extend from foundation 60 to eaves line 62 as a single panel thereby obviating the need to cut a second panel to size to fit into the gap which would have remained between the upper end in use of a panel having a length less than about 2.2m and the eaves 62 had a standard length panel of less than 2.2m been used in place of the extended length panel. Additionally, panel 10 directly connects eaves line or roofline 62 of house 50 to foundation 60 using a single panel to achieve this connection.

Making an exterior wall from a multitude of individual extended length panels 10 in side-by-side relationship to extend fully between foundation 60 of house 50 to eaves io line 62 is less costly and less time consuming that having to cut a second panel to size to merely complete each section of the exterior wall by locating the cut panel in end-toend relationship with the main panel.

ADVANTAGES

At least one advantage of some forms of the extended length 50mm thick AAC panel include the following:

• The extended length panels are quicker to install • The extended length panels require less labor to install • Savings in material costs and installation costs when using the extended length panels • Less material waste to be removed from the work site due to less off-cuts being produced as a result of not having to cut panels to length • More pleasing appearance, since there are no join lines between panels to fill in or no surface treatment needed to obscure the join lines, resulting in a smooth continuous appearance and additionally having a single panel height is better than having two panels stacked on each other as the joint between the panels would be more susceptible to cracking at the joint as compared to a single panel having no join • The exterior wall can be painted on the outside to produce a pleasing appearance that is more uniform over the height of the wall since there is only a single panel

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- 17• The house is more resistant to damage due to seismic activity or poor ground conditions because the extended panel directly ties the roof to the foundation by a single continuous panel extending between the roof and the foundation • Compliant with the New Zealand Building Code (NZBC) · No need to weatherproof the panel, particularly any cut edges since there are no edges cut on site, all edges are treated at the factory to have the required weatherproofing.

The described arrangement has been advanced by explanation and many io modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which includes every novel feature and novel combination of features herein disclosed.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications which fall within the spirit and scope.

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Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

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FIGURE 1

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FIGURE 2

1 o between or close to or towards the first side of the building panel and close to or towards the second side of the building panel.

13. A building panel according to any one of claims 10 or 12 in which the mesh array includes four longitudinal extending reinforcing elements and eleven

15 transversely extending reinforcing elements.

14. A building panel according to any one of claims 1 to 13 in which the reinforcing elements are cylindrical rods or bars having a diameter within the range from about 2.5mm to about 8mm, or a diameter in the range from about 3mm to

20 about 5mm or a diameter of about 3.15mm or a diameter of about 4mm.

15. A building panel according to any one of claims 10 to 14 in which the reinforcing array is an asymmetrical arrangement in which spacing between the longitudinally extending reinforcing elements is different to spacing between the

1. A building panel in the form of a substantially rectangular prism having a longitudinally extending axis and a transversely extending axis,

2 5 transversely extending reinforcing elements.

16. A building panel according to claim 14 or 15 in which the spacing between one outer longitudinally extending reinforcing element and the adjacent longitudinally extending reinforcing element of the inner pair of longitudinally

30 extending reinforcing elements is about 180mm, whereas the spacing between the two longitudinally extending reinforcing elements forming the inner pair of longitudinally extending reinforcing elements is about 120mm.

17. A building panel according to any one of claims 10 to 15 in which the mesh

35 reinforcing array includes eight sections of spacing between adjacent

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-21 longitudinally extending reinforcing elements which have the same spacing and two sections of spacing having the same spacing as each other but a different spacing to the eight other sections wherein the two sections are located adjacent one another between the other sections.

18. A building panel according to claim 17 in which the spacing of the eight sections is about 257mm, whereas the spacing of the two smaller sections is about 202mm.

io 19. A building panel according to any one of claims 10 to 17 in which the mesh array is centrally located within the building panel with respect to the obverse face and reverse face so that the center line of the mesh is about 21mm from both the obverse face and reverse face.

15 20. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the panel is provided with a profile along one or both sides or along one or both ends in which the profile includes interlocking elements to allow two adjacent panels to be interlockingly connected to each other in side by side abutting relationship or in end to end abutting relationship.

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2 0

9. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the building panel has a thickness of about 50mm ± about 2mm or a thickness of about 50mm ± 1.5mm.

10. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the interconnected

25 array is a mesh array of spaced apart longitudinally extending reinforcing elements and spaced apart transversely extending reinforcing elements interconnected together in a generally rectilinear array or to form generally a rectangular array in which the longitudinal reinforcing elements are generally perpendicular to the transverse reinforcing elements.

11. A building panel according to claim 10 in which the mesh array includes at least one inner pair of spaced apart longitudinally extending reinforcing elements and at least two outer lengthways extending reinforcing elements arranged such that the spacing between the two individual reinforcing elements forming the

35 inner pair of reinforcing elements is less than the spacing between one of the

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-20pair of inner reinforcing elements and one of the outer lengthwise extending reinforcing elements.

12. A building panel according to claim 10 or 11 in which the lengthwise extending

2 0 transversely extending reinforcing element to form an interconnected array of reinforcing elements, and the interconnected array of reinforcing elements is embedded within the body of the panel.

25 2. A building panel according to claim 1 in which the building panel has a manufacturing tolerances wherein the manufacturing tolerances include Length + or - 5 mm

Width + or-1.5mm

Thickness + or-1.5 mm

30 Diagonals (maximum) 5 mm

Edge Straightness Deviation (maximum) 1.5 mm

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FIGURE 4

3. A building panel according to claim 1 or 2 in which a combined mass of the building panel is less than about 40kg/m² and a dry density is in the range

35 400kg/m³ to 510kg/m³.

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4. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the building panel has a length of about 2.5m or greater.

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5 reinforcing elements of the mesh array are rods or bars which extend between close to or at or towards the first end of the panel and close to or at or towards the second and of the panel and the transversely extending reinforcing elements of the mesh array are cross rods or cross bars which extend in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship to one another to extend

5 5. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the panel has a length of 2.55m, or a length of 2550mm ± 10mm or a length of 2550mm ± 5mm or a length of about 2550mm ± 1.5mm, and the panel has an edge or side straightness deviation of up to about 3mm, or up to about 1.5mm, and a diagonal manufacturing tolerance of up to about ±5mm.

io

6. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the building panel has a width in the range of from 270mm to 600mm, inclusive.

7. A building panel according to any preceding claim in which the building panel

15 has a width of about 600mm.

8. A building panel according to claim 7 in which the building panel has a width of about 600mm ± about 3mm or a width of about 600mm ± 1.5mm.

5 the panel having generally an obverse face, a reverse face, a first end, a second end, a first side, and a second side, the building panel comprising a nominal thickness between the obverse face and reverse face of about 50 mm, a nominal width between the first side and the second side of at least about 270 mm, and a nominal length between ί o the first end and the second end of greater than 2.4 meter, the building panel having a body of autoclaved aerated concrete and an internal reinforcing arrangement, the internal reinforcing arrangement having at least one longitudinally extending reinforcing element extending between about or near to the first end

15 and about or near to the second end and at least one transversely extending reinforcing element extending between about or near to the first side and about or near to the second side, wherein the longitudinally extending reinforcing element is connected to the

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