Influence of damages on static behavior of single-layer cable net supported glass curtain wall: full-scale model test

Abstract

The single-layer cable net supported glass curtain wall has been applied in many building structures all over the world. In service, it will inevitably be subject to various damages. To study the influence of such damages on the static behavior of the single-layer cable net supported glass curtain wall, a full-scale model with the outside outline size of 4.85 m × 4.85 m and 4 × 4 grids is designed and tested. Two kinds of damages that are the cable prestress loss and cable anchorage end failure are led into the structure model during the test, and their influence has been investigated. The stiffness contribution of glass panels to the single-layer cable net supported glass curtain wall structure with or without damages and its change have been tested and analyzed. The results show that the maximum change rate of nodal deflection is 13.78% for the damage of cable prestress loss, while the change rate of nodal deflection is between 7% and 22% for the damage of cable anchorage end failure. The influence degree of the damages depends on the ratio of the structure initial stress stiffness change caused by damages to the total stiffness of the structure. The stiffness contribution of glass panels increases with the load increase. Under the same loading condition, the stiffness contribution of glass panels to the damaged structure is greater than that to the intact structure. The stiffness contribution of glass panels reduces the effect of the damages on the structural displacement and the cable tension force, but the glass panel could break if its stiffness contribution is too large.